Please stop eating tuna, bluefin tuna to be exact. It’s probably too late to heed this call, but the nearing end of tuna as we know it, I believe, symbolizes the future of food.
Over the last couple weeks I have read numerous articles (see this and this) on the massive depletion of bluefin tuna populations in our oceans. It turns out that this much adored species is on the brink of extinction, given the current quota allowed for fisheries. Scientists claim that the quota must be zero (!) for the species to continue reproduction and sustained existence. Of course, what fishing industry would adhere to this “nonsense!” The organization responsible for keeping this fish alive is the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. But, considering the sad state of “democratic” decision-making among government-run programs, the profiteering industries won the vote.
And so with much chagrin to the scientists who favor the survival of the species, the fishing industry succeeded again. The suggested quota of zero was dismissed and instead became 13,500 metric tons. Looks like we’ll all be seeing tuna for a little while longer before it goes totally extinct.
By now you may be wondering if tuna is local or organic or sustainably fished. Though I think it’s safe to assume that bluefin tuna is now (and has been) one of the delicacies of the Atlantic that can no longer be sustainable anything. The fact that our ravenous desire for fish has led us here is scary, and I believe this is ominus of things to come. Be it tuna in a can or tuna at the sushi restaurant, we must seriously consider the impact of eating this fish.
If we are to be critical of factory farming on land, we must be equally critical of the factory-esque fish industries too. The “tuna situation” is not new. This has happened to dozens of animal species before and will continue to destroy others. Our collective and individual inabilities to change our dietary choices will soon have grave consequences.
From this perspective, we must commit ourselves to critical food literacy. In the context of ‘knowing where you food comes from,’ we must also be critical of how food is produced; and how food is distributed and sold around the world. Whether you eat meat or fish or just fruits and vegetables, it is important that we commit ourselves to eating sustainably grown/produced/fished/farmed foods. Like many other factors in our pervasive consumer society, critical thought is necessary to understand the ins and outs of consumption, and also to provide intelligent decision-making.
Ultimately, like other challenges in our world today, education and critical thought are key to exposing and overcoming our disastrous global food system.
Related posts:
- Capitalism vs. Environmentalism
- The Food Curriculum Project (part VI) “Lesson Plan 4″
- Wild Salmon CSA
- The 100-Mile Diet vs. World Hunger (part 1)
- The Food Curriculum Project (part V) “Lesson Plan 3″
Tags: fish, food literacy, Food Politics