On the Fence: Can Vegans Eat Oysters?

Dietary labels have become very flexible. Everyone knows the vegetarian who occasionally eats fish or the vegan who eats eggs or the omnivore who eats everything but beef. Pescetarians, flexitarians…we’ve seen it all. However, I was surprised and a bit intrigued behind the logic of Christopher Cox’s article in Slate, “Consider the Oyster.”

The author argues that while oysters are not in the plant kingdom, they are almost indistinguishable from plants and farming them has little negative impact on their ecosystems. Cox writes, “No forests are cleared for oysters, no fertilizer is needed, and no grain goes to waste to feed them—they have a diet of plankton, which is about as close to the bottom of the food chain as you can get.” Furthermore, Cox explains that because Oysters have no central nervous system they are unlikely to feel pain upon death.

You can read the full article here. What do you think?