Fish to Receive Protection at Some Undetermined Future Date

Now that I got you to click through to the whole article, let me take a step back; not in substance (the title is technically true) but in tone. In spite of the fact that the decision I am referring to really won't do anything what-so-ever for our current bankrupt fisheries, it is still a very important step. That decision is the announcement yesterday by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to prohibit the expansion of commercial fishing in federal Arctic waters until researchers gather sufficient information on fish and the Arctic marine environment to prevent adverse impacts of commercial harvesting activity on the ecosystem.

That may sound a bit wonky, so let me break it down. Basically, we all know that the ice caps are slowly melting. We know that there is currently a race in which all nations with land bordering the arctic are staking claims to the various natural resources believed to be locked up underneath all that ice. We also know that there is currently a boatload (read: many many boatloads, pun intended) of money being made by large fishing companies around the world, and that these same fishing practices are driving our fish populations and ocean ecosystems to near collapse. What you (dear reader) may not know is that when it comes to sustainable fishery management, the US is actually (for once!) a real thought leader, and that the announcement above is a reflection of that. Essentially, the US just announced that it will absolutely prohibit any commercial fishing in US arctic waters until AFTER the science dictates the most sustainable way to go about it.

The plan approved will prohibit commercial fishing in a huge swath of American waters in the Arctic that have never been fished and that nobody currently wants to fish (hence the snark in my title). HOWEVER, in reality this is a very smart move because the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change will someday make the area more accessible and more commercially more attractive, not just to oil interests, but to fishing interests as well.

The plan was developed by environmentalists and the Marine Conservation Alliance, the same group that turned Alaska from a sustainable fishing nightmare in the and 50's into the model of sustainability it is today. (As I said before, fishery management is one of the few environmental areas where the US is really a thought leader: Alaska is currently recognized as one of the worlds leading sustainable fisheries and even has a theory of fishery management named after it. More on this in another post).

In spite of this announcement, the reality is that no one knows where the borders may eventually be drawn in the arctic so there is a good chance that at least some, if not all, of the area the US wishes to protect may not be within our jurisdiction. However, this announcement is symbolic in addition to practical -- the US has signaled (finally!) that it is willing to engage unilaterally in a sustainability agreement - something it has avoided doing elsewhere, most notably on climate change itself. Hopefully, this announcement will send a signal to the other Arctic nations -- including Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark-- that while there may be an economic opportunity for fishing newly uncovered areas of ocean, it must be done in a sustainable way.

Top image provided by Alan Vernon

Review of Wild Fermentation

I have been a fan of fermentation every since tasting my first beer at what was certainly an inappropriate age. What really got me going however, was the time I spent in Belgium after graduating high school. The beers I experienced there (yes, I said experienced) were like nothing I ever tasted before -- truly wholesome brews crafted over long periods of time and filled with healthful, beneficial microbes (in addition to plain old deliciousness). I knew then that I would forever be a fan of the fermented beverage. What I didn't know is just how far down the rabbit hole this newfound love of fermentation would take me.

Later on in that same trip, I experienced real German sauerkraut. Growing up, I had always been a fan of sauerkraut (Rubens are without question my favorite sandwich). What I was unaware of however was that the sauerkraut in these sandwiches was dead -- all the healthful organisms in it were killed by pasteurization before this corporate product was shipped all over the country. Not in Germany. I still remember sitting down at my first pub there and ordering a bratwurst with sauerkraut (sauerkraut which, unbeknownst to me, was actually fermented in the back of the pub). I couldn't believe my taste buds! This sauerkraut was to the sauerkraut I loved at home what a grilled ground sirloin burger is to a happy meal. Unbelievable!

That's it - I was hooked. I still didn't trust myself to mess around with my own ferments, but as soon as I got home I sought out micro brews and home fermented krauts and yogurts wherever I could. I even had a short love affair with a Mr Beer home brew kit while in college (the kind you buy from SkyMall magazine and where you never have to deal with truly raw ingredients). My roommate and I turned out a couple good beers to be sure, but we weren't quite craft ready. So when I graduated and moved to San Francisco, I decided it was finally time. I bought myself a copy of Wild Fermentation and got brewing:

When I first started reading this book, I was amazed at how many times I stopped and just stared off into the distance, imagining all the things I was going to ferment when I was done reading. There is almost not a page of this book that I haven't marked with a post-it or a dog ear. The author provides great insight based on both science and on his own experience, and his excitement is literally contagious. He loves fermented foods, and by the time you finish reading his book, I guarantee you will too.

Since buying this book, I have made my own saurkraut (several different variations), kimchi, and dill pickles. I am working on my first batch of Kombucha right now. The beer is on hold until I can find space in my apartment to set up a simple brew station, but I feel more comfortable going into it than I ever could have without this book.

Wild Fermentions is very informative, with great recipes and very easy to follow step by step instructions. If I had to point to any negatives in the book, it would be a little too much information about the author himself and his communal living situation (not that I mind the author's hippy dippy ways, it's just that the many exploits of his house mates with single, nature-based names are besides the point).

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fermented foods, and even to people who aren't. There is some form of ferment in this book for just about anyone.

Proust!

Image provided by Wild Fermentation

NASCAR Going Green?

I should admit up front that I am no NASCAR or Indy 500 fan, and that I have a limited understanding of the sport and what goes on at these events. What I do know is that race car driving is not only the single most popular spectator "sport" in America, but that it is also not exactly “environmentally friendly.” Enter Leilani Munter. I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago and heard the following interview with Leilani, a professional race car driver. As it turns out, not only is she one of a mere handful of women in this male dominated sport, but she is also an ardent environmentalist committed to doing everything she can to “green up” this carbon intensive activity.

Listen to the NPR interview here

Basically, Leilani has been an environmentalist her whole life. She is a longtime animal lover and vegetarian, and she didn’t even get into race car driving until after receiving a degree in biology (specializing in ecology) from UCSD. When she did finally get behind the wheel of a race car, it didn’t take her long to come to the conclusion that her environmental views were somewhat at odds with her new profession. However, instead of abandoning race car driving altogether, she decided to use her platform as an important figure in the nation’s number one spectator sport to help move it in a new direction. As Leilani says, “It's a hugely popular sport, and… you can't leave behind a hundred million race fans.”

Since she started speaking out, Leilani has definitely run into mixed reactions. “Some people were telling me that they… wanted to see more people talking about our environmental problems on the racing circuit. But then, there were also others that were… very negative and kind of saying I was brainwashed by Al Gore.” Even with the mixed reaction, Leilani is hopeful, saying that “the important thing that I tried to look at is that I was getting them talking about it… to go into a NASCAR forum and see them arguing and talking about global warming and talking about climate change… Those kinds of things weren't necessarily taking place in NASCAR forums before.”

But Leilani's general awesomeness doesn't end there. In addition to bringing awareness of the green movement to racing fans, Leilani is also opening the way for smaller, green businesses to advertise in the racetrack. The way sponsorships usually work (based on my extensive research ie. Google) is that one major company will sponsor a car, meaning that each car becomes a giant billboard for that one company. Leilani’s vision is to buck that trend by breaking her car up into several smaller sponsorships placements that mid-size green companies can afford, and to have the main spot on the race car reserved as a "call to action" message for race fans: “One of the messages I wanted to send was about CFL light bulbs, and I would like to run a race car that has a CFL label on the side of it… And then the next race we'd run something different. It might be a race car that says, no more paper, no more plastic, and then I can talk about the plastic bags and how many of them aren't getting recycled.”

And as if all that wasn't enough, Leilani is also trying to take her green message directly to the fans. Apparently, another aspect of the race car world that I was unaware of is that each driver gets some space at the racetrack to sell their merchandise. Usually, this means action figures, jerseys, hats and bobble head dolls. Not at Leilani’s booth: “I'm going to be selling CFL light bulbs and canvas grocery bags and just giving them tips on things that they can do to go green.”

While I still don’t personally understand what people find entertaining about cars going around a circle for five hours, and while there is absolutely no escaping the fact that car racing will be one of the most carbon intensive sports for some time to come, I can’t help but be inspired by one woman’s efforts to bring her passion to her work in a way that will (hopefully) get all of us a little closer to a sustainable planet.

Read all about Leilani's newest actions at her blog: carbonfreegirl.com

Image provided by Wikipedia