Hi Julia, I’m studying physical therapy and am a licensed massage therapist, so the avoidance of pain is my profession. I’m also (nearly) a vegan. I do love oysters though. I’m well versed in nociceptors, ganglia, the gate control theory of pain. I’ve often thought about what separates oysters from plants and have decided on the actual cellular difference between plant and animal cells. If you think of heat-sensitive plants like mimosas, or even the fact that some plants will focus themselves towards the sun, you’ll agree that plants also have a rudimentary ‘nervous system’. I think octopi are higher lifeforms than humans. I also think scallops are super cool — I wouldn’t eat them. Mussels might have a derogatory effect on the environment in their harvesting. BUT oysters filter the water. Farming them actually purifies the environment and builds up shores and estuaries. I avoid butter, milk, other cephalopds and bivales, but I think oysters are OK. I don’t approve of the large nets that garner so much ‘bikill’ in the process. I think 1 piece of seafood, for example a single shrimp, results in 40 other sealife deaths. But oyster farming is beneficial to estuaries and I don’t think they feel ‘pain’ more than more evolved plants. I’d love to discuss this with you!
