Oysters are among the few animals that people of the world still eat alive and raw.
They have a long history of nourishing the human race. When the first white settlers arrived on the shores of North America, one of the most impressive indications they had of the richness of the new land was the abundance, large size, and excellence of the oysters. Friendly Indians reportedly brought oysters along with wild turkeys to the first Thanksgiving. They taught the settlers how to tong the bivalves with leather, and how to dry them for winter food. On the eastern side of the Atlantic, oysters have been a prized food since the pre-Christian era.