True World and the Moonies

Interesting reading in the Trib on True World.

I'm not sure it was much of a secret, though.

I touched on this in a 2002 CH response to GWiv:

http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... 17108.html

Perhaps what is "secret" is the scope of True World's operations. I thought it was more of a regional operation.

I have to give credit to Katsu and his wife for coming right out and saying what the majority of sushi restaurant owners don't have the eggs to utter:

"'We try not to think of the religion part,''' said Haruko Imamura, who with her husband runs Katsu on West Peterson Avenue. 'We don't agree with their religion but it's nothing to do with the business.'"

I just hope Katsu's fish doesn't suffer!

We don't mind buying oil from countries that support Muslim extremists, why are we worried about buying sushi from a crackpot who simply invented his own relatively harmless religion. It's not like he's David Koresh or Jim Jones. I think his religion is wacky, but the sushi empire is simply a free market success story -- sushi has gotten really popular, and he supplies lots of it. He didn't do it illegally. He just saw a wide-open market and went for it. I won't go out of my way to support the Moonies, but I'm not going to avoid eating sushi. At some point, when all the international bans and treaties controlling the catching of fish go into effect, he may have to find something else to do. But I think Moon's success is just another example of why Koreans have built such a massively successful country (a "Pacific tiger" that was, in the 1960s, the third poorest country in the world). These folks are smart, hard-working, and they hustle.

Buying this fish is no different than shopping at Dominick's, owned by Safeway which is also a company with religious affiliations (granted, they are now publicly traded). What difference does it make (unless you have to sit through a sermon when ordering your fish)?

"Rev." Moon is a bit more complicated than just some wack-oid, or a harmless cartoon. Nor would I compare his to any (or at least most) other religions in the sense that his a much more a cult of personality...he sets himself up as the god figure. Further, per the Tribune, he (Moon) states that the holocaust was an extracted payment for Jewish sins and that he regularly consults with Hitler, Stalin and Lenin among others.
That said, it IS tough to make food/restaurant choices based on who may be supplying any particular items. Even when we think we've made the politically correct choices, there may well be some angle we've overlooked. Ultimately it would be preferrable if Moon made some misstep along the way that could be prosecuted to the fullest.

RMaris9 wrote:"Rev." Moon is a bit more complicated than just some wack-oid, or a harmless cartoon. Nor would I compare his to any (or at least most) other religions in the sense that his a much more a cult of personality...he sets himself up as the god figure. Further, per the Tribune, he (Moon) states that the holocaust was an extracted payment for Jewish sins and that he regularly consults with Hitler, Stalin and Lenin among others.

How does any of this effect the quality/taste/price of his fish? That should be the topic of conversation on this board (if any). We had a similar thread a while back where someone was dissing Oberweis Ice Cream because they didn't agree with the owner's political opinions. Such discussions are irrelevant and (supposedly) forbidden on this board. I may or may not agree with Rev. Moon or Jim Oberweis, but I enjoy both of their products.

Okay, as noted in the other thread in which some of the very same folks have participated, this is a FOOD board and while the Tribune article means that this is a somewhat unavoidable topic, we are just not going to get into who is or is not either God or, God forbid, Hitler here. Keep it on fish and off The Big Fisherman.

P.S. Shouldn't that be RMaris61*? Of course, that's another forbidden topic...

He's an interesting read on Wikipedia.

stevez wrote:We had a similar thread a while back where someone was dissing Oberweis Ice Cream because they didn't agree with the owner's political opinions. Such discussions are irrelevant and (supposedly) forbidden on this board. I may or may not agree with Rev. Moon or Jim Oberweis, but I enjoy both of their products.

Food is an inherently political subject -- this is just another aspect. Other political issues surrounding food include agricultural and environmental concerns, imports and world trade, big business vs. independents, biotechnology, health and nutrition policy, human rights, animal welfare, food safety, bioterrorism and on and on. Food is also inherently bound up in religion, as anyone who's been giving up meat on Fridays or avoiding bread this week can tell you.

I don't see this as much different than discussions of the morality of eating foie gras and imported produce or patronizing chain restaurants and big-box grocery stores.

For some, food tastes better because they believe in what it stands for. I can readily believe that someone would prefer Ben & Jerry's to Oberweiss for such a reason.

Once Again

Folks,

A reminder, religion and politics are a no-fly zone on LTHForum.

LTHForum Posting Guidelines

Enjoy,
Gary for the Moderators

Well, it's an interesting discussion of whether or not this is a legitimate discussion! To me, it's tough to discuss just the consumption of sushi now that we know from where it's supplied. Is it too much like ignoring the real world to discuss the food without discussing the source? This is somewhat comparable, to my mind, to discussing currency arbitrage in the 80's and ignoring the reality behind Kruggerands. As to Oberweis (Mr. and Inc.)...I don't think mere viewpoints and general politics are comparable to what Mr. Moon represents. I think this discussion is salient to the enjoyment and consumption of this particular food (and unlike Eric Zorn, I like Sushi). If it is decided otherwise, I am able to understand that call as well.
As to 61*, using Maris' uni number avoids the issue. I'll bet Bonds wishes his issues were so benign.

RMaris9 wrote:Well, it's an interesting discussion of whether or not this is a legitimate discussion!

There are plenty of forums who are happy to discuss your topic. However we like to keep LTHforum focussed on the food aspects. Please acquaint yourself with this post on debating moderator decisions.

Best regards,