Editor:
As a food retailer, I am constantly asked about organic food and more specifically about organic fish. The best way to make sure you get what you purchase is to educate yourself to make sure what you pay for is what you actually get.
The problem is that there is no such thing as organic fish. Fish can't be certified organic in the United States. The label "organic" is only used for food produced on land such as vegetables and meat. The reason for this is simple. Fish caught in the ocean can hardly be organic. We all know that there are plenty of nasty things in our oceans. Salmon, even if caught in a nice stream in Alaska, do migrate all over the place. How could anyone measure whether they only lived in waters that are 100 percent free of pesticide? The truth is that the closest thing to organic salmon is fish farmed in British Columbia or Scotland. They do have tanks with less fish, often even feed them organic food and use only small amounts of grain. However, these fish are closer to free range than organic.
Just go online and search for "organic fish" for more information; www.sfgate.com has some interesting information on the subject and there are many Web sites with real facts about organic food.
Ron Goth
Swiss Gourmet Fine Foods
Carbondale
