Skip to main content

Posts

The Creel Treatment of Lobsters in Belgium

Belgium is the largest consumer per capita of lobsters in the world. 4 million lobsters are imported annually to Belgium, and their fate is incredibly disturbing. I recently visited Carrefour Market Etterbeek and was horrified to see that live lobsters imported from Canada were crammed into a barren tank with their claws bound. I wrote to the manager of this store, and received no reply. I have since been made aware of further atrocities, notably in Delhaize, which in January of last year faced backlash for boxing live lobsters in Styrofoam boxes like they were meat. In response to the widespread criticism, Delhaize stated that it had no intention of stopping the sale of live lobsters. Carrefour Market appears to even allow you to order a lobster online and have it delivered to your house. I therefore have decided to take further action and broaden my call to all supermarkets operating in Belgium to stop selling live lobsters. The European Food Safety Authority considers
Read more
Recent posts

The Tragic Irony of the Life and Death of Lobsters

In Maine, the American lobster is considered a delicious holiday food and an indulgent delicacy. Last year, Maine fisherman caught 93.8 million pounds of lobsters. But besides being a dinnertime favourite, lobsters boast an impressive resume of surviving and thriving. What a shame, then, that so many meet their end at the hands of hungry restaurant-goers. H. americanus, found in waters from Labrador to North Carolina, sometimes dwells in shallow water but is more abundant in deeper water down to 366 metres (1,200 feet). Lobsters caught in shallow water weigh about 0.45 kg (about one pound) and are about 25 cm (about 10 inches) long. They are caught usually in lobster pots—cages baited with dead fish. In deeper water, they weigh about 2.5 kg (about 5.5 pounds) and are often caught by trawling. - Encyclopedia Britannica Survival against all odds Lobsters are engaged in a constant fight for survival throughout their lives. Lobsters hatch from thousands of eggs laid by females and float ne
Read more

Who needs populists when you have the Conservatives?

You might not have bothered to follow the ongoing leadership contest for the British Conservative Party - as the fourth contest in five years, it’s kind of lost its shine. But indeed, a leadership election is ongoing. Against their better judgment, six candidates have stood to become the next leader of the Conservative Party. After four rounds of voting amongst Conservative MPs, two candidates have made it to the final run-off before the wider party membership. You’d think a crushing electoral defeat (their worst ever ) would be enough to push the party in the direction of reform - instead, it has just pushed the party in the direction of Reform, the UK’s new far-right party, headed by Nigel Farage. But who needs ultra-right populist parties when you have the Conservatives? Having lost a significant portion of their vote share to Reform, the solution the Conservatives have come up with is to become just as bad themselves. The two candidates vying to become Leader of the Oppositio
Read more

The Boiling Point: Why You Should Care About Lobsters

Belgium is the largest consumer of lobster per capita in the world - live lobsters are found for sale in supermarkets across Belgium. But when supermarkets sell live lobsters, they are giving consumers free reign over how they transform this live animal into meat. In Brussels, 85% of consumers who kill lobsters at home choose to boil the animal alive, while 15% cut the live lobster in half. These two methods, whilst the traditional ways of killing lobsters, are subject to immense scrutiny from animal rights activists and scientists alike. Read the article on The Brussels Times .
Read more

🎧 Interviewing Esping-Andersen

In this episode, Greta Scott, Roeland Endtz and Aria Guevara have the honour of interviewing the leading analyst of the welfare state, Professor Gøsta Esping-Andersen and taking a tour of his vast body of work. How did Esping-Andersen come up with the famous Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism? What makes men take on more housework? Why are highly educated women more likely to remain single but highly educated couples less likely to divorce? What is the biggest precondition for developing cognitive skills later in life? This episode was recorded on the 9th of May 2023 on the Poblenou Campus of Pompeu Fabra University.
Read more

Racist, Sexist and Corrupt: The Officers Patrolling British Streets

The British police are a reflection of British politics. Not just because we elect our police and crime commissioners, or because the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (the head of London’s Metropolitan Police) is appointed by the Home Secretary, or because the Police and Crime Commissioner for London is the Mayor of London. The police are a reflection of twelve years of Conservative government. Under David Cameron, austerity measures meant severe police cuts. Under Boris Johnson, scrambling to reinforce the police force meant mad recruitment schemes and under-vetted officers with increased powers. But for perhaps even longer than that, the police has emitted the acrid stench of corruption. A lot of these issues are centred around the Metropolitan Police, but are prevalent in other forces. Let’s talk about the British policing crisis. 999: What’s your emergency? The cracks in British policing began to show following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Met Police Offi
Read more

🎧 Fast Fashion: The Exploitation We Fund

In this episode, Greta Scott, Vivien Keenleyside, and Aria Guevara have an honest conversation about the environmental, ethical, and social implications of the fast fashion industry. This episode was recorded on the 20th January 2023 in the Radio Studio of Pompeu Fabra University.
Read more