Whale Meat Served in 18% of Japanese Grade Schools
Japan is a nation noted for its unusual and exotic cuisine. The Japan Times recently reported the results of a survey conducted by Kyodo News in which it was revealed that during the 2010 school year, 5,355 public primary and junior-high schools served cooked whale meat to its students at least once.
This startling statistic amounts to 18% of the nation’s public schools and represents a defiance of international restrictions placed on the whaling industry. Several decades ago, eating whale meat was very common in Japan’s public schools and now the trend is returning and children are eating it again.
Environmentalists have waged a silent war with Japan on the subject of hunting whales, but their protests have fallen on deaf ears. While the restrictions remain technically intact, Japan ignores them and continues to hunt whales under the guise of “scientific research” performed by the formidable Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR).
“It is obvious that (Japan) continues whaling despite there being little demand,” said Jun Hoshikawa, executive director of Greenpeace.
The situation had become more than a bit problematic for the ICR who found themselves stuck with thousands of tons of whale meat that nobody wanted to buy because the meat had fallen out of favor not only in Japan but also throughout the world.
What better solution that to sell it to the schools for a low price?
The whale quota is Japan has been raised several times in the last decade, despite protests due to the fact that the culling of whales is a lucrative source of income for those who do it.
There are those who would argue that the only things children should know about whales should live in books and in the powers of the imagination.
Not in their stomachs.
Where is Jonah when you need him?
What do you think about this?
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 18-09-2010
