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The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

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Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#101

Post by barbazoo »

eldenbishop wrote: post #38
asdff wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the methane from decomposing grass was net generated whether it passed through the cow or not?

You are correct. It's one of many sleight of hand tricks used to exaggerate the impact of beef. For some reason, certain parties don't want harm reduction policies on these issues, they want you to stop eating Beef altogether.

Sure you can argue about the specifics and how bad eating beef is for the environment and whether it's 10x worse or 100x worse than something else. But it's hard to argue that it's not causing an environmental problem that other foods simply wouldn't create. Monoculture, water poisoning, carbon footprint, animal cruelty, health and we haven't even considered the ethics of it yet. I get that it's part of our lifestyle but why is it so difficult to move on?

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#102

Post by barbazoo »

GavinMcG wrote: post #20
runawaybottle wrote: post #14

There’s a class of adult baby food that fish sticks fall under. It’s food that’s conceptually shaped for kids but adults have no problem eating this stuff with a straight face. Wendy’s nuggets look like chicken feet. I think as we figure out how to make protein alternatives that taste like meat, we’ll see a small rise in adult baby food, things shaped like a slim jim, etc. Then we can finally fulfill our prophecy of…

Why on earth should adults care what shape their food is? The childish thing is judging adults by completely substanceless distinctions like this.

I think this is only a problem in a subset of cultures, not one of "adults" in general.

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#103

Post by an_opabinia »

triceratops wrote: post #83
cheese_goddess wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe if you only ever bought a single phone and never discarded it, creating more e-waste that would not have a big impact on the environment. But if everyone buys one or two new phones a year then you have a mountain of waste. Of course you don't see it because it's a mountain that forms in some far away land where people are so poor they have to scavenge in the detritus of your electronics and can't afford to eat…

But if phones cost 4x what they do now, as GP suggests, people would replace their phone far less frequently.

Yes. The root cause of unsustainability is still something horrible - the abuse of labor - but not literally the same as environmental goals. This is a case where intersectionality really shines. You really can align goals because ending labor abuse is good for the environment.

Likewise, with meat, the root cause of unsustainability is the animal abuse that enables cheap meat. I'm definitely not blaming the consumer here. Of course you could make sustainable meat, it would just cost 10-400x more (Eating Animals is a great, broad take on this you could read).

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#104

Post by matwood »

yissp wrote: post #88
cheese_goddess wrote: post #51

> In 1953, 13 companies produced 3.4 million kilograms of fish sticks. A year later, four million kilograms were produced by another 55 companies. This surge in popularity was partly due to a marketing push that stressed the convenience of the new food: “no bones, no waste, no smell, no fuss,” as one Birds Eye advertisement proclaimed. A dirty lie, at least when it comes to "no waste", when you consider that the skin…

If people bought whole fish instead, do you think those parts wouldn't still go to waste? I guess you could use them for stock, but really, how many people would bother. If anything, I would guess food processing companies would have an easier time finding some use for them (like you said, as pet food or whatever).

Depends on the fish. The tails of many fish are great fried. It's just another crunchy item. Salmon skin is also tasty as long as you get it crisp when cooking. Mahi skin is kind of thick and chewy so I usually throw that away (or into the marsh for the local critters to eat). Most of the bass type fish skins are also tasty.

Heads are harder to deal with unless you want to make your own stock.

I grew up on the coast, catching, cleaning, and cooking my own fish all the time. I know not everyone has those experiences.

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#105

Post by matwood »

mbg721 wrote: post #47
leoc wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The extra bite from HP sauce makes it preferable to normal tomato ketchup here: the real sophisticate’s choice. ;)

I was always a fan of cocktail sauce (ketchup with horseradish).

Agree. Cocktail sauce with extra horseradish is great on all types of seafood - oysters, shrimp, fish, etc...

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#106

Post by switch007 »

s0rce wrote: post #89
dweekly wrote: post #40

This made me curious about how it was that Clarence Birdseye came to discover the fast-freeze approach that preserves flavor. The answer is surprisingly straightforward - he was a fur trader in Labrador (northern Canada) and noticed when he pulled fish out they froze immediately and were still delicious months later. So if only you could make fish as cold as northern Canada, you could make frozen fish tasty! It was f…

I like that you can still buy Birdseye brand frozen foods in the Grocery store.

It’s a pretty big, well known brand in the UK :)

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#107

Post by jfengel »

s0rce wrote: post #89
dweekly wrote: post #40

This made me curious about how it was that Clarence Birdseye came to discover the fast-freeze approach that preserves flavor. The answer is surprisingly straightforward - he was a fur trader in Labrador (northern Canada) and noticed when he pulled fish out they froze immediately and were still delicious months later. So if only you could make fish as cold as northern Canada, you could make frozen fish tasty! It was f…

I like that you can still buy Birdseye brand frozen foods in the Grocery store.

Nitpick: the brand is Birds Eye. After a series of mergers it's owned by Conagra, which also owns a dizzying array of brands, including Chef Boyardee and PF Chang's.

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#108

Post by supernova87a »

Funny that we have certain collective nouns that don't cross meat types.

-- Fish sticks

-- Chicken nuggets or fingers

-- Shrimp poppers

And beef / pork don't seem to ever fall into those. (pork sticks?? Beef nuggets??)

Maybe because beef, pork seem worthy of preserving identity as a piece of a distinguishable reputable whole parent, while fish, chicken, are sometimes almost.... um, extruded and need a noun of their own after such process?

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#109

Post by sokoloff »

barbazoo wrote: post #101
eldenbishop wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are correct. It's one of many sleight of hand tricks used to exaggerate the impact of beef. For some reason, certain parties don't want harm reduction policies on these issues, they want you to stop eating Beef altogether.

Sure you can argue about the specifics and how bad eating beef is for the environment and whether it's 10x worse or 100x worse than something else. But it's hard to argue that it's not causing an environmental problem that other foods simply wouldn't create. Monoculture, water poisoning, carbon footprint, animal cruelty, health and we haven't even considered the ethics of it yet. I get that it's part of our lifestyle…

It's difficult to move away from because it's part of our lifestyle.

Re: The Unlikely Success of Fish Sticks

#110

Post by sokoloff »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #9

I think the secret sauce for fish sticks’ success is tartar sauce. By themselves fish sticks are meh, but when dipped in tarter sauce, the taste is sublime. The shape and consistency of fish sticks make it easier to dip in tartar sauce.

I like fried battered fish with tartar sauce, but cocktail sauce (ketchup and prepared horseradish) is better IMO and malt vinegar is several factors better.
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