as a result of my food obsession, my friend, emily leary, suggested i read marion nestle's book called, "what to eat: an aisle-by-aisle guide to savvy food choices and good eating."
this is what i found on page 208:
"farmed salmon...are raised like cattle in feedlots. they are confined in pools of antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals, and wastes, which then spill the equivalent of raw sewage into local waters. if the fish escape - which millions invariably do every year - they can end up in the wrong ocean (atlantic salmon in the pacific northwest, for example), compete for resources, and spread diseases like sea lice to wild fish, and when the mate with wild fish, change the genetic basis of the population..."
yuck.yuck.yuck.
there is a lot more information in the fish chapters of her book. big fish eating littler fish and all about PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
the most important stuff, though, seems to be:
avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackeral, and tilefish - to avoid all the mercury they have in them. the fda suggests pregnant women should NEVER eat these fish. and they suggest only eating albacore tuna once a week...but if pregnant women shouldn't eat them, should the rest of rest assured that we'll be just fine?
marion nestle suggests "you can safely eat farmed salmon from chile and washington state, but you should avoid farmed salmon if it comes from more polluted places like scotland and the faroe islands. you can get rid of about half the PCBs in farmed salmon by following these steps: score the flesh; grill or broil the salmon until it reaches an internal temperature of 175 degrees and the juices run off; and remove the skin before eating."
or just always try to make sure your fish is wild caught.
for more information on which fish are safe to eat (both for yourself and the environment) check here:
http://www.seafoodchoices.com/smartchoices/findseafood.php
another good resource is thefishlist.org that gives you a very simple list of fish to "enjoy" and fish to "avoid."
(but right now it seems like the site is having some problems...)
and for a pocket-sized guide...
http://www.edf.org/documents/1980_pocket_seafood_selector.pdf
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi 1207-1273, written in 1230
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2 comments:
oh ming, i'm so on the same page.
after this whole times article recently about mercury in sushi grade tuna and listening to this guy from the environmental defense fund talking about the environmental and heath risks with fish (and nearly puking on his talk of farmed salmon), i've nearly sworn off fish. it sucks, because i love fish. i have the little fish list that i got from patagonia in my wallet, but they never seem to have the right stuff at restaurants.
ugh. yuck.
So now I've become one of "those" people who ask whether the fish is farmed or wild caught.
I used to tell the story of when I was a waitress and a customer asked if the swordfish was line caught or speared. I went into the kitchen to ask the cooks. The chef answered "Lined" and the assistant chef (who later became my husband) answered "Speared". It was simultaneous which was hilarious and they looked at each other, looked at me, and then both shrugged - again all simultaneously - which, of course made it even more hilarious.
We decided - after pulling ourselves together - to simply guess. So I returned to the customer and announced that it was lined to which he promptly responded - in snobbish disgust - "Ugh, I never eat lined fish - they're too tough from the fighting". (!!!)
Anyway, I hadn't planned on being one of "those" people. But now that the stakes are a bit higher (licey, sewerage-covered, pesticidal swamp-fish vs. merely "tough" from "fighting") I guess it's ok.
Makes me wonder though, how many servers actually 'know' whether the fish are caught or farmed. Ewww.
Thanks for helping us keep healthy Meggins!
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