O Cod, what's a person to do?

Three strands have come together here, causing my need to say something, though I am not sure just what.

Late last month I read an article in the NY Times about even more restrictions on cod fishing in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank.  The inexpensive fish of my youth (in Massachusetts) is on the verge of extinction.   Even the fishers who resist the new lower catch limits admit that they aren't coming close to catching the current limits. You can read that whole story here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/officials-back-deep-cuts-in-atlantic-cod-harvest-to-save-industry.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Then a couple of days ago I saw a still ad on the corner of a web page for Carl's Jr Atlantic cod sandwich.   I don't eat at Carl's Jr. - well, I don't eat fast food, but even if I did the political history of this outlet's owner would keep me away.   But I wasn't surprised that they were promoting something from a threatened fishery.
I should have stopped there, but today I pursued more information, and turned up the ad campaign for this item - the basic simulated sex approach which this purveyor of fast food is famous for.  You can Google it yourself if you want you to see a model 5 lbs away from emaciation except for her breasts having sex with a sandwich.   I'm sure I am the only person who has looked at the sandwich, but the grilled cod is golden yellow - and frankly, all the cod I've ever cooked was white.  Hmmm.  Who even knows if this is cod?  And if it's Atlantic cod, why was the photo shoot done in Hawaii?  I suppose aging New England fisherman don't sell food to teenagers.
Another interesting twist - the print ad copy promotes the sandwich as a low calorie (the fish is grilled) treat for Lent.   Okay - why not kick off Lent with sex and fast food?

This morning NPR featured a story on the Marine Stewardship Council - and the unreliability of their ratings of seafood as from sustainable fisheries.  
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171376617/conditions-allow-for-more-sustainable-labeled-seafood
I do wonder about this from time to time.  So I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and looked up Atlantic cod.  It turns out that most of the Atlantic cod sold in the U.S. actually comes from the waters off Iceland and the Arctic Ocean off northern Norway and Russia.   Line caught cod from there is given the green "best choice" rating.  
But how do you know where the fish is from when you buy your sexy sandwich at Carl's Jr.?  Is the minimum wage clerk there going to tell you?  Does even a supervisor or somebody a few more rings up the corporate ladder know?   And how does a fast food joint, where price is everything, afford sustainably harvested fish when I rarely do?

And then, to top it all off, Seafood Watch cites the MSC as its authority.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=14

Salty

Today I picked up an AP story on-line about how New York City, among other places, is finally doing something about sodium in food (as they did about trans fats, for example). There will be standards. No more than 1200 mgs of Na in a burger.

WHAT!?!

That's half the RDA, and just about all the sodium you get if you are on a low sodium diet. Sorry, no more food for you today.

This reminded me that out of perverse curiosity or boredom or some intersection of the two I recently followed an ad on a web site to see just what Taco Bell's new healthy [sic] menu consisted of. There was one vegetarian appearing dish, a bean burrito - and this with between 1200 and 1300 mgs of sodium.

Why don't fast food eaters have more strokes?

No More MacDonald's!

in Iceland, that is.

The franchisee there simply can't afford the imported ingredients since the big financial meltdown.

Apparently Mac requires they use certain suppliers, and the freight, literally, is too high.

Instead there will be local hamburger joints, sourcing meat and buns and all locally and selling cheaper. And of course, being a good deal more environmentally friendly. Financial crises and the straightened circumstances they cause are, apparently, not always anti-green.

The prime minister who helped set up Iceland for its financial crash was publicized eating the first Big Mac when the joints opened. Will he be the last one Mac-ing it up?

Heard on "The World" this afternoon on public radio.

WOW

This morning, as I was trying to drag myself out of bed, I listened to the founder of Worth Our Weight helping out with a KRCB fundraiser.

http://worthourweight.com/

Evelyn Cheatham noted that the first thing she does with the underserved young people who participate in the culinary apprentice program is sit down around the table and eat a decent meal with them. For some this is a first. The drive-up window is often their primary meal source, and some even question the need to sit and eat. But after a few weeks of this, most begin to question fast food without her saying anything critical about it.

So who wants to go there for lunch with me some Friday or Saturday soon?

Beef Prices Going Up

Well, the guys I overheard on a plane bemoaning the fact that ethanol production was going to raise meat prices have now been vindicated by an article in Wednesday's New York Times.

Seems like unhelpful weather in the Midwest and the amount of corn going to first generation biofuels have combined for less animal feed at a higher price. Cattle are spending less time on feedlots, and that richly marbled meat that human carnivores love and their cardiovascular systems don't is in short supply at skyrocketing prices.

This should be good news for the health of people and planet. Though of course we are still stuck with the fossil fuel inputs and soil erosion of industrial corn production for ethanol.

And I have been wondering about the insatiable demand for beef of the fast food industry. Will they be forced to turn to even more imported beef, driving yet more habitat destruction to create grazing land?