The third part in The Third Plate is about the sea. The all important topic of the declining populations of various fish in the oceans is discussed throughout. We learn that ultimately, the reason that the sea is being emptied of fish is because of chefs, not because of fishermen. Chefs decide what people eat because they are the ones cooking the food. If a talented and famous chef decides that a certain type of fish is the best fish to eat, people will want it. The people will not want to eat types of fish that chefs don’t cook or fish that they say are rubbish. So in order for the fishermen to make a living, they need to catch the types of fish that the chefs want. This means that specific breeds are being overfished because the demand for them is so high. Any fish that are caught that are not the fish that the chefs want are passed over, tossed back into the sea, because the fishermen simply cannot sell them. There is no market for these fish.
The fish that Americans eat are limited, most people can name them, salmon, bass, tilapia. But there are so many more different types of fish out there, and plenty of them are just as delicious as the highly sought after ones, such as bluefin tuna. The author talks about a seafood meal he had in Spain, cooked by the chef Angel Leon, and he said it was a meal that changed the way he thought about food. This meal was made from fish and fish parts that most chefs wouldn’t even consider using in their dishes. While I was reading, I was given the impression that most chefs will never consider creating cuisine with ‘garbage’ fish, because they have it in their heads that certain breeds taste bad and other breeds are supreme. I feel as though a lot of people are missing out on incredible food. I feel sorrowful over the thought that many fish may go extinct soon because of the mindset of professional chefs.
We are also given a brief lesson on the edge effect, which has to do with the delicate ecosystem where the land meets the sea. When we mess around with this area that is closest to the shore, we are messing with the most important part of the ocean. Fish farming does just this, as most fish farms are located in the edge area. Fish farms don’t even do what you would think they do, by that I mean keep us from fishing the ocean. In order for the fish in the farms to grow to the size they need to be for the market, you need to feed them. The food for the farmed fish comes in the form of smaller fish, which are taken out of the ocean.
I feel like I’m going on a bit of a rant. I’m no activist, but reading about what is happening to our oceans scared me.
I’m going to end here by saying that you really need to read Part 3, not just to learn about what is happening in our oceans, but about what a few good farmers and chefs are doing to try to save the environment and the plants and animals that live in it.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 