to the oceans,
our food choices matter
oceaneer, \\\\ˈō-shən–nir \\\\ noun:
Salty sea pet (cat or dog) who reduces (or ditches) consumption of
industrially fished/-farmed animal products –
for the sake of the oceans, and the living planet.
Awareness...
…is what we raise!
It’s us against pretty loaded & sophisticated Marketing departments & lobbyists!
Empowerment...
… is what drives us!
3 times a day we get to vote, with our hard-earned nuggets. Like democracy, but on steroids.
Reduction...
It’s not ‘all or nothing’. ‘Herbivore or meat-eater’. Reduction is a journey, and journeying we dig!
SO FAR SO GOOD – BUT WHAT’S UP WITH THE DINOSAUR IN THE LOGO?
CUTE! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘INDUSTRIAL’ FISHING/LIVESTOCK FARMING?
Industrial: Reduce!
Factories in place of farms. Intensive. Large-scale. Cheap. Shareholder value. Supermarkets. Exploitation.
Fishing:
– Commercial fleets
– Non-targeted (by-catch)
– Destructive and unsustainable
Livestock farming:
– Animals are treated as objects, no respect
– No relation between farmer and animal
– More animals than farm can feed
Non-industrial: Enjoy!
Connection between the human and the individual animal – respect, care and dignity. Back to the roots.
Fishing:
– Spear-/line fishing with focus on one animal
– Small-scale fish farms with high ethical standards
Livestock farming:
– Small farms with holistic methods (e.g. permaculture)
– Relationship between farmer and animal
– Animals can fulfil their social and physiological needs
– Lots of outdoor space, no use of antibiotics/hormones
WHAT’S THE BIG FUSS ABOUT?
WHAT’S WRONG WITH EFFICIENT ANIMAL-BASED FOOD-PRODUCTION?
Pretty much everything. It’s messed up. And it’s unfortunately tied to all animal products, including dairy and eggs (not just fish & meat). Here’s how industrial fishing/livestock farming impact our oceans, our planet, and us:
Environment
Overfishing, ecosystem collapses, ghost nets, ocean dead-zones, species extinction, habitat destruction, deforestation, water pollution/depletion, over-fertilization and yes – this little nuisance called climate change. They are all either strongly linked to, or directly caused by, these industries.
Suffering
More and more research suggests that fish can feel pain. Suffocating them in the air (most common method used to kill fish in farms)? Not cool! Even worse than being a fish, is being born as a livestock animal into a factory farm (aka ‘hell on earth’) – we’ve got enough research (and common sense) to know that.
Health
Industrial animal farms use large quantities of antibiotics pre-emptively – the high density would otherwise inevitably lead to the outbreak of diseases (happens anyway to due resistances among the bacteria). Hormones are also not a great delicacy on our plate, but they’re an ‘industry’s favourite’ too. An ever-increasing body of research shows that especially dairy products as well as (processed) meat aren’t great for us – and even increase the chance of lifestyle diseases.
ONLY IN NUMBERS, YOU TRUST?
SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN, YOU MUST!
EVERY MEAL MAKES A DIFFERENCE
GREAT! THANKS FOR SPOILING EVERY FUTURE MEAL… – SO WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Easy:
1 - Empower Yourself
join our Facebook page,
sing up for our newsletter –
and let us inspire you!
2 - Reduce
3 - Spread Awareness
Some of our friends
Together we’re strong – here are some of our favorite tribes that are doing amazing work in related fields, and that we proudly call our friends!
Start with the these 3 steps, and we’ll take it from there:
Here are the first 3 steps:
Ocean Pledge is a Cape Town based grass root community that fights plastic pollution in our oceans, by giving individuals the opportunity to take a pledge on their website.
Their motto? C.A.R.E.
That’s Collaborate, Act, Respond, and Enjoy!
Great stuff!
Greenpop reconnects people with nature, all over Africa!
And they do that in amazingly creative ways – e.g. through reforestation festivals, art projects and corporate events at under-resourced schools etc.
Greenpop has been a strong source of inspiration for the creation of Oceaneers – we can’t wait for the next festival!
The Fish Welfare Initiative tries to improve the lives the up to 180bn fish (!!!) that are farmed each year. It’s now no secret anymore that fish can experience pain – that’s why we dig the great work that the FWI-crew is doing, and are proud to call them part of our extended family.
Beyond the Surface International works at the local level with remote and marginalized small-scale fishing communities, for social-ecological wellbeing. Their work is based on the belief that ‘ocean conservation is a social just issue’ – we couldn’t agree more! And we’re so excited that the Emi Koch – founder and driving force – is our 4th Oceaneer Ambassador!
Who does not get excited by a good story? The Pirates behind Captain Fanplastic use the power of storytelling and gamification to raise awareness among primary school learners in South Africa about the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans. Iggy can’t wait to get his plastic eye patch!
#NoTrashButTreasure
“Now you SEA a way to protect turtles!”
Turtles might be their prime focus, but Local Ocean – located in beautiful Watamu, Kenya – does much more than that: Education, Community Outreach, Mangrove Restoration, Campaigning – the list goes on. We’ve visited them in early 2020, and left super inspired and determined to go back soon!
The world would definitely be sadder place without Fry’s – at least for us. It’s hard to estimate how many of their plant-based nuggets we have devoured in our post-surf wraps, but it’s definitely closer to 1000 than to 0. Having Tammy Fry as ambassador makes us so proud, and the support they give to organization like us is tremendous.
Recap: Oceaneers in a Seashell
As Oceaneers, we love to be in nature and in oceans, but as a species, we’re trashing both.
Industrial fishing and livestock farming are among the biggest drivers of this destruction, and in addition, cause extreme unnecessary suffering to billions of animals each year.
Unlike with other challenges, we’re fully empowered as individuals to make changes – each meal/ purchase is an opportunity to act, a vote for or against this industry.
The purpose of Oceaneers is to raise awareness about this impact of our food choices, and encourage ocean-dwellers to reduce their consumption of industrially fished/farmed animal products.
Oceaneers
Oceaneers is a community-driven initiative created by two ocean lovers who wanted to inspire others to see that the biggest positive impact they could make to ocean sustainability was to change their food choices.
© 2018 Oceaneers.For.Life
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