Friday, August 12, 2011

The Organic Salmon Controversy


There's so much negative press about farm raised salmon that I decided to try organic salmon instead.  Organic salmon was more expensive than farm raised but not quite as much as wild salmon.   Stores don't label their salmon as farm raised.  At Citarella they call it Scottish Salmon.  It's around $11 a pound.  The organic salmon was $19 a pound.  I noticed the wild salmon was pricing around $26 a pound.  So the price is the give-away.


The organic salmon seemed hardier than the farm raised.  The bad thing about farm raised salmon is that the fish are packed together in pens out at sea.  They are fed grains and are often fed pellets with anti-bacterial agents to prevent infection.  They have the omega 3's - but not as much as wild salmon and they are higher in saturated fat.  They look great at the store because they are dyed to have the vibrant red color.  In fact, they are paler than wild salmon.  I thought organic salmon was the answer but upon doing the research I found that there are no United States Department of Agriculture standards for organic fish.  Most of the organic salmon is shipped from overseas where the standards tend to be lower.  So even though it's labeld organic, there are no guarantees that the fish weren't farm raised.



I noticed a difference in the taste and texture of the organic salmon, so in this case it was a better quality of fish.  But if you want the real deal, you should go for the wild salmon.


I roasted brussell sprouts, lemon and tomato


Hopefully my organic salmon wasn't injected with dyes - the color was beautiful and looked natural.  Along with the roasted brussell sprouts I served lentil salad - a nice combination.  Next time I want to splurge I'm going for the wild salmon.  

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