Conservation Quandary

I'm doing something I've only done... maybe once before. That is - blogging impulsively. No, no, no. I didn't say BEHAVING impulsively was something I've only done once before. Anyone who knows me knows that, for better or for worse, I can have a tendency to be a little impulsive sometimes. And sometimes is whenever I'm not thinking. Or precisely because I am over-thinking. And I just discovered why it is that I have avoided blogging impulsively. I have completely lost my place on whatever it was I was going to impulsively blog about...

Hrrm.

Ah yes. Now I remember.

I just attended this lecture about healthy eating. I don't happen to think I eat poorly but my doctor's office was hosting the lecture and I knew they wanted people to come. Unless of course my doctor was trying to tell me something by asking me to attend... Huh. I'll have to psycho-analyze that later. Anyway... where was I? Oh yes, healthy eating.

So this guy talked about insulin, Omega 3, Omega 6, arachidonic acid, blah blah blah. All good stuff. Sure. The subject of fish oil come up, however. And someone in the audience commented that you should NOT eat farm-raised salmon because Atlantic Salmon (as in, the ones actually born in, growing up in, and living in the ocean) are much better for you. The presenter and the audience member both talked for a few minutes about how much better Atlantic Salmon is to eat.

I sat through the entire lecture and suffered through people's questions. You know, questions like, "So, if you eat oatmeal for breakfast, what should you eat with it?" Or, "So, what about potato chips?" I always end up feeling like such a nerd when I attend lectures because although I really, really enjoy them, that's the thing - I really , really enjoy them. So, I listen. It can be hard for me to contain the exasperated sigh I want to let out when I hear people ask questions that make me think, "Did you even hear what this guy just said? Cottage cheese, egg whites or some other protein, duh! And potato chips?????" That's what I'd really like to say but of course I just sit and scribble notes on my hand-out. Besides, who doesn't like potato chips? Just don't ask the person presenting on Healthy Eating whether or not you "can" eat them. Duh. So, I wait until it seems people are done asking questions. Then, I ask mine.

"So, my question is about the supplements you talked about. The fish oil supplement, specifically. I understand how this works and why it's a good thing to take and all. But I spent a few years working in conservation education. And since the topic of farm-raised vs. ocean-caught salmon came up, I'm wondering if you can tell me what kind of fish are used for the fish oil supplement?"

Now don't worry. I didn't get all "tree-hugger" on him or anything. That's not how I roll. For me, however, it is impossible to extricate my love of nature from the importance of conservation and resource management. See, now, there I go again. The term RESOURCE MANAGEMENT isn't exactly as sexy as strapping oneself to an ocean liner to stop whaling, is it? But whatever. Where was I? Oh right... fish oil.

So, I give the presenter credit. He was honest. He said that this particular fish oil supplement is not made from farm-raised fish. It is made from fish swimming in the ocean. I give him even more credit because he went on to say that if everyone listened to him and decided to start taking this fish oil supplement, there would not be enough fish to supply that demand. Then he segued to a different subject. I can't tell you what that subject was because I was distracted by my own re-current quandary:

So... this sounds healthy for me, but it's not necessarily good for portions of the world in which I live.

(sigh)