Editing 1587: Food Rule

{{comic
| number    = 1587
| date      = October 7, 2015
| title     = Food Rule
| image     = food_rule.png
| titletext = I won't eat invertebrates, because I can fight a skeleton, but I have no idea what kind of spooky warrior a squid leaves behind.
}}

==Explanation==
There are various {{w|Vegetarianism|vegetarian}} diets which restrict certain foods for ethical or personal concerns. The traditional standard for vegetarianism is not eating any kind of meat, but some people consider themselves to follow a form of vegetarianism, while still eating specific meats, such as poultry or fish, or meat from specific sources (such as {{w|Roadkill cuisine|roadkill}}). On the other hand, {{w|veganism|vegans}} typically go further, and refuse to use animal byproducts, such as eggs and milk, and even honey. 

Some vegetarians follow a more capricious rule: ''[https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debate/dont-eat-anything-face/#/ don't eat anything with a face]''. This is likely, at least in part, a facetious response to demands over where the line should be drawn: if cows and pigs deserve life, what about mosquitoes, and worms, and bacteria. This standard sidesteps the whole argument by declaring that anything that looks vaguely similar to people (since faces are the main way we identify people) are enough like us that they deserve at least some protection.

[[Randall]] presents an alternative rule: ''I won't eat something if I have to Google to figure out whether or not it has a face'', and presents a list (see [[#Items on the list|details]] below) of allowed and forbidden food in his diet. For the most part, this consists of a typical omnivorous diet. He'll eat things that obviously aren't animals, like fruits, vegetables and grains, and he'll eat meat from typical livestock, like cows, pigs and chickens, but the section in the middle, consisting of ocean-dwelling invertebrates, is off-limits him. The implication is that animals without an obvious face are strange enough to be off-putting. Rather than basic dietary restrictions on ethical or health considerations, this bases them on familiarity and perceived weirdness. 

The title text gives another rule that also would make these same three omissions. This rule is about not eating {{w|Invertebrate|invertebrates}} (animals without a {{w|vertebral column}}, i.e. spineless creatures). All of the foods he's willing to eat are either vertebrate animals or plants. His reason for avoiding invertebrates is somewhat outlandish: he fears that the spirits from creatures he has eaten will come back to haunt him. In horror stories, {{w|undead}} creatures often appear as spooky skeletons. Randall apparently doesn't find such skeletons overly concerning (insisting that he can fight them), but being haunted by something unknown is too much. Restricting your diet based on fear of being haunted is an even more unusual strategy. 

The comic may also be a joke on the modern {{w|Paleolithic diet|paleo diet}} trend, which emphasizes eating fruit, vegetables, and meat ("anything with a face"). 

Randall has previously depicted cuttlefish as spooky in [[520: Cuttlefish]], and he's also mentioned his dislike of certain foods (namely {{w|lobster}} - another invertebrate) in [[1268: Alternate Universe]].

===Items on the list===
[[File:Makrele. Augen. IMG 9974WI.jpg|thumb|right|Most fish have distinct facial features.]]
[[File:Double Fantasy (48886220186).jpg|thumb|right|Squids may have very prominent eyes, but their beak is obscured by long grabbing tentacles, resulting in an alien-looking face for us vertebrates.]]
[[File:Some sort of grains (3697148515).jpg|thumb|right|Grain does not have a face.]]
Here is a list with explanation for each item on Randalls food list:
*{{w|Red meat}}, includes meat from most adult {{w|mammals}}, but many people will probably think of {{w|beefsteak}} from {{w|cattle}}.
*{{w|Pork}}, is meat from {{w|Domestic pig|pigs}}. While technically a "red meat" (according to the US Department of Agriculture) it is popularly considered "the other {{w|white meat}}", hence its own bullet point. 
*{{w|Poultry}} are domesticated birds; most people will think of {{w|Chicken (food)|chicken}}.
*{{w|Fish}} covers a very large group of animals, most of them are not eaten on a regular basis, but a large group of fish are {{w|Fish as food|used as food}}.
*{{w|Shrimp}} is used to refer to {{w|Decapoda|ten-footed}} {{w|crustacean}} and some of these are {{w|Shrimp (food)|used for food}}. In the UK they often go under the name {{w|prawns}}. Shrimps can have quite prominent eyes, but their visage is otherwise difficult to describe, with multiple organs and antennae not present in vertebrates. However, many pictures of cute shrimp faces can be found on Google Images.
*{{w|Oysters}} refers to a family of {{w|mollusca}} within the class {{w|bivalvia}} (i.e. body enclosed in shells consisting of two hinged parts). Most people will probably think of the {{w|Ostreidae|true oysters}} specifically the {{w|Ostrea edulis|edible oyster}}, which are not the only edible oyster!. Note that the {{w|pearl oyster}} is not a true oyster. Oysters do not have eyes, and its mouth is difficult to find, so it is easy to argue it does not have a face.
*{{w|Squid}} are {{w|cephalopods}} (also of the mollusca family) with eight arms arranged in pairs and two longer tentacles. They are closely related to {{w|cuttlefish}} and {{w|octopuses}}.
*{{w|Fruit}} is a part of a flowering plant. Common fruits are {{w|apples}}, {{w|oranges}}, {{w|bananas}} and {{w|pear|pears}}. But in principle anything that comes from a flower is a fruit, including grains. Although in a culinary sense there is a distinction between vegetables and fruit, any part of a flower is actually a vegetable. See below and also see [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]].
*{{w|Vegetables}} are any kind of plant. But in everyday it refers to any part of a plant that is consumed by humans as food as part of a {{w|Umami|savoury}} meal, thus excluding fruit, {{w|Nut (fruit)|nuts}} and cereal grains. For instance a {{w|tomato}} would be seen as a vegetable due to its taste and as a fruit botanically – see the Venn diagram {{w|Fruit#Botanic fruit and culinary fruit|here}}.
*{{w|Grain|Grains}} are small, hard, dry {{w|seeds}}. Usually when mentioning these people will think of breakfast {{w|cereal}} grains. Typical grains are {{w|corn}}, {{w|rice}} and {{w|wheat}}. As mentioned above grains are botanically both a fruit and a vegetable.

==Transcript==
:[There is a caption above a list of food with indication whether it is OK or not to eat. Below is another caption.]

:My food rule:
:{| class="wikitable" style="border: 0px;"
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Red meat
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Pork
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Poultry
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Fish
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Shrimp
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | X
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Oysters
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | X
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Squid
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | X
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Fruit
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Vegetables
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Grains
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✓
|}
:I won't eat something if I have to Google to figure out whether or not it has a face.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]