Respect the lobster

UK - Say good-bye to the lobster bib. It won't be long now; this endearing (albeit highly specific) fashion accessory is in danger of becoming an Antiques Roadshow relic, its value rivalling that of a complete set of Spice Girls action figures.

The lobster bib may be on the way to becoming a thing of the past not because people don't care for it, nor because they've suddenly become less messy eaters of delicious decapods, but for the simple reason that from now on lobsters may be slightly more difficult to acquire.

A few days ago, the US organic supermarket chain Whole Foods banned the sale of live lobster and crabs in all of its stores, due to concern that the creatures might be handled inhumanely.

Whole Foods declared that they could not ensure respectful and compassionate treatment of the succulent little beasts; a supremely shrewd argument, because we very well can't ask a lobster how it feels about the matter.

We do, however, know that the life of a wild and free lobster is no stroll in the aquarium. With its scads of natural predators, the lobster's existence is a savage one. At any given moment the lobster could be ambushed by a codfish, a flounder, or even a crab, and brutalised, torn to bits and eaten alive. Deep on the ocean floor, no one can hear a lobster scream.

Source: The Guardian