Eating Shrimp and the Importance of COOL

There are times on this journey of learning to eat healthier that I just want to stick my fingers in my ears and do that la-la-la-la thing so I don’t have to know about…stuff. However, when I started this OrganiLo journey  last year I decided I was going to learn as much as I can about where our food comes from, how it affects us (and the environment) and why I should or shouldn’t eat it.

This means taking the good, the bad and the ugly.  Unfortunately, shrimp can fall into the bad and the ugly. This makes me want to weep openly into a big vat of shrimp cocktail…or scampi…or those shrimp we eat in that open air cafe near the market in New Orleans.

For all of you shrimp lovers, hold on to your cocktail sauce because here we go…

According to SeafoodExchange.net, around 90% of the shrimp we eat in the United States is imported from other countries. This is important because–as you can imagine–not all countries have the same standards of food care that we have in the U.S.

Instead of being caught in the ocean, most shrimp today are raised in overseas countries using man-made fetid swamps. Because of the high  levels of toxins and bacteria, these shrimp are then fed drugs and antibiotics and pesitcides to keep them “healthy” from parasites and disease. Often, these are drugs and antibiotics that are not approved for use with food animals in the United States. And then, some of these chemicals remain in the shrimp when ingested by humans.

This “shrimp farming” has become big business because farmers can raise a great deal of shrimp, overcrowding them into these man-made ponds which allows them to be sold inexpensively for mass consumption. After a few years, the ponds become so ridden with shrimp waste and chemicals that the farmers vacate them to build new ones nearby. This then leaves behind swamps filled with bacteria and toxins for the environment.

According to FoodandWaterWatch.Org, “On average, an intensive shrimp operation only lasts for seven years before the level of pollution and pathogens within the pond reaches a point where shrimp can no longer survive.”

Un-COOL?

Is it possible to eat shrimp without it being unsafe? Barry Estabrook, author of Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, thinks so.

Estabrook recommends that we look for the COOL, or Countries of Origin Labeling, information on the package of shrimp, or ask for it at the seafood counter.

COOL is a labeling law that went into effect in 2009 and requires meats, seafood and certain nuts, fruits and vegetables to contain information on where the food originated.

Estabrook recommends that we look for sustainable shrimp caught in areas like Maine and (“if you can find them”) the Northwest. He also says that the Southwest and Gulf of Mexico are good spots, too.

What does all of this mean? Look for terms like “sustainable” or  ”wild caught” and also that the shrimp are from areas within the United States and Canada. The packages that say “farm raised” probably means they were raised in those overcrowded little cesspools…and who wants a side of poison with their cocktail sauce?

Tags: food, safety

Category: Feature, Food, OrganiLo