I can't really speak for the young people of today, but when I was growing up, fishing was an integral part of our culture.  We didn't own a boat and we didn't usually have more than a cane pole, but we went fishing.  It was always a treat, as soon as we came in with the fish, dad started cleaning them and mom fried them up for that evening's supper!  Now, I prefer my fish baked or poached, but I still love to eat fish.

With the world environments changing the way they are and the culture becoming more and more removed from personal food production and the sports of hunting and fishing, we are becoming more and more dependent for the fish that we consume to come from big corporate production.  Many people don't even realize what fish production is about and what the downside of farmed fish is all about.

I came across an interesting article that I think helps to address the subject and gives us a good insight as to what the considerations should be regarding fish consumption, eviromentally as well as from a culinary perspective.  Here is a quote from the article that I think is especially interesting : "Who buying fish today is cognizant that October mackerel are the most succulent or that pollock are better after mid-summer?"  This is just one thing to consider and the article brings up other interesting concerns.

I hope you find the subject interesting:  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_fisheries_can_gain_from_the_lessons_of_sustainable_food_/2372/

Bon Apetit!

I can only apologize for not attending to my blog lately.  We are dealing with many issues related to my parents' health and keeping up with managing their affairs.  It's a bit distracting from all the other things I would like to be doing.

Chef Roland is keeping quite busy working with a local non-profit in developing their baking/culinary program for rehabilitating persons.  It's an awesome program.  We have managed to work in a few outside projects and I will hopefully have pics up soon.  In addition, we will be involved in some private culinary classes, some culinary presentations and helping with our church to develop their concept for gardening/culinary/food preservation classes.  Though we live in a very rural area, I can't believe how many opportunities keep popping up in the most unexpected places. 

We are also looking at the possibility of collaborating with two local venues to present culinary classes to our immediate community, with the idea that we will possiby start our own small cooking school nearby.  Lots going on.

In the meantime, I am persisting to find what I can regarding the GMO/hybrid/Mansanto connection.  I hope you find the link I've included to be interesting regarding an article that ran in the NYTimes.  As you read the article, especially take note of the reference to how Mansanto is brought into this article.  I really wish their could be some kind of public pressure that could be organized and brought to bear on Mansanto and the FDA.  Any political activists reading this???

I would love to hear back from some of you as to what your thoughts are on this most important subject of GMO labeling. 


http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/why-arent-g-m-o-foods-labeled/?ref=dining

Bon Apetit!







 

I came across an article this morning that really got me to thinking.  For instance, I've always had the understading, in my limited knowledge, that when there was a glut of something on the market, it would bring the price of that item down.  I understand, as with any production, you want to make the best money you can for your efforts, and the better the profit margin, the more you like it.  So, after reading this article, I see that when the US markets had an excess of dark chicken meat, they sold outside of the country.  I guess I would have liked to have seen that commodity come down so that more Americans would have access to it and buy it.  When I was a single mother with three children, I had to be highly selective when it came to meat purchases which were the costliest.  And, chicken/turkey legs were where I could get the most real food for the most affordable price.

The other aspect of this article that really deomonstrates how we as consumers affect these kinds of decisions is that we(as the public) indicated that we didn't really want to make significant purchases of dark chicken meat.  I can only speculate why that might be.  Possibly, we perceive dark chicken meat to be 'poor peoples food'?  Just a thought.  So, the people who had the buying power rejected the dark meat, and it went to overseas markets.  Interesting.

Then, I noted that the dark chicken meat is actually higher in nurtritional content than the white chicken meat.  So, it would seam that it didn't matter what the real value was of the chicken meat, it was the 'look' and perception of the white meat that made it more desirable over the dark meat which was lost to the market.  I wonder if there's anyone who studies these kinds of things???

Maybe it would be the psycho/sociology of food and how it affects the public food market?  Now, there's a thesis for some brave soul!

Here's the link that got me going:

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/what-to-do-with-dark-chicken-meat?GT1=47001

Bon Apetit!