Is fish still healthy?

Fish is healthy; there’s no doubt about that! There are many scientific studies to prove it. But if the current fish stock is no longer healthy, it has nothing to do with the fish itself but with the way in which certain fish industries treat fish. Antibiotics and pesticides do not simply appear in fish. The food industry says it is only trying to meet consumer demand, which is namely to provide an abundance of cheap fish.

 

The same problem is also evident in the meat industry. I recently read an article on ‘glued meat’. Small scraps of meat are glued together and made to look like nice, firm, succulent pieces of meat, but the glued meat is 50% cheaper. It’s what they say the consumer wants: ‘cheap meat that looks good’. Excessive use of pesticides on some crops is also a huge problem.

 

It’s funny that it’s mainly the large-scale food industries that are guilty of these types of practices. They are such huge concerns that it’s not even possible to contact their suppliers, let alone ask them where their food products come from and how they’re prepared. This isn’t a problem with small-scale agricultural, fish and meat suppliers.

 

There’s the farmer who cultivates his own vegetables and fruit, the fisherman who brings his fish personally to auction every morning or sells on the docks at Oostende and Nieuwpoort and the cattle trader who is proud of his herd because they were raised on a natural feed. These people certainly still exist: the honest, proud suppliers who try to find a positive balance between nature and man. It’s true that any form of agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry is by definition ‘unnatural’, but that’s not to say we can’t strive to find a harmonious balance between man and nature.

 

But everyone has to play their part, including the consumer. Are we prepared to put in the extra effort to go in search of the proud and honest supplier who would provide a better quality product? Have we forgotten how to stand up for ‘real food’? Who still wonders where our food comes from, what it contains and how it’s prepared?

 

I fear that most people won’t get beyond: ‘as long as it tastes good’. Meanwhile, we don’t concern ourselves with the effect of modified foods on our bodies and our brains. How many people take the time to reflect on the hidden ‘mess’ that’s in your average, industrially produced cookies? Who wants to pay for ‘quality food’? Chicken from industrial farms still tends to sell much better than free-range chicken, which is indeed 3 times as expensive. Have we, perhaps, made it too easy for the food industry?

 

I for one will continue to search out the small-scale supplier who passionately tells me how he raised his herd, caught his fish, or cultivated his vegetables. I have a great deal of respect for people like that as they have for us. Ask where your food comes from, go in search of small-scale suppliers in your area. Everyone can make a difference and together we can change our mentality and our culture.

 

A lot of people probably now want to know where I personally buy my meat or fish, which brand of coconut milk I use, … I often get those types of questions. But unfortunately, I can’t give an answer on this forum. On the one hand, it’s so that maintain my independence, but it’s also because I neither want nor can I vouch for any business. It’s a difficult quest for me too. Suppose I recommend a company for his excellent fish and later it’s found not to be the case… Everyone must be responsible for themselves. We can only make a real difference together.