I'm sorry....these lobsters are crawling around in cold mushy water most of the time....isn't that uncomfortable?? I had the unfortunate circumstance of having to disect one in biology and trust me, its brain is about the size of a chickpea. Stick it in the water headfirst to numb it and you're good to go. Is Whole Foods going to stop selling meat too?

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I don't think that animal rights groups and PETA (who I like in principle, not in practice) "seem to have missed the fact that the market will still carry frozen raw and cooked lobster products". I think they see this move as a step in the direction they'd like to see the world go.

I won't say "a step in the *right* direction", even though I'm a vegetarian, because what I think is right is different from what others think is right.

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You both miss the point here, it's not to stop them from selling lobsters (or meat) all together; the point is to prevent the often mistreatment of a live animal in a store. Even if the animal is on it's way to your dinner plate it should not be mistreated before it gets there.

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Can lobsters even feel pain? They're invertebrates, which means no spinal column, no nerves.

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the real reason is because Whole Foods does make that much money from selling live lobsters. It is actually a money looser for them. All this talk of respect and compassion is just p.r.

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cold mushy water?

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If you want live lobster I'm pretty sure you'd prerfer a healthy lobster. Just think about the trip these animals have to go through in order to be limited to a tank in some store with another dozen or so of it's kind; that must make a difference in it's overall taste. Now on the other hand, what I've heard from friends that catch and commercialize lobsters is that they've got freezers that'll make the lobster go from live (and healthy) to frozen in less than 10 seconds. That should seal in some freshness and well.. to be honest, I prefer frozen as opposed to an animal that's been wallowing around in it's feces for a couple of days (even if lobsters are in esence the roaches of the sea). But just don't think about that last part when you're doing your thermidor thing =).

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The CEO and Founder of Whole Foods has said more than once that his first priority are his stockholders. He is vegan and an ex-hippie but foremost a capitalist (he sells high priced meat products in spite of PETA protests and his own eating habits). His business thrives on the concept of organic, wholesome food. If telling the world that he will not sell live lobsters adds to that he will do it and has.

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Next they will be against selling live yogurt!!! And the abuse of bees to make honey!

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What a joke. Lobsters have no brains; no brain, no pain.

Whole Foods won't sell live lobster, but it sells colloidal silver (a quack medicine which causes argyria, a form of heavy metal poisoning) in its health supplement aisle. What damnable hypocricy.

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The choloidal silver is different than the old silver that used to be sold. This choloidal is not supposed to cause poisoning I thought.

Anyhoo- Interesting about these live lobster. I suppose they don't sell foie gras either then.

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to Gabriella:

No, they don't sell foie gras. In fact they were sued for refusing to do business with companies distribute for foie gras producers.

Story: http://www.slashfood.com/2006/05/03/whole-foods-vs-foie-gras-behind-the-news/

The reason they still sell frozen lobsters is because they're killed immediately instead of being starved for weeks and packed on top of each other. I don't care either way....to me, they're bugs. But at least, it's not illogical to either PETA or WFM.

Of course, PETA won't stop until all the humans are dead and the unicorns run free. But that's another matter.

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Darwin thinks it could have gone anyway... I eat the losers!!!!
even if Fresh Fields doesn't sell them anymore...
please with butter...
B

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I am thrilled THRILLED!!! at Whole Foods testing results on this matter. For the longest time I have researched this lobster matter and have found that they were starved because the tanks did not have any means to clean waste matter. They do not eat because they have to be in familiar surroundings and in the correct temperature water, which is totally neglected by humans. I have seen them piled extremely tight in Shoprites'. I have even bought a lobster tail once in a Shoprite only to discover it was covered in algae. I wonder how long it sat in the tank (a month)? I know many people will still eat them but look into hypnotizing them before dropping them into the tank as they do feel pain--as any living thing feels...

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Thanks for that link Dave! Appreciate you taking the time to do that.

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