The largest shrimp producer for us right now is Thailand. ... It turns out, a certain amount of the shrimp that come to us from Thailand seems to be coming to us in part as the result of slave labor.

Who would've thunk it?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/01/327248504/the-great-fish-swap-how-america-is-downgrading-its-seafood-supply

Uncle Joe

(58,297 posts)

10. That is an enlightening read, thanks for the link.

Reply to littlemissmartypants (Reply #9)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 12:55 AM

Jul 2014

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/01/327248504/the-great-fish-swap-how-america-is-downgrading-its-seafood-supply

On why the U.S. exports the best-quality fish

We only eat about 15 pounds of seafood per year per capita. That's half of the global average, so there's that. The other thing is that other countries really are hip to seafood. The Chinese love seafood; the Japanese, the Koreans — they love seafood. They're willing to pay top dollar for it. We just aren't willing to do so. We want our food cheap and easy.

All of this fast-food commodification of seafood protein — because that's kind of what it is at this point — adds to that general preference for cheap stuff. Kind of in tandem and in league with that is the American tendency to avoid taste. ... Foodies [talk] about flavor and texture and the food movement and that kind of thing, and that's true of about 5 percent of Americans, but 95 percent of Americans really are not so into flavor. ... If we don't like the flavorsome fish — like bluefish, mackerel, things like oysters, things that really taste of the sea — if we don't like that, then we're going to go for these generic, homogenized, industrialized products

(snip)

A certain amount of Alaska salmon gets caught by Americans in Alaska, sent to China, defrosted, filleted, boned, refrozen and sent back to us. How's that for food miles? We don't want to pay the labor involved in boning fish and more and more of that fish that used to go make that round trip is actually staying in China because the Chinese are realizing how good it is, much to our detriment.

The labor is so much cheaper that it makes the shipping cost-effective. When you ship things via freighter, frozen, the cost per mile is relatively low compared to, say, air freighting or train travel or truck freighting.

I like Salmon as well.

valerief

(53,235 posts)

6. Beats peas of ass. nt

Reply to littlemissmartypants (Reply #3)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 12:31 AM

Jul 2014

Uncle Joe

(58,297 posts)

8. Yes it does, because a woman and I suppose a man is so much more. n/t

Reply to valerief (Reply #6)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 12:43 AM

Jul 2014

valerief

(53,235 posts)

15. I'm taking it you're not the guy with the lampshade on his head at a party. nt

Reply to Uncle Joe (Reply #8)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 06:41 AM

Jul 2014

Uncle Joe

(58,297 posts)

16. I've lived different roles throughout my life, having seen days

Reply to valerief (Reply #15)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 01:27 PM

Jul 2014

of insecurity or low self-esteem, being the odd man out, observing social interactions as a spectator, wearing the lampshade, turning into a swan or coming into my own, debauchery, love, loss and regret, remembering the "Night Moves," meditation, contemplation and some measure of enlightenment along with walking in the other person's shoes.

tosh

(4,422 posts)

17. You've just described

Reply to Uncle Joe (Reply #16)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 01:57 PM

Jul 2014

a life well-lived.

Congratulations!

Uncle Joe

(58,297 posts)

18. Peace to you, tosh.

Reply to tosh (Reply #17)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 02:40 PM

Jul 2014

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

13. I'm thinking whirled peas. A delicious cold soup of pureed fresh carrots and pureed green peas.

Reply to Uncle Joe (Reply #2)

Fri Jul 18, 2014, 02:47 AM

Jul 2014

It has to be carefully stirred to make the swirls work and not get strange looking. A little curry powder mixed in with the carrots and you're good to go for a raw summertime soup.