Sustainability is something that we all need to consider when it comes to food. Consumption without a conscience can lead to a planetary crisis and shortage. As a result of modern consumption, we now face water shortages, species dying off, massive chemical usage, soil depletion, and more. All of this puts a strain on the entire ecosystem. As a result, unnatural measures become necessary to produce food. An example of this would be the alarming number of farm-raised fishing operations emerging and supplying seafood.
Never before in history has such an overwhelming amount of seafood been farm-raised. Despite this, some are still trying to fight to keep wild-caught on the market. It is estimated that around 80-90% of the seafood on the market is now farmed. Many may wonder, what’s the problem with this?
In theory, farming operations could be great. Breeding and raising seafood in a controlled, healthy, sustainable environment could potentially be a great option. Unfortunately, the reality doesn’t match that. Sustainability and lowering costs are the main reasons for this explosion of farm-raised seafood. Yet, it’s not sustainable and isn’t a clean, healthy source of food in most cases. Obviously, increased profits also play a role in these operations.
The Constant Burden of Toxicity
To delve into the problems of modernized seafood farming, we need to understand the epidemic of disease happening. What humanity faces with disease is intimately tied to toxicity. Nearly all diseases are heavily influenced by toxins and chemicals. The perpetual accumulation of toxins eventually cause the body to be in a diseased state.
There are two ways to partially remedy this worldwide issue that we face. First, we need to make sure to detoxify the body on a regular basis. This helps lower the body’s burden and allow our organs to work better. Sauna’s, baths with clays, and detoxification supplements can offer tremendous value. Secondly, it’s critical to minimize the amount of toxins we take in on a regular basis.
It all starts by understanding the food we eat. Admittedly, it’s impossible to know the toxicity of most items. Thankfully, we have good science to measure the level of toxicity in foods so it’s not such a mystery. When it comes to farm-raised seafood, studies have been quite conclusive on the purity of most operations.
The Achilles Heel of Farm-Raised Seafood
This isn’t meant to impugn farmers that are trying to raise healthy fish, but inform buyers about the risks. There may be some farms that are trying to run healthy, clean operations. However, the vast majority are on the other side of the spectrum. When we compare most wild-caught seafood to farm-raised, there are several stark differences that consumers aren’t being told.
The first problem is the food that farm-raised fish are given. Many times they are fed very low quality feed like corn, grains, fish meal, antibiotics, and more. This dramatically increases the toxicity and antibiotic resistant strains to run rampant. Furthermore, it’s not their natural diet. Compared to wild-caught seafood, farmed fish usually contains lower vitamin D, omega 3’s, minerals, and more. In addition, protein content is oftentimes lower and fat content higher.
Unfortunately, that’s just the start. Farm-raised fish is significantly higher in toxins that adversely affect our health. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services showed higher levels over a dozen toxins when compared to wild-caught seafood! Disease causing compounds like PCB’s and dioxins are astronomically higher in farm-raised samples.
PCB’s have been linked to weakened immunity, cancer, reproductive disorders, and nervous system disorders. These toxins can be passed to a child and health and developmental disorders. Moreover, farmed fish puts a chokehold on wild seafood supplies. It takes pounds of fish meal to produce a pound of farm-raised fish.
As consumers, we have the ability to affect markets and industries. By supporting farm-raised fish, it encourages this to keep occurring. We need to consider the welfare of not only ourselves, but future generations. With a planet that’s becoming more toxic each decade, it’s time to do whatever we can to turn this around.