Have you ever discovered something online that was so rich with information and brimming with usefulness that you wanted to share it with everyone?? That’s how I feel about Jacqueline Church’s online blogging event “Teach A Man To Fish”. Each recipe inspires. Each type of seafood’s level of “sustainability” is explained well. The photos are lovely, the writing superb. Jacqueline also did us the favor of creating a separate page of links, resources, videos and, naturally, recipes. Be sure to befriend her on her page on HOMEGROWN.org
The real kicker, and what appeals to us most here at HOMEGROWN.org, is the winner of the Flying Fish Award. Accolades are always splendid, but accolades for taking action to change the system of how food arrives on our plates is super splendiferous!

This year it goes to Lia Huber. Lia publishes Swirling Notions - the official blog of Clos du Bois. She writes, develops recipes and is working on two books. Still, she agreed to participate in my blog event.

Rather than submit a recipe she submitted an entire action plan. Anyone courageous enough, who really wants shake things up, can follow Lia’s lead. Go on, I dare ya!

Five Steps to Better Fish:

Step 1) I’ll ask to speak with whomever is in charge of purchasing and ask whether the store has a policy on purchasing sustainable seafood, pointing out—gently, politely—that I’ve noticed that some of the fish they have on offer are harmful choices for our oceans.

Step 2) I’m going to pull out my Seafood Watch Pocket Guide and discuss a couple of the fish they’re selling that fall under the red column (like the ones I mentioned above).

Step 3) Since I don’t want to just point out negatives, I’ll come equipped with Seafood Watch’s chart of alternative recommendations so I can make some suggestions on sustainable substitutions.

Step 4) If all goes well with steps one through three, I’ll ask if I can bring in some more Pocket Guides to keep on the counter for customers to take. I’ll also ask if they’d like me to bring by some more information for their staff, and give them info on where to go for training support, presentations and materials.

Step 5) Finally, I’ll ask for their support and commitment, including a timeline for follow-up.

Bravo Lia and BRAVO Jacqueline - let’s get cooking!!

As we know, not anymore…A Smithsonian.com article about historical marine ecology - the study of fishing artifacts, records, and photographs - illustrates the shrinking of the ocean’s bounty over the last half century.

1957: A half century ago, tourists in Key West routinely caught goliath grouper (the big fish with the big mouths) and large sharks (on the dock). From Smithsonian.com

On Wednesday, the National Organic Standards Board will vote on a rule for labeling fish as “Certified Organic”. To use another hackneyed aquatic term: there are several “schools” of thought on this. An article in the Chicago Tribune explains.

A Hollywood “media project” called Shifting Baselines has created some light yet disturbing public service announcement videos on the subject of ocean conservation. Here’s a favorite of mine:

Wildman from Raleigh, NC has Carolina Sea Trout on the menu for the Amanda Palmer show - what do you consider sustainable seafood where you live?

Wired Magazine has created a mesmerizing graphic about the global food supply - The Future of Food - including a breakdown of costs and benefits of catfish farming.

In that same vein, The Sundance Channel is introducing a new show called Eco Trip:

Everything has an environmental impact. Eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich may seem like an insignificant and commonplace activity, but in reality there is a huge amount of infrastructure, energy and money required for a person to have the option of eating a PB&J sandwich. This topic is so important that Sundance Channel decided to create a new series specifically to investigate all the environmental impacts of producing products.

We look forward to learning more.