When is it OK for Vegans to Eat Animals?

“It’s okay to eat fish
‘Cause they don’t have any feelings”

“Something in the way” Nirvana

Back in the early 1990s, when rock band Nirvana was at the threshold stage of their colossal, but short, career, this particular sentiment on the closing song of their hit album “Nevermind” had a certain resonance with the ethical grunge set. I recall, it was often intoned and repeated by fans, and those that just had a hunger for fish tacos who didn’t want to take the ethical hit of eating an animal with actual feelings. The factual basis of this claim, that fish are devoid of feelings, is shoddy science/research at best, but was faithfully perpetuated by hungry grunge acolytes looking to latch onto some sort of lazy epicurean philosophy.

I was reminded of this refrain when I stumbled upon Christopher Cox’s ethical musing on whether or not it was acceptable to eat oysters, particularly for vegans. I know what you are thinking, isn’t the dictionary definition of vegan being someone who refrains from consuming any animal product? Well, by definition yes, but Cox breaks down his personal vegan rationale to two distinct points: “Raising animals for food 1) destroys the planet and 2) causes those animals to suffer.” While this may not exactly define every vegan’s (or vegetarian’s) raison d’être, it does seem to provide a cursory perspective for a somewhat stringent lifestyle. So as these rules apply, the humble oyster gets a pass, and is therefore afforded a place on the vegan dinner table next to the marinated tempeh and grilled zucchini.

Oysters, unlike other factory-farmed animals like cows and pigs, actually thrive in the factory farm (or in this case aqua farm) setting. Oyster farms account for about 95% of all oyster production and have minimal environmental impact on the surrounding ecology. No forests are cleared for oysters, no fertilizer is needed, and no grain goes to waste to feed them—they have a diet of simple plankton. Actually, oyster farms are often utilized to clean up polluted waterways, as the oyster is essentially a natural-born filter well suited to the job of cleaning contaminated rivers and bays. Fundamentally, oysters and oyster farming is actually, to some extent, beneficial for the planet.

With this information, we can feel somewhat OK about our reasonably low carbon footprint when it comes to eating oysters, but this is only half the equation, as it doesn’t really address the pain and suffering component of eating a live animal. For anyone that has ever consumed a fresh oyster, the ritual resembles a sort of brutality that is comparatively rare in world of modern eating. First the live oyster is penetrated and bisected with a knife, then it is most often incapacitated and stunned by a spray of lemon juice and then quickly consumed by being slurped down the throat of the consumer in waiting. However, according to Cox, oysters don’t have a central nervous system, which makes them seemingly unable to experience pain in that humans or livestock do. Cox asserts, “Biologically, oysters are not in the plant kingdom, but when it comes to ethical eating, they are almost indistinguishable from plants.”

With this justification, are we to assume that the oyster should stand as the exception to the rule, as is evidenced by their apparent lack of typical animal traits (no face, no pain, no guilt)? Is this justification enough to forgo the rules of veganism/vegetarianism and take a life? Should eating ethically be a purity pissing contest, or should these dietary definitions be more malleable to embrace exceptions like the oyster?

Read more: Blogs, Following Food, Food, Vegan, animal rights, ethical eating, oyster, vegan

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Barbara D.

5:19AM PDT on Mar 21, 2013

Who wants to eat oysters anyway. They're nasty little blobs of snot.

March 21
send a green star

Sonya Armenia R.

3:53AM PDT on Mar 13, 2013

I would never eat an animal EVER !

March 13
send a green star

Ruth S.

11:43AM PST on Mar 8, 2013

I agree Nimue P.

March 8
send a green star

Dagmar B.

12:00PM PST on Mar 7, 2013

No oysters for me. That is nasty and wouldn't the oyster try to avoid harms' way? Oysters are like blobs of mucus anyway in texture.

BTW Dale O. If you are comparing cutting a carrot to cutting a bird in half you are out of your mind.

March 7
send a green star

Natasha S.

10:48AM PST on Feb 16, 2013

No it is not okay for Vegans to eat Oysters. Yuck these are slimey little suckers.Thanks

February 16
send a green star

Nimue P.

5:58PM PST on Feb 14, 2013

So what kind of a vegetable is an oyster? Of course anyone with a brain knows it is a living entity. If you commit to be vegan, then have the intestinal fortitude to follow through with it. If you don't have that, then refrain from calling yourself something you are not.

February 14
send a green star

Margaret B.

1:59PM PST on Feb 7, 2013

I don't have a problem with people eating oysters, but......
If you're eating oysters you are not vegan/vegetarian, contrary to the popular belief held by many, including some so called "vegetarians" seafood is animal, not vegetable.

I was recently taken to a buffet luncheon. When I asked one of the staff what the veg. options were, the first thing she showed me was calamari !!
I quietly told her that calamari is not a vegetable. :/ To which she replied "oh, a lot of vegetarians eat this"
I'm happy to say that there were sufficient, though very basic, options so that lunch went smoothly.

February 7
send a green star

aj E.

11:43AM PST on Feb 7, 2013

not sure what is up with mr. steinman & oysters. if he wants to eat them, that's fine. but he would be lying if he tries to claim he is vegetarian or vegan, as these groups don't eat animals, period.

L and P.

9:34PM PST on Feb 6, 2013

Dale O reasonably says:
"Humans are arrogant if they think only life with a nervous system are truly and completely understood".

She is talking about the possibility of plants feeling pain - and if she thinks they do - who can argue with her? We really don't know.

But surely we all know that "meat" animals live almost exclusively on plant matter.

So why kill plants AND animals? A flesh eater supports the breeding of billions of plant eating animals as food, ingests all the plant matter the animal has eaten, all the plant matter that accompanies the flesh on his plate AND is responsible for the death of the animal too.

It's clear that suffering is compounded when both plants and animals are eaten. Presuming plants also feel pain, there is no need to be twice as cruel...