Sustainable fish

An excerpt from The Washington Post on July 16 regarding one of my latest crusades (yes, there are many): sustainable fish.

Aquaculture is becoming the next big issue at the dinner table. Supermarkets are introducing new standards for the farmed fish and shrimp that make up roughly half of U.S. seafood consumption, riding a wave of consumer demand for environmentally friendly products.

Whole Foods plans to announce today the first comprehensive set of aquaculture guidelines by a major retailer. Wal-Mart has established standards for farmed shrimp and certified its factories with the Aquaculture Certification Council. And Wegmans worked with Environmental Defense Fund on its farmed-shrimp policy to ban antibiotics, avoid damaging sensitive habitats, treat waste water and reduce the use of wild fish to feed shrimp.

"There are actually a lot of farmers right now who are trying to do the right thing," said Jill Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Fund, which has advised Whole Foods on its standards. "Things are moving in the right direction."

Among the things I evangelize about is the idea of knowing where your food comes from and where it was produced. Fish, whether freshwater or seafood, is a great mystery to way too many American consumers. Know what you're eating, people, and how it got on your plate.