OtherPress. Room 1020-700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Natalie Serafini Editor-in-Chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Chandler Walter Distribution Manager Mike LeMieux Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Cara Seccafien Production Assistant Ed Appleby IHustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Angela Espinoza News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Now Hiring! Staff Reporter Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Chitwan Khosla Features Editor Mfeatures@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Staff Writers Alex Stanton Cazzy Lewchuk Mercedes Deutscher Columnists Sarah Walker Megan West Kirsten Scott-Wuori Contributor Andrew Perkins Koy Tayler K.P. Davis - Food for thought ver the last few years, I’ve had a relationship with food that seems perpetually in flux. When I was 17, I became a pescatarian because I read it was more environmentally friendly to not eat meat. Indeed, : : I’ve so often strayed from : vegetarianism. The choice to : be a pescatarian, vegetarian, or : vegan is difficult because it’s : ideally longterm, if not lifelong. : While it isn’t impossible to grill : eggplant at a barbecue, or pass : on turkey at Boxing Day, it can : be hard; it’s a commitment, a : choice you make every time you : choose not to eat meat. in Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer notes that factory farming is more detrimental to the environment than driving; PETA states that “A staggering 51 per cent or more of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture, according to a report published by the Worldwatch Institute.” One year later, I took a class on philosophy and ethics with one of Douglas College’s own fantastic professors, Marilyn Kane. I credit this class and Kane with convincing me to seafood. This is partly because I realized I'd been arbitrarily drawing a line between the intelligent pigs, cows, and dogs I did not want to eat, and intelligent fish, although I never really bought the assertion that “fish don’t feel pain.” Two years later, I went back also, on occasion, indulged in non-vegan gravy, and turkey at © Getloknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), asyndicate of student newspapers that includes : Thanksgiving. My flip-flopping : has caused me to consider : what sort of an animal- and : environmentally friendly diet I : can maintain. Making ethical choices is difficult, and it’s why Forms of vegetarianism are also extremely political, : although increasingly : normalized. Something I’ve : found over the four some-odd become a vegetarian and cut out : : an omnivore diet is that people : really do not want to hear about : animal treatment. While I : understand this preference to : not pull back the curtain, it’s : frustrating to me: it’s a cop- : out from making an informed : decision on something that affects everyone every day. : Here are some facts: to including fish in my diet. I’ve : : the vast majority—of farming is : factory farming, which employs years that I’ve leaned away from A staggering percentage— papers from all across Canada. © The OtherPressreservestheright to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners. : inhumane methods. We're : all aware in the backs of our : minds what this entails: small : quarters; a lack of exposure to : the outdoors; maltreatment, if : not deliberate cruelty. Practices : to improve efficiency and : ensure that meat is pristine : include cutting off the ends of : turkeys’ and chickens’ beaks, : “to prevent them from attacking : each other in their crowded, : unnatural conditions. No : anesthesia or painkiller is used,” : as LiberationBC.org reports. Although ideally we might opt for organic, free-range : animals, these are industry : terms which have all but lost : their meaning. As LiberationBC. : org states, “The first thing that : one needs to know about labels : such as ‘free-range,’ ‘free-run, : ‘cage-free, and ‘natural, is that : legally, they mean very little. : There are no laws specifying : what these labels constitute, : and hence, no third-party : certification to ensure that rules are followed.” Commercial fishing is the : brethren of factory farming: : PETA reports that “go per cent : of large fish populations have : been exterminated in the past : 50 years.” This isn’t because : we're eating fish with breakfast, -_ a it Image from TheClassIssue.com : lunch, and dinner, but in part : because of “bycatch.” Bycatch : are the animals (from sharks, : to birds, to porpoises, and : everything in between) that : are accidentally caught due : to the wide nets that are cast; : these animals often die in the : nets, and are thrown back— : reportedly 85 per cent of the : catch in shrimp trawling is : bycatch, and is disposed of. I don’t fault anyone for their dietary choices. There : are a variety of reasons : someone might choose not : to go vegetarian; and many : point out that factory farming, : while undeniably cruel, might : be inevitable in order to feed : our ever-growing populations. : I’m still figuring out what I'll : do with my diet, although I’m : leaning towards selective and : ethical pescatarianism. These : are lifelong decisions we all : negotiate with, based on where : we are in life and what research : we do. If you want to learn : more about the subject, I highly : recommend starting with the aforementioned Eating Animals. Hello gorgeous, Natali Serafin’ Editor-in-Chief @ theotherpress.ca | +f facebook.com/DouglasOtherPress | twitter.com/theotherpress youtube.com/user/theotherpress instagram.com/theotherpress