On the Farm: A Seafood Snob Ponders the Future of Fish
> With wild fish harder to catch, what is served up at your local > market is often
> little better than swimming tofu.
Still, plenty of scientists say a turnaround is possible. Studies
have found that
even declining species can quickly recover if fisheries
are managed well. It would
help if the world’s wealthiest fish-eaters
(they include us, folks)
would broaden their appetites. Mackerel,
anyone?
It will be a considerable undertaking nonetheless. Global
consumption of fish,
both wild and farm raised, has doubled since 1973,
and 90 percent of this
increase has come in developing countries.
(You’ll sometimes hear that
Americans are now eating more seafood, but
that reflects population
growth; per capita consumption has remained stable here for 20 years.)
The result of this demand for wild fish, according to the United Nations’
Food and
Agricultural Organization, is that “the maximum wild-capture
fisheries potential
from the world’s oceans has probably been reached.”
One study, in 2006, concluded that if current fishing practices
continue,
the world’s major commercial stocks will collapse by 2048.
Industrial aquaculture — sometimes called the blue revolution — is
following the
same pattern as land-based agriculture. Edible food is
being used to grow animals rather than nourish people.
The Food Supply
THIS IS OUR SLAUGHTER HOUSE follows the ten workers of Broerman
Poultry Processing, revealing their surprisingly close relationships,
despite
the gruesome nature of their job. The colorful interviews and
raw supporting
footage give new perspectives on family values, hard
work, and what happens
inside a slaughterhouse. The film was made by
Matthew Broerman, a son of
the owner of the slaughterhouse.
As a filmmaker and farmer I'd like to make several comments.
First is that farming and agriculture are about creating and growing,
but also about harvesting and killing.
Second, seeing slaughter on a film makes the event pornographic.
I could film anyone making love with a person he or she loved dearly;
and out of context, it would be shocking and pornographic. Just imagine!
Tom Davenport
www.folkstreams.net