Seafood from China

Hi,

...just interested to read foodies' thoughts about eating/buying/serving food imported from China...seafood in particular but other stuff as well

China is a country where starvation is still a very real problem, and everyone basically is sick from one form of pollution or another...can we believe the labels?

How concerned should we be about the use of antibiotics in food?

As for as the seafood, I try to always get mine from the same place.

I always try to look for Caught Wild USA logo if from the store.

I have yet to find a purveyor down here. But when I was in Nashville I used Gulf Pride down at the farmers market. I dealt with one guy there, he would even call me if something looked real good.

Never the less, I used a product of China once, I got it there and it was crayfish (crawfish, mudbuggs and some such) and they were great.

I do not like antibiotics in food. I believe things like that are adding to the many illness' that plague our population today.

Just my opinion.

In today's NY Times, there is an article about meat, produce, peanuts labels and how lobbyists have delayed a law requiring origins of the food products to be labeled:

Labels Lack Food’s Origin Despite Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/busin ... ref=slogin

“The consumer, upon seeing the U.S.D.A. label, would naturally presume that it’s a U.S. product,” said Bill Bullard, chief executive of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal fund, United Stockgrowers of America, an organization of cattle ranchers better known as R-Calf. He said the effect for meatpackers was that “they are able to bring in a cheaper product and sell it under the reputation of the U.S. cattle industry.”

As consumers, is it enough that the food tastes good?

As we become more global in trading patterns, can we still expect our food to be top quality or will the field of food consumption level off and become a matter of cost and availability rather than quality?

Water is a clear example of this...many of us refuse to drink tap water, yet it is 'drinkable' unlike many/most countries in the world. Is tap water unhealthy? Although it will kill fish (in a pond) in a matter of minutes, it's certainly labeled as safe for human consumption.

Is healthy eating becoming an elitist activity?

Mari

Eat locally. When I do want something that cannot be produced locally, like seafood, I always purchase it from a retailer who has an established relationship with a reputable and reliable source. No farmed salmon, no basa from China, no fish from lagoons in Vietnam, no scallops packed in a sulfite goo. I never buy fish from big-chain supermarkets.

This topic could open a can of worms, for real. The issues aren't limitied to seafood, or even food itself. Big price for globalization, and a lot of learning and changes to be addressed.

But I'm with Ron -