AN IMPORTANT FISH ANNOUNCEMENT
As I try and sail the choppy waters of Responsible Eating — whole grains and foods when I can, many colors every day, servings sizes, etc — I sometimes forget that there’s another side to this whole eating thing. The eating green part.
On principle, I am totally down with this. I want food that came to me as soon as it could have, not to be obtained in a way that destroys forests and oceans, let alone the poor guy gathering it (although fair trade and green are not always a happy couple, which is a shame.) It is harder in practice, what with a strange label nomenclature, people cashing in on this movement, and the straight up difficulty in choosing food in the first place. I’m not sure what a good pear should look like, much less where it should say it comes from. And then there’s the decoding. An apple from New Zealand had to travel farther than the mushy things from Washington, but the Washington apples aren’t labeled organic and those New Zealand apples are, plus the Washington Apples are mushy because they aren’t yet in season I think, or is it just this store’s batch? And on and on ad infinitum.
CHOOSY CONSUMERS CHOOSE TEDIUM
I must admit: now that I live in a verdant land with fertile soil, it is easier for me to do this. In the arid high plains there is less local bounty, though if I had gone to the farmer’s market more often while I was there I probably would have surprised myself. Then again, I know we didn’t have the climate to grow mangoes and oranges that some of the people were peddling. So it’s hard to know.
And back to fish — it’s hard enough trying to wade through all the labels. When you suddenly have real choices it becomes a nightmare. The local tiny butcher has dozens of fishy comestibles, many I had never seen fresh (anchovies, sardines), or have only read about in french cooking blogs (sole). What can I say? I’m not fancy.
When Anthony was here, we went up to Newport to see the aquarium and the town. While walking by the sort of industrial part of the wharf, we saw men in waders processing fish, to which I’ve always thought, “that is the way of things here, no big deal.” And I thought this until I turned the corner, and saw processed tuna being dumped into a huge dump-truck. The tuna meat was overflowing onto the ground, and the seagulls were calmly waiting, which is strange for a seagull. Evidently this was so routine that the birds had learned that with this feast, it’s okay to wait. Sure enough, the truck pulled alway, and the birds flew down and feasted on the heaped tuna bits.
A kind of shaggy guy was walking near us and when on a Corporate People Making Money That They Just Throw Into The Streets – type rant, which I kind of ignored, but it also kind of bothered me. Because he was right. Really, who do they think they are? If there is enough to spill onto the ground regularly, there is too much, I think. So that’s no good just on a straight up excess sort of way — in this economy you can’t afford to be sprinkling money everywhere methinks — but when you then consider the over-fishing aspects it’s a little appalling.
And maybe I’m wrong — I don’t know anything about the fishing industry, and I have no idea what works and what doesn’t. I’m not mad the seagulls got fed of course, and fishy stuff is much better for them than fritos. So what is one to do?
Well, one can ask them about it, which is what I plan on doing. Not in a condescending sort of way, just a letter in ernest. Probably they are doing exactly what they should be doing, and cannot do any more. But then I would feel better about it. And if not, maybe I can help them learn something.
It’s a naively simple strategy, yes. But I think it’s a good start. Quietly request sustainable fishing, one letter at a time.
I was just checking up on my food blogs and Clotilde wrote a really thoughtful piece about this very topic. It included (for us Yankee Doodles) charts c/o the Monterey Bay Aquarium, saying exactly which fish are the best eco-friendly choices, which are okay alternatives, and which you should stay away from in your area.
And you’d be surprised: There are just as many options for the Central US than there are for us North Westerners. Fish lovers, rejoice.
As Clotilde mentions, this isn’t exactly the be all and end all of the problem, but it’s a start.
