Now, increased demand for traditional fishmeal – which is made from small species caught in the open ocean – has sent the industry scrambling for alternatives.
The stuff being used to make fish feed is a byproduct of the poultry industry – it’s what is left over after the parts of the chicken consumed by humans and the remains used for cat and dog food have been removed.
You know, one could measure the “evolutionary success” of a species by how much they are able to reproduce and pass on their genes to another generation. So the species with the highest population, or greatest biomass (either way you want to measure) could be called the most successful. By that metric the chicken would be the most evolutionarily successful bird in the world. Food for thought. 😜
Defining the suffering of animals in a way that suits my objectives is not food for thought. Don’t get me wrong, eating animals (and humans as mammals are legitimate food for other animals, too) is natural, it’s how this planet works.
But that doesn’t justify factory farming in the way it causes inconceivable amounts of suffering, and since mankind has advanced enough to produce quite good alternatives, I consider myself lucky to be able to eat meat-like tasting things without animals having to suffer for it. Also, some oat milks are great tasting, arguably better than cow milk for some purposes (coffee). And I say that as someone who drank 1-2 litres of milk per day for a decade.
All I expect of humans is to make a conscious decision to only eat meat when they really feel like eating meat, and not just because “you have to eat something”. That’s what I have been doing for ~15 years and my meat consumption has gone to almost none by now, where I will occasionally enjoy a steak anyways.