Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps on it.
Sweet Thursday
John Steinbeck, 1954
It’s not surprising to find farmed salmon in many restaurants these days nor is it surprising that most have a ‘don’t tell unless asked’ policy regarding the word ‘farmed’ in place. I was surprised, however, that a number of our most celebrated chefs were still offering salmon raised in industrial pens and doing so without labeling it ‘farmed.’ on their menus. Even more surprising was the fact that a number of these chefs are known for having a particular reverence for quality ingredients, eschewing feedlots and factory farms for the organic, sustainable, and local…a contradiction?
Chef Charlie Trotter took foie gras off the menu of his famed Chicago restaurant because of concerns over the way it was produced, and on his website he states his philosophy:
The taste of free-range and organic products is so much better than the alternative. It is also good to know that you are eating unadulterated food and supporting farmers and growers who are directly connected with the land.
Very admirable, and yet he has been selling smoked salmon direct to consumers from his website for years: “From the icy cold water of Canada and Maine comes the fresh natural salmon Charlie Trotter has selected to bear his name.” The word ‘farmed’ is never used when in fact the salmon is farmed, and then there is that word ‘natural.’ James Beard Award winning Rick Tramonto of Tru in Chicago, offered this in a 2008 post on his blog:
as a chef I consider myself a steward of the Earth and understand the implications of over-farming, over-fishing and the inhumane treatment of animals.
“Scottish salmon” is on his menu with no mention of the fact that it is ‘farmed’ - Scottish salmon had the highest concentration of pollutants of all the salmon tested in 2004.
But the celebrity chefs in Chicago are not alone in this, insincerity, hypocrisy, duplicity, call it what you will. Chef Michael Mina in San Francisco seems to have a ‘conflicted’ attitude to farmed salmon. Fish or Cut Bait, (FOCB), is an initiative that was created to answer the question, "What can I do? in the face of a flood of contradicting claims and evidence regarding the origin of Sustainable Seafood and the facts behind these claims.” The initiative canvasses chefs for its Farmed Fish Free Pledge: “Restaurants and retailers taking this pledge will remove farmed salmon from their menus and shelves using only wild salmon when it is available.” According to the FOCB website Michael Mina has signed the pledge. Clicking my way through the menus of a number of Chef Mina’s restaurants, I found that American Fish by Michael Mina in Las Vegas just happened to have “Organic Salmon” from British Columbia on the menu. Again, the menu doesn’t indicate that this is 'farmed' salmon, but even more disturbing is the fact that British Columbia doesn’t have any ‘organic’ certification for fish - in this case the restaurant is not only misleading its customers, but it may also be breaking the law.
After discovering the farmed salmon distributor CleanFish promoting that the acclaimed French Laundry was one of its clients, I visited its website and the websites for Chef Thomas Keller’s other restaurants, Bouchon and Per Se. Keller is known for the quality of his ingredients, sustainably growing many of his own greens, herbs and vegetables. He pays tribute to the small farmers he buys from by putting their names on the menu and telling their stories on his website, such as Keith Martin at Elysian Fields Farm who supplies lamb for Per Se:
unlike farmers who impose their will on the natural process, Keith goes to tremendous efforts to become invisible…everything he does is centered around his belief that nature does its best work when people stay out of the way.
I found sautéed Scottish salmon on the menus of his Bouchon restaurants in Las Vegas and Beverley Hills. Once again no mention is made of this salmon being farmed.
Another star chef who divides his time between New York City and California is Charlie Palmer chef-owner of Aureole and thirteen other restaurants. His online biography states:
Influenced by his childhood experiences working in his family's vegetable garden, Palmer was an early advocate of farm over factory food.
At Aureole in NYC and several other restaurants he currently offers a Scottish salmon entrée and at Aureole in Las Vegas he offers Pacific salmon with nary a mention of the word ‘farmed.’ His Fin Fish restaurant in Reno, Nevada offers wild King salmon, which seems a bit out of place.
But I must return to the celebrity chef who initiated all of my farmed salmon googling, Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin. There is a note at the bottom of his restaurant’s menus:
Le Bernadin Will Not Serve Chilean Sea Bass, Grouper, Shark, Sword, Marlin, Sailfish, Wild Blue Fin Tuna in Support of Oceana, NRDC and Sea Web's Educational Effort to Speed the Recovery of These Endangered Species.
Oceana’s Guide to Ocean Friendly Fish recommends avoiding farmed salmon for two reason:
High environmental costs of farming salmon include water pollution, spread of diseases to wild fish populations, high content of wild fish in feed, and overuse of antibiotics. In addition to Atlantic Salmon, farmers are now raising Chinook and Coho Salmon. All Atlantic Salmon sold in the U.S. are farmed. Wild Alaska Salmon are a more ocean-friendly choice.
Recommends not eating it for environmental and mercury pcb contamination reasons.
The restaurant currently has both Wild King Salmon and Smoked Salmon Carpaccio on the menu. During his Star Ingredients episode, Chef Ripert informs the viewer that this Smoked Salmon Carpaccio is made from organic farmed Scottish salmon, but the menu makes no mention of the fact that it is ‘farmed’ in Scotland. His other restaurants also offer “salmon” with no mention of the fact that it is farmed or where it is from.
I think that it is important to conclude this post with one of the conclusions from the 2004 report in Science magazine: “this study also demonstrates the importance of labeling salmon as farmed and identifying the country of origin.”
If you don't have all of the facts on salmon farming why not read the first part of this piece:
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