Monday, September 24, 2007
Good Eats
I totally ripped this idea from the eminent Mike Strickland, but it's too good an idea to leave quiet.
As more than a few divers are aware, due to overfishing and ever rising mercury levels in the swordfish steaks and the toro sushi that is so delicious, there is good seafood and there is not-so-good seafood. Then there is the stuff any responsible consumer and/or health conscious individual needs to avoid altogether.
But how to keep track when there are so many fish in the sea?
At a bawdy, topside dinner during the recent Oceanblue Divers' trip to California's Channel Islands, Mike unfolded a little card he'd pulled out of his wallet and compared it to the menu before ordering.
When questioned by the curious lot around him, he passed around a super-groovy, wallet sized seafood guide. Even giving it away to I-don't-remember-whom.
"I can just go to the Monterey aquarium website for another," he explained.
So can you. Click that link and choose your particular area of the world. Print the guide, fold it up, keep it in your wallet for reference the next time you go out for fancypants, restaurant food.
Mike, being the polite sort, offered his copy of the guide to anyone at the table who was interested before ordering their meal that night.
I'm not polite, so I'd suggest holding your butterknife to your friend's neck until they change their order from Chilean Seabass to something less detrimental to our planet. You could even use such a tactic on diners at other tables. They'll appreciate it, trust me. You'll just be helping them help make the world a better place.
Just for fun, check out the rest of the Monterey Bay Aquarium here. They have a White Shark. That's cool. I hope it lives.
As more than a few divers are aware, due to overfishing and ever rising mercury levels in the swordfish steaks and the toro sushi that is so delicious, there is good seafood and there is not-so-good seafood. Then there is the stuff any responsible consumer and/or health conscious individual needs to avoid altogether.
But how to keep track when there are so many fish in the sea?
At a bawdy, topside dinner during the recent Oceanblue Divers' trip to California's Channel Islands, Mike unfolded a little card he'd pulled out of his wallet and compared it to the menu before ordering.
When questioned by the curious lot around him, he passed around a super-groovy, wallet sized seafood guide. Even giving it away to I-don't-remember-whom.
"I can just go to the Monterey aquarium website for another," he explained.
So can you. Click that link and choose your particular area of the world. Print the guide, fold it up, keep it in your wallet for reference the next time you go out for fancypants, restaurant food.
Mike, being the polite sort, offered his copy of the guide to anyone at the table who was interested before ordering their meal that night.
I'm not polite, so I'd suggest holding your butterknife to your friend's neck until they change their order from Chilean Seabass to something less detrimental to our planet. You could even use such a tactic on diners at other tables. They'll appreciate it, trust me. You'll just be helping them help make the world a better place.
Just for fun, check out the rest of the Monterey Bay Aquarium here. They have a White Shark. That's cool. I hope it lives.
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That's great that the aquarium is handing out this advice in a pocketsize seafood guide. The decision of what fish to eat can be a challenge and often contradictory. At the very least, people should know that FDA and EPA have issued advisories about mercury contamination in commonly-sold fish. The problem is, this information is hard to find and is not usually available where it is most necessary: your supermarket.
Oceana, a conservation group, is trying to get major grocery companies to post this government advice at their seafood counters. Thanks, in part to their work, Whole Foods, Safeway stores, and Wild Oats voluntarily agreed to post the FDA’s recommendations and they have had positive responses from customers and no loss in seafood sales. But other companies like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Giant have refused to do so. Oceana has a list of which companies care about their customers’ health enough to post this advice, as well as a list of companies that don’t. You can get the Green List and Red List at their website.
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Oceana, a conservation group, is trying to get major grocery companies to post this government advice at their seafood counters. Thanks, in part to their work, Whole Foods, Safeway stores, and Wild Oats voluntarily agreed to post the FDA’s recommendations and they have had positive responses from customers and no loss in seafood sales. But other companies like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Giant have refused to do so. Oceana has a list of which companies care about their customers’ health enough to post this advice, as well as a list of companies that don’t. You can get the Green List and Red List at their website.
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