Readers respond to last week’s Feedback Friday topic, which was:
PETA to Protest at Maryland Seafood Festival
In what could become a minor annoyance for Maryland Seafood Festival organizers and attendees this past weekend, the animal rights nonprofit group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) plans to protest the event.
PETA has stated that a vehicle will circulate around Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, where the festival will be held, on Saturday and Sunday displaying a large screen on which a video of Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix will be played. Phoenix will be seen in the video “underwater, panicking, and struggling to breathe,” according to PETA. “In water, humans drown, just as fish suffocate on land,” Phoenix stated in a PETA press release. “It’s slow and painful and frightening…Put yourself in their place. Try to relate.”
(For the record, I will be happily serving as an official judge in the festival’s crab soup cook off.)
What do you think of animal rights, seafood consumption, and PETA’s plans this weekend?
Here’s what you said:
Everyone has a right to their opinion BUT- the food chain is as natural as the sun rise. PETA is a bit extreme. If you choose not to eat animals good for you. For those of us that eat what nature provides please spare us the drama and videos.
Wesley Tower, Annapolis
Fish and seafood in general is a healthy alternative to meat in a well balanced diet. PETA certainly has every right to express their cause, however I think they are out of bounds expressing it in this setting.
Maria Museler, Annapolis
People are entitled to demonstrate their opinion. But PETA is so extreme in their position that they have no tolerance for other opinions and refuse to consider alternate ideas. They have expressed their positions to the physical and monetary detriment of others.
James Fons, Annapolis
These people are one-dimensional crybabies whose lives is so devoid of any happiness that they must go around peeing on other peoples' parades for any satisfaction.
Al DiCenso, Easton
I admire vegetarians! That being said, I prefer to lobby for animals to have a good life and a quick and painless death. Meat eating is, sadly, how our world is designed. Let's just try to make it as positive as it can be.
Janet Farnham, Ocean City, MD
The foods we eat are personal choice. Beyond dietary restrictions, there is often a cultural significance for many people. In addition to that, access may be a determining factor. What foods are available? Does the neighborhood have a grocery store with healthy options? Are they affordable? Are the farm workers cared for and treated fairly? Food is political and is far more nuanced than labels such as "vegan, pescatarian, or meat-eater."
Jennifer Amoako, Anne Arundel County
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