- Wanted!!!
- The Fuss about Fish
- Flavour of the Month: Sage
- Site of the Month: VegetarianRecipe.com
- Cooking Tips: Vegetable Overload
- Recipe Update
- General News and Site Update
August/September 2000
In this issue:
Wanted!!!
Amanda's Kitchen is looking for people to
write articles for it's web site and on-line newsletter. This is
a labour of love, so contributions will be credited but unpaid. For
more information e-mail AmandasKitchen@yahoo.ca.
The
Fuss about Fish
For many vegetarians, fish is the last meat
they give up. We hear about the health hazards of land meats, we
hear about the environmental consequences of land-based factory farms and
we increasingly hear concerns about animal rights and consciousness.
But how often do we hear about the the health hazard of fish and seafood,
the damaging ecological consequences of fish farming, the environmental
impact of trawler fishing and the fundamental rights of fishes?
Fish are not immune to the high levels of pollutants which are being dumped into our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. Chemicals gather in their fat and bioaccumulate as the fish age. As larger fish eat the smaller fish, the chemicals are absorbed into the flesh of the predator and the problem moves up the food chain. PCBs have been found in 43% of all salmon, 50% of white fish and 35% of deep sea fish, according to the February 1992 issue of Consumer Reports. (1) In fact, the study concludes that the biggest source of PCBs in the human diet is fish. (1) Once PCBs are ingested, they're with you for life. PCBs and other fat-soluble chemicals are not metabolised and excreted, rather they bioaccumulate in the body's fatty tissues. PCBs were banned from use in Canada in 1976 due to their carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties.
Heavy metals dumped into our water systems by big industry include lead, cadmium and arsenic. These toxic metals also accumulate in fish and and other sea creatures, and then make it to the dinner tables. 90% of fish contain some amount of mercury making fish the main source of dietary mercury. A typical can of tuna contains 15 micrograms or mercury. (1)
Seafood is one of the largest sources of food-borne illness. Consumer Reports found that 40% of fish begins to spoil before it leaves the supermarket, (1) and a 1992 FDA study found that 20% of seafood in american processing facilities showed signs of microbiological contamination, decomposition and filth. (2) Your risks of getting food poisoning from raw seafood is 1 in 250. You chance of getting sick from seafood is 25 times greater than for beef and 26 times greater than for pork or poultry. (2)
And what about the environmental consequences? Current levels of fish harvest are straining marine ecosystems. Of the top 200 marine fish resources, 35% are in decline and 25% are fully exploited. (3) In Canada we are not immune. In 1992, the Canadian government took an unprecedented step by declaring a moratorium on commercial cod fishing in Atlantic Canada. Traditional in-shore fishing in this region had relied on the "rhythm of nature", permitting fishermen to fish within the means of what the ocean was able to provide. But with the industrialization of fishing and the development of large fleets of off-shore fishing trawlers, technology not nature began to control how much fish was fished. Dragging became the fishing method of choice, and with it a decline in the quality of fish and the available fish stocks. As fish stocks declined, technology increased, making it easier and easier to find the scarcer and scarcer fish, and masking the declining fish stocks. (4)
As well as depleting the oceans of fish, industrialized fishing has turned parts of the ocean floor into "marine deserts". In a practice likened to clear-cut logging and strip-mining of the earth, huge unselective nets drag along the ocean floor, scooping up everything in their paths. The destruction of the ocean floor upsets the delicate marine ecosystem by lowering biodiversity, leaving nowhere for fish to spawn, nowhere for smaller fish to feed, and modifying predator-prey relationships.
Although efficient, industrialised fishing is wasteful. Between 16 million and 27 million tonnes (over 20%) of all fish caught are considered bycatch and thrown back dead or injured. (2, 5) And for every kilogram of shrimp caught by dragging the ocean floors, another 10 non-targetted marine animals are also caught and discarded, (5) including over 150 000 sea turtles every year. (6)
And fish farming (aquaculture), currently touted as the solution to our over-fishing problem? Not any better than land-based factory farming and possibly more environmentally damaging. Fish are farmed in overcrowded floating marine feedlots that produce abnormally high levels of waste for their small areas. Wastes produced by these marine feedlots upset the natural ecosystems, destroying the ocean beds beneath the fish and polluting nearby shores. (4) Aquaculture has been partially blamed for he degradation of water quality in BC's Georgian Straits. (2) Overcrowding also means disease and parasites. Farmed fish are routinely fed antibiotics and washed with pesticides. Red dye is even fed to farmed salmon to give their flesh the pink colour found in wild salmon (farmed salmon flesh is grey due to its inferiour feed). (4) These chemicals are released out into the surrounding ecosystems as fish feces or simply washed out of the feedlots, and are believe to contribute to antibiotic resistant disease among the wild fish and their predators. There is also evidence that the antibiotics fed to fish may contribute to antibiotic resistant diseases in humans. (4)
If people are concerned about the impact of genetically modified food on their food supply, they should be equally as concerned about the ecological consequences of fish farming. Diseases bred on fish farms can travel into the wild population, further devastating natural fish stocks. And fish sometimes burst open their cages, invading traditional spawning grounds, competing for food and weakening the gene pool by breeding with wild fish. Escaped genetically-modified fish introduce altered genetics into the wild-type population. (4,6)
Environmental concerns aside, animal rights activists believe fish entitled to humane treatment. While fish lack the ability to vocalize pain, studies have shown that that they have developed sensory and nervous systems capable of feeling pain. Fish hauled out of deep water go through painful and often fatal decompression, not unlike deep-sea-divers resurfacing too quickly from ocean depths. Fish not killed by decompression, suffer needlessly as they slowly die from asphyxiation, become crushed beneath the weight of other fish, or freeze to death on beds of ice as crews sort through their catch with spiked rods. (2) With any other type of animal we would be outraged.
Finally, high in protein, with no carbohydrate or fiber, fish as a nutrient is not much different than other animal sources. Although it is generally lower in saturated fat and, in the case of cold-water, fatty fish, is a good source of omega-3 fats. All the nutrient benefits of fish can be found in other food sources, including plant-based diets.
For more fish links, please visit: http://www.colba.net/~ajstrong/fish.htm
1. Consumer Reports.
February 1992.
2. Toronto Vegetarian
Association. Fish. Sept. 1995.
3. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. The state of the world fisheries
and aquaculture 1996 summary. http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/fishery/publ/sofia/sofflye.htm
4. Roberts, W, MacRae
R, Stahlbrand L. Real Food for a Change. Random House
of Canada. 1999.
5. Westeel D. Fish wasted
on massive scale. Globe & Mail. March 17, 1995, A8.
6. New Internationalist.
Issue number 325. July 2000.
The wise herb - sage
Until the sixteenth century, sage was rarely used in cooking. Rather it was considered a healing herb of many uses including conferring immortality. Sage was also thought to reflect the business fortune of men, flourishing or withering according to the state of the household's finances. Sage tea was popular for a lomg time, but was drunk primarily for its health-giving properties. The Chinese believed sage tea to strengthen the digestive system and calm the nerves. A potent antiseptic and antibiotic, a sage infusion was also commonly used to treat sore throats, hoarseness and fever. No wonder it was thought to infer immortality.
In the kitchen, sage has a slightly bitter and musty flavour with musky aroma that permeates through a dish. It's primary uses are with fatty meats, dishes, particularly pork, duck, gooses and oily fish, since it makes the meats more digestible. In vegetarian cooking, sage works especially well in stews, some pâtés and mock-meat dishes. It is also commonly used in bread- or rice-based stuffings. Use sage in moderation, since its flavour can easily over-power other flavours.
Sage is a hardy perennial plant. It is shrub-like, the stems are covered with a white down, and the leaves are greyish-green and velvety to touch. Sage flowers in early to mid-summer with tubular, two-lipped, violet-blue flowers. Other variants of garden sage include purple sage, which is thought to be more effective at treating sore throats than common sage, and clary sage, which is used in german wine-making and perfumery. Sage freezes easily. Dried sage tends to take on a more musty taste.
Article of the MonthSorry - no article this month.
Site
of the Month
VegetarianRecipe.com
Part of Allrecipes.com, vegetarian
recipe.com is a recipe and meal planning web site that offers some interesting
food ideas and resources, including recipes, menu ideas, meal preparation
tips, culinary ware and news. The site is fully searchable, with
the option to search just the vegetarianrecipe site or the allrecipes site.
Vegetable overload
It happens to us all... buying too many fresh vegetables at one time and then watching helplessly as they rot in the fridge. Or at this time of year, reaping a healthy harvest from the garden and then being overwhelmed with nature's bounty. Instead of standing on the sidelines as the fruits of your labour decay, try making a veggie soup with your leftover veggies. Any veggie will do, even lettuce and cucumber. Honest! Alternatively, try making a veggie casserole and freezing quick-meal-sized portions. Another tactic, is to chop up the veggies and freeze them. I like to mix and match my veggies, creating bags of mixed-veggies that can later be used in stir-frys, soups, stews, and casseroles.
For tips on freezing,
visit:
The Ohio State University Extension:
Fact Sheet - Freezing Basics
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/hyg-fact/5000/5341.html
Fact Sheet - Freezing Vegetables
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/hyg-fact/5000/5333.html
Fact Sheet - Freezing Fruits
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/hyg-fact/5000/5349.html
Garden Guides . . . a growing resource
for gardeners
http://www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/freezing.htm
No new recipes were added to the site.
It's been a busy couple of months, so not much work has been done on the site. I am expecting to update the restaurants shortly. I've discovered a couple of new additions, but unfortunately have also discovered a couple of spots which are no longer veggie-friendly.
You may want to
note before I get around to updating the site:
Upstairs has
gone upscale. The beer costs more. The menu has been revamped
and consequently there are no vegan items left on the menu. Vegetarian
selections are pretty much limited to veggie burgers (buns have egg) and
veggie pasta dishes.
Le Faim du Monde has moved to bigger and better digs! New address: 300 Duluth E (almost opposite another good little lacto-vegetarian resto - Govinda Jaya Jaya)
Harvey's veggie burgers are vegan! How well they are separated on the grill depends on individual restaurants though. Some locations grill the veggies right beside the meat burgers, and other locations reserve a section of the grill exclusively for the veggie burges.
Montreal's food co-operative Le Frigo Vert has gone exclusively vegan this year. A social conscious and guaranteed vegan food. How can your resist. The store also offers a wide selection of quick-grab lunches. 2130 rue MacKay, above de Maisonneuve.
Monthly Electronic Newsletter,
e-mail Amandas_Kitchen-subscribe@egroups.com
| or go to the e-groups
web site to subscribe |
If you have comments or suggestions,
email AmandasKitchen@yahoo.ca
|
vegetarian and vegan cooking to everyone's kitchen. |
Disclaimer: This newsletter and the Amanda's Kitchen web site are not prepared by a registered dietitian, nurse, doctor or other medically-qualified individual. Any health and nutrition information provided by Amanda's Kitchen is designed to support, not replace, information provided by a registered dietician or healthcare provider. Where appropriate, Amanda's Kitchen has endeavoured to support information contained on the site and newsletter by providing references to source data and, where possible, specific HTML links.
This page created with Netscape Navigator Gold
