Have you ever wondered what was in our fish? Maybe this article will help you understand, and make a more educated decision about the food you buy and feed to your family. Aside of nutritive value, there are some choices you can make to help the environment, economy, and even quality of life.
The first subject we’ll talk about is fish. Besides mercury and PCB’s, there is the issue of endangerment and harming other wildlife in the process of catching the fish. We all know about dolphin safe tuna, so I won’t get into that. I will, however, mention the issue of farm raised verses wild. Salmon, for instance, is more popular now than ever due to it’s cancer-fighting, heart-healthy properties. The problem arises, when we see a label that reads, “ Maine, Washington, or Canada”. We tend to feel comfortable with those places, as why would they have any reason to farm-raise salmon, when it’s found naturally in those waters? Well, the bulk of salmon comes from those places today, and it IS farmed!! Alaska has banned salmon farms, for the following reason… One study of farm raised salmon in British Columbia, found that compared to wild salmon, they were higher in pesticides and PCBs! This is the reason we do not recommend children eat it more than once a week. Net-penned salmon are their own source of pollution, as the pens fill with the salmon’s own excrement, they are being bombarded with antibiotics. Wild salmon caught in Alaska is cleaner, healthier, and provides the fishermen there with the living they deserve to make. Watch the shrimp too, check out the Arizona Sweet Shrimp, grown here in AZ, using NO antibiotics, or pesticides! Other fish to avoid is cod, swordfish, flounder, orange roughy, Atlantic halibut, and more. To find out more on this subject, go to Seafood Watch‘s website, www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp. Remember one of my favorite sites, www.ewg.org. Go to the site, and search TUNA CALCULATOR and answer the questions to find out how much canned tuna you can safely eat in a week.
Another buzz term these days is Shade Grown Organic Coffee. Coffee grown in shaded areas is better for that country’s environment than that which is grown in the full sun. Those large plantations have clear-cut environments to grow coffee in easy to harvest rows. These varieties require MORE chemicals, and the deforestation has needlessly destroyed habitats for many plants and animal species. The huge plantations have caused coffee prices to plummet. These farms also do not provide the proper income for the farmers, causing them to go OVER THE BORDER to other countries to make their living. In one Mexican state, 500 families a week leave because they can no longer make a living.
Organic, Hormone-Free milk is yet, another buzz term we see on labels. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, or rBGH, is a generically engineered protein that increases milk production. Monsanto, by the way, holds the patent on rBGH! The dairy industry is dominated by megafarms, where cows are machine milked, (THIS CUTS VALUBLE JOBS!) confined mainly to the barnyard, fed hay and grain from fields sprayed with pesticides, and routinely given antibiotics to prevent disease. ( Milk from grass-fed cows, is higher in Conjugated Linoleic Acid, which has been proven to fight cancer in lab animals, and reduce body fat and build lean muscle in humans!) Economically, it is more expensive to drink organic milk, as the farmers have said, “..it isn’t easy. Someone has to pay for the added expense.” It also costs more to pay the help to milk the cows, and keep them grazing in open ranges. (What’s one less cocktail at the clubhouse?)
Well I hope this clarifies some things for you, it’s easy to throw these terms around, but I hope now you understand them. READ YOUR LABELS, TALK TO YOUR GROCER, AND ASK BEFORE YOU PUT SOMETHING IN YOUR MOUTH!
Leisa-Marie Grgula, D.C.
20235 N. Cave Creek Rd.
Suite #110
Phoenix, AZ 85024
