Fish isn’t my favorite meat, but I like eating it all the same. Maybe I haven’t experienced the variety in fish that I have in other meats, but eating fish all the time would get old after awhile. The same thing could be said about nearly any food. Well, except for sweet potatoes. I could eat those things every day for the rest of my life and still be happy.
As much as we as a population love fish, eating fish so much isn’t great for the fish population. This sounds clear once you think about it, but it’s a fact you and I manage to brush off while munching away at that tilapia or salmon. Then I saw this chart showing populations of popularly eaten fish in 1900 and 2000, and that’s when the fish or lack thereof metaphorically smacked me in the face. These fish aren’t just dying; we’re eating the poor things and causing the drastic population decreases, and a critical mass of people won’t stop their behaviors.
I’m no dame in shining armor, either. I probably won’t stop eating fish either, even though fish doesn’t find its way to my mouth often. But what about the other meats? Should I reconsider my consumption of those meats because of their environmental impact? I have considered reducing my meat intake for health and environment reasons, but cutting out meat altogether is a tough step if only because the bacon cheeseburger is delicious. And I do love my bacon cheeseburgers.