I'm so disgusted with "Simply Ming" (warning: lobster killed in making of this bitch)

[Fairy]

Yes, I know it sounds kind of comical the way I phrased the title, but honestly, I'm appalled and really angry. It's just a lobster, I get it. But ya know what, the lobster's life mattered to the lobster. Here's what happened.

I'm getting over a stomach flu from last night. Called in sick, got DS somehow to daycare, and am laying on the couch watching TV. I'm watching "Simply Ming" on Lakeshore Public Television Channel 56, the episode that mixed Eastern lemongrass with Western cream cheese.

And before I knew what was happening, Ming had killed a live lobster live on camera. Neither Ming on his show nor the station that aired it included an advisory or warning or any kind. It happened very quickly without any idea that it was going to happen, and before I knew it, the animal was slaughtered on my screen. Had my DS who loves cooking shows (and we've watched "Simply Ming" together before) been in the room, I do not know how I would have explained it.

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Ming began the segment by showing us an actively live lobster. I didn't see any big vat of boiling water, so it did not register with me that he was going to kill one. So, I kept watching. Then he says that the most humane way to do this is to put the lobster in the freezer; it numbs them and puts them into a sleepy state. Ok, that seems cruel, too, but I understand we have to kill the animals we're eating, so I just accepted that at least it wasn't being burned alive. Then he went to retreive a second lobster from the freezer. I mentally thought to myself, I hope that's just the dead lobster now, but noticed that it was actually moving a bit, and I started to get a bad feeling about this. That was when ...

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This is your last chance to get out before the part that made me cry
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... he very quickly and without warning took a butcher knife and sliced thru it's head. And the "very sleepy," "very numb" creature lept and twitched in undeniable death throes of pain. And I started sobbing.

I'm not an idiot, I understand the creature has to die and that this is how we do things when cooking lobsters. I have chosen not to eat lobsters for this very reason. It's my choice, and I don't begrudge anyone else for choosing to eat lobster. I just don't see how it's applicable to show the process of it dying as part of a cooking show. I, myself, eat beef and chicken, and I'm sure that if I saw how they were killed, I'd end up a complete vegetarian. However, the key here is that you don't see cooking shows slaughter the cows as part of the process. I watch Ming to learn to cook meals, I do not want to see him kill the food. Is he wading in rice paddies to bring us the Japanese rice? Is he harvesting the fields to pick just the right blade of lemongrass? Is he culturing the dairy product he chooses to use for his cream cheese? No, he's not, they're just ending up on the counter that some nice production assistant has divvied up and placed in bowls for him to use in the on-air food preparation. So, why, then, does he feel the need to show us how to "most humanely" kill a lobster -- AND THEN KILL IT?! And then rip off all its appendages? I don't get it.

Why couldn't Ming have just explained it and not done the actual killing live on camera? If Ming really felt this process was necessary, and could not have had the kindness to warn his audience in advance, then the least the producing station, WGBH in Boston or the broadcaster, Lakeshore Public Television of Indiana could have done was aired a disclaimer or advisory of some kind saying that a live lobster would be killed in the preparation of a dish on the following episode of "Simply Ming." At least I could then choosen to change the channel! How hard would that have been?

I'm disgusted. As PBS stations, I hold them to a higher standard. For my part, I will never watch Ming's show again, and will never support their stations with my funds.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[blisstwins]

I am a vegetarian so I am sure that skews my view here, but live lobsters on a cooking show are never a good thing. I just don't get how you were surprised. I always change the channel when Iron Chef does something live because I cannot take it, but if you eat meat it is what it is. I think Ming killed a lobster on air because he was demonstrating a technique, on he thought to be humane. People do not slaughter their own cows at home, but they do kill their own crabs and lobsters all the time. In fact, it is pretty much necessary of you are cooking lobster at home. So in that way his demo was not much different from teaching you how to cut onions.

I don't mean to sound callous...in fact, you sound like a vegetarian in the making....:wink2:

[Fairy]

Honestly, I don't think I could give up chicken.

I guess I'm just naive. I don't eat Lobster, it's been 12 years since I put one in my mouth. I have had crab a few times, so I guess that makes me a hypocrite on the crustacean front. But what I oppose is not even so much that he killed the thing, tho he could have made the same demonstration with one that was already dead. But aside from that, the thing is that no warning was made at all. I'm not a seafood culinary efficionato, and so I had no idea he was gonna actually kill it. If that makes me naive, so be it.

[hellokitty]

You'll probably want to avoid watching any of the Iron Chef shows. They kill things on that show too, including lobsters, and they don't bother to numb them ahead of time either. I can understand your vent, but I guess that as someone who has seen IRL animals that are to be cooked killed (chicken, crabs, lobsters), maybe I am not as sensitive to this issue. I feel bad for the animal, don't get me wrong, but how do you think you get your beef, pork, fish, etc.? Somebody has to butcher those animals before they get nicely cellophaned at the grocery store, it's really no different than the lobster on Ming's show. At least the way the lobster was killed is more humane that the way a lot of livestock is killed in this country...

[Fairy]

Again, I know that all these animals are killed. Duh. Why do they have to show it on a cooking show? I'm not upset the animal was killed, I'm upset that the animal was killed live on the cooking show with no warning that it was gonna happen. I said before, I actually lookd for signs and saw no pot of boiling water, so how was I to know that there's another way to kill them? If I'd had warning, I'd've picked up the frakkin' clicker.

[Snow mom]

It seems my PBS station has warnings before every show. I've never really understood why because they don't tell you what might be objectionable on the show, just that it may contain something objectionable.

I agree that it would have been nice if he warned you about what he was doing. I just saw someone other than Ming kill a lobster on a cooking show, also with the knife technique. It seemed a bit abrupt to me but I hadn't put that much thought into it. I think the reason Ming killed the lobster on his program is that lobster is typically bought live and so killing it is part of the cooking process. In the future you know to change the channel if they are cooking crustaceans.

I'm sorry the show upset you so much. I know it may be wrong, but I prefer not to think about where my food comes from. I know meat comes from animals, but given the choice I would never watch any type of animal being slaughtered. I wouldn't hesitate to send your PBS station manager an e-mail to let them know that you were bothered by the show. It probably never occurred to them that they needed to screen their cooking shows for such content.

[caheinz]

Just as a note.... injecting some science that might make you feel better.

Invertebrates have a less centralized nervous system than we do. So, movements after cutting the head off aren't necessarily the result of pain or anything like that -- it could just be trying to push the "thing" (knife) by it's head away, or it could be moving in ways that the brain in the head was keeping from happening.

It's also not clear that invertebrates feel pain. (It's certainly hard to ask them!) They clearly respond to tactile cues, but it's hard to distinguish those from pain cues in many cases. So, your empathy may well be misplaced. (Seriously, when I took insect physiology a long, long time ago, we read a paper about this that was unable to come to a clear conclusion.)

Still, it wasn't something that needed to be shown in a cooking show -- I would have been taken aback as well.

[MamaMolly]

:grouphug: Yuck. I also don't mind that my meat comes wrapped in plastic on little trays. Intellectually I know where it comes from, and I'm very aware of slaughter houses and 'fresh' markets where you can pick your chicken before it is 'dressed'. But I agree that there is a COMPLETE difference between seeing dead meat on a plate and seeing an animal die.

It would have upset me, too. Luckily I don't care for lobster and crab, so I probably wouldn't have watched the show anyway. I can see how, if you didn't see a pot of boiling water, you'd think they weren't going to kill the lobster on TV.

Yuck
Yuck
Yuck!

[Rainbows&Roses]

As a vegetarian, I think it is a great idea if people see the process their food goes through from start to finish. I think factory farming would come to an end (although I am not sure if the Sarah Palin video had any effect on turkey consumption this year or not!)

I do think he should have given you a 5 second warning and I am glad your son didn't have to see it.

[s7714]

You'll probably want to avoid watching any of the Iron Chef shows. They kill things on that show too, including lobsters, and they don't bother to numb them ahead of time either. I can understand your vent, but I guess that as someone who has seen IRL animals that are to be cooked killed (chicken, crabs, lobsters), maybe I am not as sensitive to this issue. I feel bad for the animal, don't get me wrong, but how do you think you get your beef, pork, fish, etc.? Somebody has to butcher those animals before they get nicely cellophaned at the grocery store, it's really no different than the lobster on Ming's show. At least the way the lobster was killed is more humane that the way a lot of livestock is killed in this country...

LOL, I almost started to say the same thing about Iron Chef and then I saw your post. And I grew up in a farm environment, so ITA.

Maybe they should start running warnings like they do on all the operation shows..."Warning: This show contains demonstrations of preparing live animals for cooking." I think that's perfectly fair.

[R2sweetboys]

I suppose I should preface this by saying that I'm a Mainer and I've cooked a few lobsters in my time. ;) (though actually, as of late, we get them already steamed from the fish market to avoid smelling up the house!)

Fairy, I do understand that it can be hard to see ANY living being killed. I do at times wonder why I'm not vegetarian because I love animals so much. But I'm not. So I have to accept that living animals will be killed so that I can buy their meat at the market. If at any time, the concept of this becomes too much for me to handle, the answer is simple-I don't buy/eat it anymore.

I really hope that you will not discontinue your support of your local PBS station over this. PBS offers a lot of wonderful programming and relies on viewer donations. Really, this is just how lobsters are prepared. They're generally bought fresh(live). If the chef is demonstrating the preparation of a lobster dish, I'm sure it's assumed that the viewer knows this. I don't see the comparison to beef and chicken. You will presumably never have to kill the cow or chicken yourself. If you(general you) want to cook a fresh lobster dish, you have to kill the lobster.

Maybe instead of completely writing off PBS, you could write them a letter explaining how you feel?

[jal]

...Still, it wasn't something that needed to be shown in a cooking show -- I would have been taken aback as well.

But that's how you cook it! What do you expect them to do? If they are trying to show you how to cook something, don't you want to see all the steps you have to take? And I'm afraid this does not equate to watching a cow being slaughtered to show you how to cook a steak. In the case of those meats, you start with the nice pre-cut pieces of meat you get from the store. But in the case of lobster... well you start with a LIVE lobster you get at the grocery story. So when it comes to cooking lobster, YOU HAVE TO KILL IT.

And trust me, it's a lot better to see this being done so that you know the right way to do it and know what to expect. Years ago, a friend of my mom's tried to cook lobster, but she hadn't watched a cooking show. When it came time to put the lobster in the boiling water, she tried slowly inserting the lobster... tail first!!! Well the moment that lobster tail touched the water, it reacted by grabbing hold the sides of the pot with it's claws. Suddenly she was stuck. The lobster had hold of the sided of the pot and she couldn't push him any further into the water and couldn't lift him out either. Never did hear how that one ended.

And lets keep in mind, this is PBS... where they show you the facts of life. Ever watch the Nature program? They don't turn off the camera seconds before the cheeta kills the baby gazzel now do they?

[Fairy]

My point is being lost here. I digress.

Even so, thanks for all the replies. I did write a letter to the producing station, and to the broadcasting station. I do support WTTW, Channel 11, which is the Chicago PBS station, and not the one I saw the show on that I complained to. I haven't received a reply and don't expect to.

On the upside, I now know that if there's a lobster dish being prepared, I will change the channel outright and not wait and see.

[jgenie]

I understand how upset you must have been - I would have been too. We can't cook lobster in our house because we can't bear the thought of having to kill it. We also escort spiders outside when we find them in the house. :)

[Snow mom]

Ugh, tonight at the grocery we walked by the crabs and lobster and DH said he wanted to have crab sometime soon. I think I would cry if he brought home a live crab.

[GlindaGoodWitch]

I was a vegetarian until DC#1 DEMANDED Chik-fil-a in utero. (Actually she wanted a Freddy's steakburger, but we all must draw the line somewhere.)

I totally get ya Fairy. I can't even look at raw chicken without remorse. I think it's all about your threshold for that kind of stuff. Do you ever watch Top Chef? I think it was 2 seasons ago they had a competition of who could (their term) "break down" chickens the fastest and with the best knife skills. The guy that won was like lightening and I literally gagged the whole time.

I prolly would have cried at the Ming show too even though I find lobsters creepy.

I am also very impressed by the PP who escorts spiders out the door. (I usually escort myself out the door to find DH and his giant clown shoes which are excellent for squishing.)

[mommy111]

I can't give up my chicken....but I draw the line at lobster. So I totally get you. Even just your description in the OP made me cringe.

[fortato]

When we used to go on vacation in Maine, I would cry when my family would cook lobsters or crabs. I couldn't handle the sound of them in the steaming pot... it still upsets me.

Of course, I am now banished from the house when they are going to cook them because I have been known to let them go. That's right... I would sneak them out of the cooler and bring them to the beach and let them go.

I guess I won't be watching Ming...I might just have to stick with Giada and her giant head.

[MMMommy]

I might just have to stick with Giada and her giant head.

:ROTFLMAO: That made me laugh! I always thought she had a giant, lollipop head on a tiny body!

[GlindaGoodWitch]

I would sneak them out of the cooler and bring them to the beach and let them go.

Ahahahahahaha!! That's hilarious.

My best pal's son "rescues" cherry tomatoes from the salad and hides them ALL OVER THE HOUSE. She finds these raisiny things in drawers, old shoe boxes, the bottom of vases...

[egoldber]

I can see where killing a lobster would be part of the cooking process, so I can see where they show it. I guess it does mildly surprise me that they would not have some sort of disclaimer at the beginning of the show or before they did the actual deed. While it would not have necessarily bothered me, it would have really bothered my older DD if she happened to be watching with me.