Dr. Mercola December 18 2007 16,093 views
Very nicely stated. Economic boycotting works, it's as simple as buying what you really want. Lo and behold, they are selling more and successful. Your dollar has influence.
GreenApple,
Alan Watt's analysis seems on the mark, unfortunately.
www.alanwattsentientsentinel.eu/.../Alan_Watt_Blurb_FoodAndMentalLethargy_Dec072006.html
"Not too far in the future, it will be a CRIME TO GROW VEGETABLES WITHOUT A LICENSE, in the first step. Then that will come down to: it's a crime, simply to grow them yourself. The scientists will come on and tell us why we can't do it. Lots of experts will come on in the regular media - across the world, the AM stations with their talking heads, will come on and get the audiences involved, and, “What do you think? Are you for or against?” And they fall into the routine, like trained animals, and get all emotional about it, and forget logic, purpose or reason. Very simple, and we've all been brought up in this system like this."
Interesting article and on the surface I would agree that this type of use of 'organic food labeling' devalues our 'belief' of what the standards of 'organic food' should be.
However there are broader issues as well. Wild fish stocks are being depleted all over the world, and the whole sale fishing of anchovie and sardine fish stocks (which are at the lower end of the food chain) will contribute even further to this. Waste products from 'human Industrial processes' and breeding habitat loss of small fish contribute to this even more. There is a moratorium on whale hunting to preserve the animals yet harvesting krill (large wales main food source) for the marine oil mass market, seems a little environmentally unfrendly as well. With a great many of the worlds population dependant on fish as a staple food, in my opinon there needs to be more fish farming, and particularly more fish farming that uses the cleanest and greenest technology available to produce superior quality fish that are as close to organic as possible.
In herbal medicine we call plants that are harvested from the wild, 'wildcrafted herbs'. Maybe a term like this should apply to fish that are caught in the wild.
Dr. Phil, you're spot on a couple of points, but missed the big one. I believe that wild fish stocks can not only survive, but thrive when well-managed. The state of Alaska is a great case in point. It is the only state in the union which has fish management policy written into its constitution. I also believe that healthy commerce of wild fish is what will save them from extinction. You make an excellent point about anchovies, sardines and krill. These are at the bottom of the food chain, and when you remove this building block, the whole marine ecosystem collapses. This sudden boom in krill oil concerns me, and I wonder if any studies are being done on its sustainability. Still fin-fish farming is not the answer. The escapement, cross-breeding and disease transfer of carnivorous farmed fish like salmon play hell on wild stocks. Additionally, fish like salmon which are built to swim 1000's of miles in the open ocean in their lifetime don't do well swimming in circles in a pen. Hence, the introduction of antibiotics, dyes and all the rest of the crap. Then there are all the health concerns with farmed fish that Dr. Mercola mentions above. However, just like poultry and cattle, there are docile, herbivorous species of seafood that can be sustainably farmed. All bivalves like clams, mussels and oysters, and shrimp and tilapia to name a few. BTW, there are 3 definitive terms to describe the harvesting of fish: "Wild", "Wild-caught" (hatched in captivity, and released into the wild to be captured as mature adults), and "Farmed". Hatcheries are responsible seeing the (albeit slow) return of salmon populations to the Pacific Northwest. I hope Dr. Mercola addresses your points on anchovies, sardines and krill.