Salmon farming

#里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀

Since eating farmed meat is now indisputably proven to be ecologically unsustainable and completely goes against any concept of animal rights, could eating fish be considered more sustainable or any better in its treatment of other creatures for food? This “Long Read” from the Guardian, an excerpt from the author’s book, begins with the premise that fish farming and salmon farming in particular, are a necessary industry, and will continue to be an essential feature of the human food chain in the future. By beginning with this assumption, and not for a second even considering the possibility that people will choose more environmentally sustainable sources of protein as they realise the horrendous impacts that these farms have on the ocean’s ecology, the author undermines their own attempts at examining the issues associated with the salmon industry with any objective or critical insight.

However, what is even more of a contradiction in the author’s attempt to give an air of objective analysis to their work, is the conspicuous lack of any consideration for the conditions from the fish’s perspective and its welfare. Writing what could only be from blind disregard for any perspective but his own, the author says: “The salmon is as magnificent an animal as anything on the Serengeti – beautiful in its many phases; thrilling in its athleticism; moving in its strength, determination and courage – and it would be a tragedy if it were to disappear,” without recognising the irony that his article is about the millions of enslaved farmed salmon that live their entire lives as prisoners in tiny pens, infected with diseases, infested with parasites and totally unable to express their natural behaviour.. Whether or not the farms are on land or in the sea is completely irrelevant when it ignores that, just as with animal farming, there is zero consideration for the animal’s welfare beyond treating it as a piece of flesh. As with all creatures, and even more so for this amazing fish, salmon are supposed to have rich and complex life cycles, but completely disregarding their needs and welfare in the way that farming them does, is not just inhumane, it is the real tragedy that the author, and all eaters of salmon completely fail to even acknowledge.
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https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/sep/15/net-loss-the-high-price-of-salmon-farming
 
===我是分隔線===
 
💡這個專欄目的是訓練同學聰明閱讀。
 
上面的貼文內容是我們的實力派外師Alex，針對每週一篇英文文章閱讀後，親自寫出的批判性思考文（不是copy & paste的東西啊）。旨在讓同學知道如何用不同的角度來讀文章。你可以選擇先讀Alex寫的批判文，也可以選擇先讀本次的英文文章連結，但最好兩處都要閱讀才能達到最好的效果。
 
這是個訓練批判性思考的好機會，希望同學不要被文字牽著鼻子走，在閱讀時可以多思考。大家可以善用這個寶貴的資源～
 
舊文連結：
https://www.leedsmayi.com/alex-column
 
Alex是我們的御用老師，每週都會幫梅姨、托托、慕華上英文課。目前星期一晚上有開一班 #里茲螞蟻外師應用英文課程 ，程度高級，充滿知識性與深度。有開放單次付費上課。若你想學習用英文來深度探討各項主題，check it out！
 
Alex老師的應用英文課：
https://www.leedsmayi.com/applied-english.html