| How Badly Do You Want Salmon? | ||
Fiona Morrow has a story up in the Globe today about Vancouver restaurateurs struggling with the decision to continue serving wild BC salmon at a time when the future of our wild stocks appear to be in real jeopardy. As I wrote in a previous post (and as Morrow notes in her piece), Bishop’s and the Cactus Club have moved past the debate by taking independent action (applause). Whether or not you agree with them removing wild salmon from their menus in favour of land-based farms, I doubt they will be the last to do so in the coming year.
[poll=8]
Regardless, I’m glad people are talking. The CBC and a duo of local journalists (who seemed to be writing the same story) called me this morning and this afternoon, and though I’m not a scientist or a particularly learned fellow on the multi-faceted questions of sustainability, I laid out my own unapologetically juvenile argument, maintaining that our chefs might be more effective in bringing about real change and/or a greater sense of public awareness on the issue than the more traditional actors in this tragedy, be they environmental groups, the DFO, fish farmers, marine biologists, lobbyists, and so on. There are too many mixed messages in this debate. All we have is a big, sucking morass of ambiguity with a few angry words on top.
My point is that chefs, whether they are aware of it or not, are in unique positions of leadership. They can make a difference. And they have made a difference in the past. Whether it’s foie gras (a contradictory question of carnivorous ethics), Chilean Sea Bass (a species severely over-fished and pirated), or wild BC salmon (a cornerstone of our cultural heritage facing a range of clear and present dangers), our chefs can speak directly to tens of thousands of British Columbians every day by virtue of the choices they make.
Food for thought. No?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Where can you buy inland farmed salmon?
Chefs are indeed in a unique position, in that they can influence purchasing decisions, but I think we have to be realistic as well and understand that these are purchasing decisions of a select few.
What I find somewhat despair-inducing is that most of these”better” choices in food are not easily available to most people — and most people go to the supermarket to buy food. Unless supermarkets can be persuaded to offer these choices, then we can talk all we want but the progress, if any, we make is going to go at a glacial pace. People, myself included, often take the path of least resistance.
So buy trout… or halibut… or char… or tofu.
Last I checked, these are all still food. Don’t be so lazy, or you will get what you deserve with your path of least resistance.
Is that what we are teaching our children?
I can’t answer the poll the poll with your suggested answers. How about:
No, but only fish from salmon runs known to be sustainable.