All You Can Eat: The True Story Behind America's Most Popular Seafood

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Americans eat more shrimp than any other seafood: on average, each person in the US gobbles up close to six pounds of the cheap crustaceans every year. We can eat so many of these bug-like shellfish because they’re incredibly inexpensive, making them the stars of all-you-can-eat shrimp buffets and single-digit seafood deals. But we've got bad news: this is one bargain that's too good to be true. More than 90 percent of the shrimp we eat comes from overseas, where looser regulations lead to horrific labor abuses, environmental destruction, and the use of banned chemicals and antibiotics—all while American shrimpers struggle to survive. This episode, we’re exploring the history of how shrimp went from a fancy delicacy to buffet bargain (yes, Forrest Gump is involved), plus what to do if you want to enjoy everybody's favorite seafood with a clear conscience. Hold the cocktail sauce: this episode will change how you look at your favorite appetizer forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Growing up in the northeast in the 70s and 80s there was a chain like a
0:08.2	micro chain called Beefsteak Charleys and it advertised an unlimited shrimp bar.
0:14.7	I'm beefsteak, Charlie, and I'm warning you,
0:16.8	my free shrimp and salad bar could ruin your appetite.
0:19.8	I found the old commercial, and it's this couple comes into beefstakes charlies and they go
0:24.0	oh shrimp shrimp shrimp shrimp shrimp
0:27.0	shrimp and they get themselves into a lather and all they're saying is shrimp again and again and again.
0:34.2	And then beef steak Charlie arrives with the steaks.
0:40.8	Here's steaks?
0:41.8	And he goes and here's your steaks. Here's steaks. And he goes and here's your steaks.
0:43.0	And they go steak.
0:45.0	Shrimp shrimp shrimp.
0:47.0	It's what makes America great.
0:49.0	Or at least it's certainly what Americans think is great.
0:51.0	Because Americans eat more shrimp than any other seafood at all.
0:55.4	It is the number one seafood in America.
0:57.6	Shrimp is the most beloved seafood in America.
1:00.1	We are obviously the most beloved podcast in America.
1:03.4	It's an episode made in heaven.
1:05.7	And we, of course, are Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food
1:09.0	through the lens of science and history.
1:10.8	I'm Nicola Twilly.
	...

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