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Comment by adverbly | Hacker News Reader

I recommend trying to eat more oysters and farmable shellfish.

They actually clean the water and have a positive impact on the ocean! Farming them is good!

This just reminds me of Louisiana oyster farmers in the US fighting against coastal restoration[1]. Part of me is convinced they are happier having more of our state erode away which will create more oyster farm beds.

[1]https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/louisiana-oyster-in...

But oysters are really not good. It tastes weird with too strong a note of salty water and has a pretty bad texture that makes masticating unenjoyable. They are poor man's food that got super expensive with clever marketing and supply management (and since they need to be alive the supply chain is extremely complicated and expensive, you can't store them for long).

If you live near a sea and can get them dirt cheap why not, but if you live far into the land, they are mostly a waste of good money and a way for pretentious people to appear fancy/rich at the Christmas holiday.

There are lots of ways to cook oysters, which significantly lessens the briny taste and gelatinous texture.

While it's true that their rise in the West was mostly from clever marketing, oysters are just considered normal seafood in many countries and are cooked into dishes.

But yes, the premium price due to the raw oyster trend makes it not worth it if you live far away from the sea.

I'm sure there are some good ways to make it quite palatable but the issue is really the price that makes no sense. In France, last time I calculated, they are more expensive by weight than a prime cut of beef, that's just dumb.

If they would make cooked products with them at a decent price I could have an interest, but since they make so much money by selling it as a delicacy with a premium price it's never going to happen.

It's just not a very competitive protein source, regardless of the taste/enjoyability and that's the issue in the end...

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