The Food Chain

All of us humans should have a lil knowledge about the food chain, even if it's just the basics. This is an environmentally-related post =)

My summary on the food chain

- Basically, the lowest end of the food chain is the producers, or plants, since they do not EAT anything. They get energy from light.

- Next level would be herbivores who take that energy from the plants by eating them. Higher up and you'll get things eating the herbivores etc etc, until u reach the top of the food chain, u get things like humans and tigers.

One thing many people (even I didn't initially) don't realize is that sometimes, by eating food or animals high up in the food chain, you're actually putting them in danger of extinction. Humans are an exception of course, we don't eat each other and we have plenty of food sources. But take sharks, tigers or even SALMON or COD FISH.

I know, salmon and cod fish don't sound anywhere near a predator compared to the likes of tigers and sharks.

Mmmhmm...

The point is, they are indeed high up on the food chain, salmons and cod fish that is. If you've noticed a trend, things high on the food chain usually reproduce slow and are not large in numbers (again, horny humans are an exception). Tigers, sharks, large jungle cats etc. While salmon and cod fish are rather abundant in the past, it's because they were not so commercially exploited as they are today, as is the case for blue-finned tuna (these things are freakin huge, nothing near what u'd expect to find in a can of tuna). Globalization has blurred boundaries between countries and eliminated physical borders, take an example here, you can have japanese food just bout anywhere in the world. And they focus a lot of sea food, in fact, they're the prime consumers/fishers/exploiters of such fishes.

To cut it short, these formally locally exploited species that are high on the food chain can no longer sustain their numbers if they're gonna be continuously killed at this booming commercial rate. It's a lot to ask, but what I'll do from now is reduce my intake of such species anyway, at least what I'll do on my own that is. Less salmon and sashimi, away with sharks fin soup, to hell with turtle/whale products and I'm still a happy man eating the poor poultry animals.

Chicken (Scientifically known as Gallus gallus)

*Oh yes, btw Jin, I could finally open the Youtube link u sent me: Coming home by Vinnie Moore, and the song oozes sweetness, thanks man!