Somewhere in Japan, penguins are making a stand. Not with signs, not with hashtags, but with the universal language of Nope.

At Hakone-en Aquarium in Kanagawa, the zookeepers are facing the same reality we humans face at the grocery store: inflation is brutal. The price of fatty, delicious aji (Japanese horse mackerel) has gone up, so the penguins and otters are being offered saba instead. A cheaper, slimier, less luxurious fish. And guess what? The animals aren’t having it.

Some peck at it like suspicious toddlers presented with broccoli. Others flat out turn their beaks skyward, a move that screams: You expect me to eat this? Do you not know who I am? I’m a penguin, darling, not a bargain bin scavenger.

And honestly? I get it. Because isn’t this just the animal kingdom version of us being told to switch from red meat to chicken, or from butter to margarine, or (my personal betrayal moment) from caffeine to decaf? Whether it’s because of medical advice, wallet realities, or sheer guilt, humans also know what it feels like to stare at the “cheaper” option and mutter under our breath: Absolutely not.

Of course, some penguins cave. Just like some of us eventually learn to make peace with oat milk or “zoodles.” But the really stubborn ones? The ones holding out for their aji? They still get the good stuff. Lucky them. The rest are basically in a living experiment in dietary compromise.

But here’s the rub: animals don’t overthink it. They aren’t calculating protein grams or watching their budgets stretch thin. They’re simply saying: this doesn’t feel right, and I won’t eat it. Meanwhile, we humans try to intellectualize, rationalize, budget-plan, and meal-prep our way through the same indignity.

The penguins remind us that at the end of the day, food isn’t just fuel. It’s comfort, ritual, and identity. Sometimes we’ll swallow the saba. Other times, we turn up our beaks. And once in a while, if we’re lucky, we still get our metaphorical aji.

So maybe the lesson is this. Cut yourself some slack the next time you balk at dietary substitutions. You’re not being picky. You’re being penguin.