Diet Blog #1: (Leviticus 11:9-12)

Diet Blog #1:  (Leviticus 11:9-12)

Shrimp!  America’s Favorite, Edible, Creeping…ABOMINATION!

Abomination [əˌbɒm əˈneɪ ʃən] -  Abhorrence; disgust; a person or thing that is disgusting; a vile or shameful action, condition, or habit. (from Latin abominare, "to deprecate as an ill omen")

What’s your favorite shrimp dish?  Is it, Shrimp Scampi, Grilled Shrimp, Shrimp Jambalaya, Coconut Shrimp, or some good ol’ Southern Fried Shrimp?  This popular crustacean is definitely the epitome of versatility when it comes to cooking seafood.  So, it’s not surprising that Americans consume over 1 billion pounds of shrimp a year.  But here is a little known truth about the shrimp you are consuming that may not be so popular.  This may shock you…

• 90% of the shrimp that is imported into the US travels all the way from India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• No more than 2% of this imported shrimp is inspected by the FDA
• Only 0.1% of the imported seafood is tested by the FDA for chemical residues
• The imported shrimp is so dirty, that it accounts for 26 to 35 percent of seafood that is rejected due to its filthy conditions.
• Mouse hair, rat hair, cockroaches, and pieces of insects can be found in these shipments of imported shrimp. 
• These crustaceans are raised on farms.
• The conditions of these farms are highly unsanitary and intolerable even for a measly shrimp.
• The shrimp are contained in tiny, overcrowded pens that are filled with infectious bacteria like: Salmonella, E.coli, and other bacteria.
• To keep the shrimp from dying off of their own sewage, the shrimp farmers pour illegal antibiotics into the contaminated pens. Some of these antibiotics are:  Enrofloxacin, an antibiotic that is banned for human use, but is used for domesticated animals, and is known to deteriorate the immune system. Chloramphenicol, suspected to cause cancer in humans like Leukemia. Nitrofurazone is a carcinogen (any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer), and can cause disinclined organisms including fungi and Pseudomonas.
• These shrimp torture farms are also disturbing the environment as well. The shrimp farms are constructed along the coastlines of the sea.  During the construction process, many Mangrove Forests are destroyed.  Mangrove Forests are highly important ecosystems. The Mangrove forest exceeds the Rain Forest in absorbing and confining vast amounts of harmful, climate changing carbon dioxides. These forests also grow brackish wetlands between land and sea, where other plants can’t grow.  They protect the coastline and prevent erosion by collecting sediment from rivers and streams and slowing down the flow of water. 

It’s obvious to me that shrimp is no longer an edible once it reaches your plate.   From these facts alone, my opinion is that shrimp is highly unfit for human consumption.  But the bible also tells us, in Leviticus 11:9-12 “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:  They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.”

How do you feel about Shrimp now?