Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

veganath Says:

Apr 12, 2010 - @Paulginz Additionally, the production and consumption of meat and other animal products is associated with the clearing of rainforests, resource depletion, air and water pollution, land and economic inefficiency, species extinction, and other environmental harms. Paul if you truly claim to be Utilitarian then you need to seriously give consideration to what that means. A genuine Utilitarian would have to be vegan, if they don't simply want to appear hypocritical.

Paulginz Says:

Apr 12, 2010 - @veganath I created a moral system the only way moral systems have ever been created since the dawn of time: I observed my behaviour and cultural prejudices, and found a system of axiomatic rules which would justify as many of them as possible while staying logically consistent. Which is why I used the term "rationalisation". IIRC vegan diets decrease lifespan when adjusting for social factors (including health-consciousness). I agree that we consume too much red meat on average.

Paulginz Says:

Apr 12, 2010 - @veganath If the meaning of necessity is restricted to life-or-death situations, then it isn't necessary to avoid torture. There has to be a trade-off between quantity and quality of life somewhere. I should have used the word useless instead. Depending on the type of farming, the amount of suffering can be less than would be expected in the wild. Abattoirs are designed to reduce (as much as cheaply possible) fear and suffering (it toughens the meat apparently).

Paulginz Says:

Apr 12, 2010 - @veganath Yes farming is inefficient. (except some cases e.g. extensive farming where the grazing land is unsuitable for agriculture.) (Also, energy is not a fair metric (c.f. atkin's diet), protein content is better. Sill it's inefficient) Inefficiency in of itself is not damning. Do you only eat the most efficient-to-grow healthy combination of vegetables? Or choose some based on taste? This means you are willing to sacrifice a little bit of rainforest for tastier food. (continued)

Paulginz Says:

Apr 12, 2010 - @veganath (continued) So it's not a categorical yes/no moral dilemma. The question is HOW MUCH environmental harm tasty diverse food is worth. We were specifically discussing meat though. The problem is that you are making a fallacious comparison. The alternative to "killing a cow to get my multi-yearly consumption of meat" is NOT "letting the cow live an idyllic life in the wild". It's "Never letting that cow be born". The next problem of course is whether we should kill carnivorous animals.

Masterphan Says:

Apr 13, 2010 - I really hate it when vegans impose their beliefs on others as if it were the righteous thing to do. I eat meat and I am pretty sure that I'm not an immoral, wasteful, hypocritical, or anything that can be loosely derivatively negative about eating meat. I dislike the fact that people find it necessary to impose their choice on others when that choice is only made possible through the success of their current agriculture. If you dislike the efficiency, then harp on that and not meat eaters.

clodelle Says:

Apr 15, 2010 - Inspiring! Beautiful presentation!

angieangel135 Says:

Apr 23, 2010 - Miguel is such a perfect example of what systems should strive for, but I think the biggest question is, how to accomplish this goal? What can we do to change our food system? Where should we start? How to be innovative and economically viable? Ted talks provokes so many questions...

newhorizons1970 Says:

Apr 30, 2010 - it just donned on me.. this fish.. i love it, where can i (m)eat this fish?

ThorstenTreffer Says:

May 23, 2010 - a great speaker and a touching presentation.

Xelaju16 Says:

May 24, 2010 - what a great speaker! i click on the video by accident... i dont know anything about fish and got sucked in...and watch the whole video!

HoundmanV Says:

May 24, 2010 - TED is Great, and Dan is funny and informative. I watch this vid for laughs, and the info about how to run a fish farm. Totally entertaining.

89jwood Says:

Jun 4, 2010 - You're all suckers for a few jokes and a bit of charisma. This is a completley unrealistic and fanciful ideal. Science is too busy concentrating on creating efficient, sustainable and most importantly CHEAP farming to benefit the whole population than to hear an anecdote about a rich chef going for a boat ride with a guy called Miguel.

89jwood Says:

Jun 4, 2010 - So what if the fish are being fed some chicken pellets? He said himself that objectively the taste of this fish was good. If the taste of something changes so much upon knowing what is inside then surely you are being influenced too much by what is supposed to taste good/bad.

wuzzyman Says:

Jun 9, 2010 - @89jwood then explain what's so unrealistic about it? Science might be focusing on other means of getting food but hey, it's not neccessarily the right frame of mind.

silversobe Says:

Jun 10, 2010 - Implement these farms all over the world! End world hunger with abundance!

shankarnath1234 Says:

Jun 21, 2010 - beautiful talk .. loved it. shows how much dan barber has prepared for this. and loved the standing ovation the audience gave him at the end.

simcoeregionchapter Says:

Jul 1, 2010 - Lets do it like he said.......

ThanksgivingWalk Says:

Jul 2, 2010 - If you're a natural gardener, or concerned about the nutritional value of your food, you NEED to watch this; especailly the last ten minutes. The first part is nice and informative and entertaining as well. Thanks so much for sharing this. God Bless, TGW10368760702

garciamonica1 Says:

Jul 9, 2010 - I do believe in fish farming with natural resources just like the fish farm that Dan Barber is talking about in spain. We have already have abused the sea with over fishing and polluting our oceans, so what better way to fix what we have already ruiend then making our own purfing system with these fish farms and feed the world along the way.

grandlotus2 Says:

Jul 22, 2010 - biodiversity is key!!!!

ch3lababii Says:

Jul 23, 2010 - have a whole diff thinking now when it comes to fish!

ch3lababii Says:

Jul 23, 2010 - @shankarnath1234 totally agree!!!!

ch3lababii Says:

Jul 23, 2010 - @garciamonica1 very true!!!! =)

kingxciter Says:

Jul 25, 2010 - permaculture fishfarm! awsome