Search OCA:
Get Local!

Find Local News, Events,
and Green Businesses on
OCA's New State Pages:

OCA News Sections:
Orgánicos al DíaNoticias y campañas de la OCA en español
Intern with OCA!
SUPPORT OUR
SPONSORS

Intelligent Nutrients

Intelligent Nutrients

The Organic Harmonic Science of Health and Beauty

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

Dr. Bronner's
Magic Soaps

Best Selling Organic Soap in the US

Botani Organic

Botani Organic

Organic, Naturally Occurring Vitamins & Supplements

Aloha Bay

Aloha Bay

Organic Palm Wax Candles and Himalayan Salts

Working Assets

Working Assets

Making it easy to make a difference

Eden Organics

Eden Foods

Nurturing more than 350 North American organic family farms

Ode Magazine

Ode Magazine

Smile, Laugh and Cry with Ode

Frey Vineyards

Frey Vineyards

America's Oldest Organic Winery

Organic Valley

Organic Valley

Co-op of Family Farmers Providing Organic Dairy

A Fishy Definition of Organic

As one of the busiest of all times for food professionals, the holiday season will make us work hard to put our best spatula forward.

And to keep our competitive edge, we depend on the freshest and healthiest ingredients available to keep our guests coming back for seconds.

But the U.S. National Organic Standards Board recently convened in Washington to consider amending U.S. organic standards to include farmed fish such as salmon and cod. And this proposal, driven by special interests, is not only hard for us to stomach but it's also leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many of our fellow food professionals around America as well.

When the board makes its final decision, perhaps within a couple of months, it should consider the view from within the kitchen.

Wearing the right hat doesn't make you a chef. It takes years of training and education to master the skills and meet the standards expected at a major restaurant today. In the same way, just changing the rules so that farmed salmon and other carnivorous finfish can be labeled organic won't make that fish any healthier for you or better for the environment.

The word "organic" often evokes images of a food that is natural, healthy, wholesome and clean -- a product that is good for you, your family and the environment. Yet, the process of industrial salmon aquaculture, is in reality, anything but.

Unlike their wild cousins, farmed salmon spend most of their adult life in floating net pens with thousands of other fish. In the same waters year round, these large aquaculture facilities upset the delicate balance of nature.

Full Story: http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/528209.html

Add a Comment

Comment on this story in the OCA Forum and your comment will also be added here.
Requires a valid OCA Forum username and password.

OCA Forum Username:
OCA Forum Password:
Register     |     I Forgot My Password