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| Fresh fish is delicous, but make sure it comes from a sustainable source |
Last Friday my colleagues
proposed to go and have sushi for lunch: here in Italy the religious tradition
of fish-on-Friday is still alive. It’s just that I was not very enthusiastic
about it. I like fish and love sushi, but something withheld me. Time to
reflect on the reason of this.
Close to my work there
are not so many food places, so we have to do it with the available choices.
Usually I have at least one pizza a week, I like to visit a restaurant with an
Italian style menu or I bring my own food which I eat in a place we call a
park, but which actually is a piece of grass with some trees and benches. And
as I said, Friday usually is sushi day.
In the short period I
work here, I went to the sushi restaurant about three times now. Each time
however I ordered the freshly made ramen
with vegetables. Once I added chicken to that, but the quality seemed so low,
that I decided to stay with the vegetables the next times.
When last Friday I did
not react very enthusiastic when my colleagues proposed to eat sushi, they
thought it was because I did not eat fish. I knew this was not the reason that
made me hesitate, but at the same time I could not tell them immediately what
is was. It took me a walk down the stairs to make up my mind and explain them my
dis-enthusiasm.
The price of a sushi menu
is somewhere around ten euros. For a normal lunch in Italy on the higher side,
but for a sushi made with fresh fish reasonably low. At least in my opinion.
With my background and some (basic) knowledge of the what-and-how’s of the food
chain, I know that it is almost impossible to make a profitable business with these prices. At least, when you buy
the fish in places that offer fish of a certain quality. And actually you don’t
even need to be an expert to understand this. Everyone with common sense and is
able to make some simple calculations understands that these prices can’t buy
sustainable products.
While walking to the
restaurant I decided to start the discussion with my colleagues on this. When I
explained my hesitations for the choice they made, they immediately agreed that
also they know that it is ridiculous to have lunch for these prices. But they
also told me also that the prices don’t change a lot at the other restaurants
we eat. And they are right, but then I added that also there the choices I make
are as sustainable as I can: I usually order something vegetarian and
definitely never order a grilled ‘tuna’ with a side dish for only ten euros. I
just know that this can’t be good and it will never taste good to me.
I guess I am at a point
in which I cannot ignore the backdrops of the common food system anymore. My
choices are influenced by what I know: eating things that are not right give me
a wrong taste so I stopped doing it anymore. I hope someday I get some more
people to act after their knowledge.
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