Food for thought

Hello fellow foodies!!
Welcome to the blog dedicated to two of my favorite things: food and travel. A requirement for my Food and Travel Writing Seminar here at Kalamazoo College, I will be updating this site frequently with photos, essays, reading responses, recipes, and reviews. Please feel free to peruse my blog, and leave me comments, suggestions, or feedback. Thanks and happy reading!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Choose Your Own Adventure- Japanese Tuna Industry

Giant Bluefin Tuna
The very first chapter of Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour is titled, "Where Food Comes From."  In this chapter he addresses pointed questions like where does the good stuff we eat actually come from?  How exactly does it get to our plates?  Who is involved in the process?  And, in one particular case, how is the pig killed?  Although I think Bourdain does a remarkable job of explaining the process of fattening, killing, cleaning, and finally eating of a pig in northern Portugal, I was really hoping he would embark on the same exploration of the o-toro fatty tuna he raves about during his time in Japan.  Unfortunately, Bourdain leaves the Japanese fish industry mostly untouched, only highlighting the glamorous aspects such as his trip to the Tsukiji fish market.  He ignores the heated controversy surrounding his beloved o-toro, deeming it a delicacy that the Japanese will pay anything for (137).
However, the Japanese tuna fishing industry is under significant scrutiny.  It is accused of not practicing sustainable fishing methods, of selling the fish at ridiculously high prices, and possibly partaking in bluefin tuna's eminent demise.  With these controversial topics in mind, we must not only reflect on our previous in-class conversations regarding the origin of food, but also ask ourselves at what expense do we consume certain 
foods? 

      
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2 comments:

  1. Hannah DalyJanuary 19, 2011 at 11:19 PM

    I felt the same way about the Tuna, Alaina! I thought he might go into the meat industry more with other products but he never got around to it...
    I think your comments about price are particularly interesting. Its strange how websites like UrbanSpoon have prominent price features now, letting the reader know what sort of price range they're getting into before they think about the atmosphere, location or even taste. It's like how students bring their parents to Food Dance when they come into town even though the Crow's Nest, Bangkok Flavor and Hunan Gardens are equally good AND cheaper. Maybe it's simply because students can't afford those extravagant meals. But maybe it says something about the consumer and how we actively choose to be perceived.

    Also, because I was interested, I looked up "most expensive foods" and this interesting site came up. Check it out, there's some pretty interesting ingredients on here:

    http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/worlds-most-expensive-foods.html

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  2. JakeJanuary 20, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    An excellent point, and something i much look forward to discussing in class. While I'm all for fish, and meat for that matter, we often over tax those natural resources without pity or knowledge of the potential consequences. And the Japaneses fishing industry is an good example of this overuse.

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