Functional Beverages
July 15, 2026The Oyster’s Cult
Michael Olson’s Food Chain Radio Show #1423
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Guest: Virginia Shaffer, Host – Lady Oyster Blog & Author,Oyster Society: Adventures with the Shellfishly Motivated
The Oyster Cult
I remember the moment I was induced to slurp down a freshly-shucked oyster. That so many of us remember that moment leads us to ask: What is it about the oyster that leads us to become its cultists?
Topics include a look at the history of the U.S. oyster business; a “taste” of different oyster varieties; and how the oyster spawned its cult of people.
I was recently engaged in trying to present a cogent argument to a young adult as to why they should eat their first freshly-shucked oyster. Now, if you think about it, that is one tough job.
For example, if the eyes are first to feast, how would you describe the appearance of a freshly-shucked oyster so that your naïve target’s mouth would water at the prospect of slurping that oyster down?
Well, what does that oyster look like, but a big wet, slobbery booger. Ewww!
And how about the smell… Kind of like a sock you fished out of the slew…. Ewww!
Perhaps that is why Jonathan Swift said, so long ago, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster!”
Yet, you and I were induced to eat that first oyster… and now we are Oyster Cult card-carriers of the Oyster’s cult! And so we ask: What is it about the oyster that leads us to become its cultists?
Leave a comment below: Are you an oyster lover?
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#1 Agriculture is the foundation upon which we build all our sand castles.
#2 The farther we go from the source of our food, the less control we have over what’s in that food.
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