Four Fish by Paul Greenberg - tackles this very subject. I recommend it. http://roundvalleyfishing.com/2011/06/15/book-review-four-fi...
Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
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Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#32Can't eat beef because of mad cow and the heavy medication used in breeding; same goes for pigs and chicken and all other mass-produced meat. On top of that you have the question of animal cruelty and the questionable necessity of killing animals to eat them attached to it. Plus it is generally not that healthy to eat it all the time and you shouldn't eat meat more than once or twice a week or so. Can't eat fish for…
For decades we as a species have been deciding to turn food into an industry. This decision has had disastrous consequences, but like CO2 in the atmosphere it can't be reversed overnight.
Cross-pollination can bring genetically modified strains into organic crops, making it hard to keep a crop organic even if you want to.
Run-off from industrial agriculture has damaged water and soil, which will impact whatever is planted, whether organic or not.
Soil depletion has also lead to decreased nutrient presence in fruits and vegetables.
Industrial agriculture has reduced the number of varieties of each species grown. Why does all broccoli look the same? Surely pre-industry, there were numerous varieties of broccoli.
Land is not divided in such a way to make local, small-scale, organic farms practical. Where are you going to put a farm in New York City or Los Angeles?
This is not to say the problem can't be fixed, but we are living in a non-ideal time for food, so there won't be any ideal choices. The only thing you can do is make better choices, and try to turn the direction of food production around so that eventually ideal choices will be possible.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a very interesting link, but saying that we might as well not bother because there's labeling issues is rather overstating the problem. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Did you even read the lede? >Scientists aiming their gene sequencers at commercial seafood are discovering rampant labeling fraud in supermarket coolers and restaurant tables: cheap fish is often substituted for expensive fillets, and overfished species are passed off as fish whose numbers are plentiful. The link states that overfished species are being intentionally mis-labelled. I would say that, yes, we might as w…
Well, I'm actually all for government regulation of this kind of thing. In fact, I would argue that this is a wonderful example of a case where government regulation is required for the free market to function: markets depend on a good flow of correct information to function.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#34Can't eat beef because of mad cow and the heavy medication used in breeding; same goes for pigs and chicken and all other mass-produced meat. On top of that you have the question of animal cruelty and the questionable necessity of killing animals to eat them attached to it. Plus it is generally not that healthy to eat it all the time and you shouldn't eat meat more than once or twice a week or so. Can't eat fish for…
For decades we as a species have been deciding to turn food into an industry. This decision has had disastrous consequences, but like CO2 in the atmosphere it can't be reversed overnight. Cross-pollination can bring genetically modified strains into organic crops, making it hard to keep a crop organic even if you want to. Run-off from industrial agriculture has damaged water and soil, which will impact whatever is pl…
> Why does all broccoli look the same? Surely pre-industry, there were numerous varieties of broccoli.
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic here or not. If you are sincere then you are mistaken beyond your wildest dreams. All cultivars of the broccoli species look magnificently different.
Broccoli, kale, collard greens, Chinese broccoli, cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli and broccoflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi are all different cultivars within the same species: Brassica oleracea.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#35Can't eat beef because of mad cow and the heavy medication used in breeding; same goes for pigs and chicken and all other mass-produced meat. On top of that you have the question of animal cruelty and the questionable necessity of killing animals to eat them attached to it. Plus it is generally not that healthy to eat it all the time and you shouldn't eat meat more than once or twice a week or so. Can't eat fish for…
Sustainability and local product seem to be a big movement in the restaurant industry. Problem is, its only high-end or smaller restaurants. So as long as there's a dollar menu at McDonalds, industrial farms and bio-engineered pesticide-ridden fruits and veggies will be prevalent.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#36"Which are okay to eat?" implies how much mercury is present, but it seems this question is from an environmental perspective.
I think that would make an interesting poll... how many people read it as "Which are okay to eat - for our planet" and how many read it as "Which are okay to eat - for my health"?
For the planet.
Funnily enough my little lad asked me randomly "can we have cod". I'm conscious that we should only eat tuna once a week (line caught seems hot at the moment) but don't eat much fish and hadn't thought about mercury/environmental chemicals for other catches.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#37This is a silly list. Not because fish aren't important, but because there's no way to take action on this list. Studies have shown that a huge amount of fish is mislabelled. Yes, pick up a piece of xxxx from a seafood market and the odds are that it's not xxxx. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/earth/27fish.html Consumers have no effective way to verify what they're eating. This is a situation where there is…
Most of the passing-off is good news from a sustainability perspective. The most common substitute fish are pollock and farmed tilapia, catfish and basa, all highly sustainable. Here in the UK, cod prices are so high that most fish and chip shop menus just list 'fish' where they once listed cod, the generic fish invariably being farmed basa. Most popular processed fish products like fish fingers, breaded fillets and fish pies are using pollock in place of cod or haddock.
The most sustainable fish are the cheapest. If we can move past our fetish for eating apex predators, we can easily solve fish sustainability without the need for regulation.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#38I usually only eat what I can catch. And if I can catch it, well... that fish just won the Darwin award because I suck at fishing.
You can't tell just by having caught it. If it already had a lot of children and propagated its genes it's not very eligible for winning.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The environmental perspective is the most important. The truth is the oceans are dying and overfishing has created colossal dead zones. The best option that should be on this list is to not eat any fish at all.
> The best option that should be on this list is to not eat any fish at all. Your logic fails for the following reasons: - not all fish are from the ocean - not all species of fish are in fact overfished. There is no Sardine crisis. - Fish consumption is linked to increased IQ including in babies and children - Piscetarians have lower rates of heart disease than both vegans and occasional meat eaters - Promoting abst…
Just for the record, fish consumption is linked to increased IQ in children because of the presence of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.
Did you know though that both Flaxseed and Walnuts are both better, cheaper, and less environmentally damaging sources of Omega 3s than fish? Soybeans and Tofu are also pretty good sources.
I'm cool with people consuming less, not merely abstaining from eating fish. But for those out there who are willing to (and there are many such people in the tech community), it really is the best option.
Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
#40This renders very well on my android phone. Thanks.