Norway, British Columbia V ("Organic" Salmon?) / Co-operatives: Alternatives to Industrial Food VI

Norway, British Columbia V ("Organic" Salmon?)
The presence of open net-cage salmon farms are an ongoing and contentious debate off the coast of British Columbia and around the world where such farms exist. Norway, Chile, Scotland and Canada are some of the most notable locations for these controversial operations.

By all accounts these farms are industrial factory farms with many of the sites in Canada being home to half a million fish in a surface area no larger than a football field. The farms interact directly with the marine environment raising concerns over their concentrated accumulations of waste, disease and parasite transfer between the cultured and wild fish, animal welfare concerns, and the list goes on.

So when salmon eaters around the world are slowly being introduced to salmon labelled as "organic", we certainly need to inquire into what exactly that means? Salmon after all are most commonly recognized as a wild food... and is wild food not as organic as any?

Co-operatives: Alternatives to Industrial Food VI
This edition of our ongoing series on the co-operative model features a production produced by New York City's Christine Black titled "Will Work for Food - the Park Slope Food Co-op". The Co-op is one of the last remaining member-run food cooperatives in the United States and Christine's half-hour production appeared on Pacifica Radio's weekly radio show Sprouts - Radio From the Grassroots.

Guests

Shauna MacKinnon - markets campaigner, Living Oceans Society (Vancouver, BC) - Before earning her Masters in Geography at the University of Guelph, Shauna worked on salmon farming issues for a New York City foundation, which later led to work developing funding strategies for small B.C. NGOs. Her research and work interests have focused on the economic development opportunities that are being created through more local and organic food systems. In her current position Shauna works with retailers and the public to bring attention to how our food choices really can make a difference.