Fish Fridays

These days between the things you can't eat and the things you should eat it's a full time job trying navigate the menu before the server gets to your table. I must admit- I'm "that guy" who usually narrows it down to 2 or 3 things, asks the server what they would pick of the 3, and then usually orders something else... irrespective of any of the aforementioned logic.

However, now that it's Lent and I've decided to abide by the dogmatic- yet habitually nostalgic tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays. Because my peanut butter sandwich days are long over, I'm left with fish as my sole source of protein and satiety. So getting back to my point of what I can and can't eat... I think eating fish and chips for lunch and dinner every Friday is probably going to be a no-go, seeing as my life has turned into a 60-hour sitting session every week. I'm in an anti-salmon phase right now, unless it's Pacific wild salmon (which is another story for another day) so what is a good catholic boy to do?

Then it dawned on me... sushi!! Sushi is obviously free of the saturated fats, oils and carbs that come with the fish and chips and all the taste! I do credit my friend John with coming up with the sashimi diet- if money is no problem. So I guess it's a plan, but there's one concern I still have with sushi.


Just last week we went to Minado, an all you can eat sushi buffet, across from the Natick Collection. As I watched my friend masticate a mini Mt. Kilimanjaro of sashimi- I wondered what's the amount of mercury he just ingested and should I even be worried about it? I don't think eating sushi once or twice a week is something to be concerned about- but then again you hear stories like when the EPA found 20 New York City sushi places with exceedingly dangerous mercury levels. I know a friend who went overseas and had just one sushi diner, got mercury poising and has never been the same.


It's scary to think that just about anything we eat these days could make you obese, give you cancer, etc. etc. One strategy is to say, "well you only live once and there's no point in worrying about everything". I definitely agree that's a tempting philosophy to have and I would say that's my default- especially when I'm making a regularly scheduled trip to Bartley's Burgers for their "viagra burger" (blue cheese and bacon).

But then again, maybe I should be more concerned. After all, it's the same laissez-faire attitude that has turned our food industry into one big chemically enhanced assembly line. There are few if any industries that have had such a dramatic affect on the environment and our health in such a negative way.


If consumers change their behavior and avoid the Toro or other fish because of the mercury levels, maybe that will create downstream pressure to change our fishing, farming and food production practices. Maybe governments will crack down harder on industrial waste and dumping so people can feel safe when they eat certain foods and all the people from the fishermen to the restaurant hostess will have a sustainable livelihood.

Okay, I didn't think I was going to go into a prophetic rant, but sometimes ranting is healthy. Anyway, here's a list I found of average mercury levels found in common sushi from the Natural Resources Defense Council in case anyone wants to start a mini consumer-revolution with me on Fridays.