Nourishments—

Carping About Salmon

By Nancy K. Crevier

Every now and then I just get cranky when I’m food shopping. I get tired of reading the fine print on labels — which seems finer every year, to me.

I get annoyed that I have to decipher what “natural” and “organic” and “made with organic” or “healthy” means to the producer of whatever item I am selecting. I wonder, why do I have to scour a label to find out if there is real food in it? Why shouldn’t all food in a store be simply what it is and nothing more; then the adulterated products could scream in large black print: DEADLY AMOUNTS OF SODIUM! DIABETES INDUCING QUANTITIES OF HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! MORE EMPTY CALORIES THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!

I have come to terms over the course of four decades that what I consider “natural” and what can be labeled “natural” are two different things, and so I diligently read the labels for those items that I personally don’t care to ingest.

The “organic” labeling can be equally confusing, with many allowable permutations, depending on just how completely an item is or is not organic.

Here’s the USDA definition of what can receive the “organic” label in our country: “Organic crops are raised without using most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Animals raised on an organic operation must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. The NOP [National Organic Program] regulations prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge in organic production and handling. As a general rule, all natural (non-synthetic) substances are allowed in organic production and all synthetic substances are prohibited.”

Certification standard in order for a product in the USA to carry the USDA Organic seal must meet requirements that it is produced using an organic system plan that include what organic practices and substances are used in production, record keeping procedures, and practices to prevent commingling of organic and non-organic products.

What bothers me the most, though, is when I see “organic” farmed salmon in the fish case. The salmon that is labeled “organic” is not a fish farmed in the US. “Organic” salmon in local supermarkets can be labeled according to the country of origin’s organic standards, whatever they may be. It is not yet possible for US farmed salmon to meet the stringent requirements of being labeled “USDA Organic.”

Most people are aware of the huge health benefits to eating fish, particularly those like mackerel and salmon, which are high in Omega 3s and contribute to heart health. And we would all like to assume that if something is called “organic,” it comes from the safest, most healthy source imaginable. Throw in the word “farmed” and we are charmed.

I envision sleek, silvery fish frolicking in briney ocean water, happily gulping down the tinier fish that make up the natural salmon diet, then responding to nature’s call, to fight their way up an icy cold stream to spawn, thus continuing the life cycle of a salmon. Or even dancing like little puppies in the water as the farmer tosses still wriggling fishlets to them, and paddling madly about their watery farmyard.

On several levels, farmed US salmon could not fall into the “organic” category. Most are raised in open net farms that allow a flow of ocean water in and out of the pen — thereby preventing the farmer from determining if there is a “commingling of organic and non-organic products.” But the practice of farming salmon in contained pens raises an ethical question for me: Are we simply creating underwater versions of the questionable manure-filled CAFOs (Contained Animal Feeding Operations) that most of our beef cows must endure before slaughter?

A manufactured source of fish oil and fish food created from smaller varieties of fish, that other sea mammals and wild fish depend upon, is the main nourishment for farmed salmon. The additions of small amounts of synthetic astaxanthin and canthaxanthin is needed in some cases to create the desirable pink color of salmon consumers demand, and which can be lacking in salmon raised on an artificial diet. Maybe astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are perfectly safe. But I’m generally a bit squeamish about eating things containing words I have to practice pronouncing.

Crowded farming practices lead to diseases spreading rapidly within (and without, when wild fish are cross-contaminated) the farmed fish community, and that leads to the necessary dosing by antibiotics, also not allowed in organic certification — or huge losses of fish, a shame for both the beautiful ocean creatures and the farmer. So my water world vision of farmed salmon is far from reality.

Certainly, there are a few salmon farms that try to use organic farming practices. Farmed salmon is an incredible source of low fat protein and omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D and vitamins B3, B12, and B6, as well as a number of other minerals. It is easy to prepare in any number of delicious ways, and is generally far less expensive than wild caught salmon. As usual, I am caught between a rock and a hard place when shopping.

How safe is wild caught fish? I have to say, I’m not sure. Pollution afflicts all parts of the ocean and our waterways. But the less humans have fiddled with the natural living conditions of a fish, the better I feel about eating it. And in the meantime, I just keep hoping that one day that all of the food in the supermarket will not need labeling at all, because it will simply be what it is.