Getting Kids To Eat Fish
My nephew just told me he doesn't like fish because it tastes too fishy. Sounds about right. I remember hating fish too when I was growing up and that was problematic because we lived on the coast so it graced our table at least twice a week. I remember my mother griping, "You'll eat it because it's good for you not because you like it.".....as she blew second hand smoke from her Benson & Hedges all around the house.
As an adult, I love to eat fish and shell fish but not more than twice a month because of mercury.....despite the heart health advantages. Lily eats salmon or as she likes to call it 'pink fish'. I've been giving her farm raised salmon until I learned that farm raised fish are often higher in PCBs than wild salmon. Now I'm not exactly sure what to do. I've been told canned salmon is an option as canned fish are often wild.
The way I got her into eating fish was to involve her in the cooking process. She actually likes cleaning fish. Who knew? What do you do? Do you serve your children fish?
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As an adult, I love to eat fish and shell fish but not more than twice a month because of mercury.....despite the heart health advantages.
Fish is FABULOUS:) 1 serving of fish 2x per week is wonderful for you! This gets you all the omega-3 goodness without any high levels of mercury. My mother has her masters in nursing and is a nutritionalist and fed our family fish 2x per week my whole life, I've continued the tradition:)
We eat fish at least once a week, but we too are conscious of the risks. Of course, hot dogs are mercury-free, but full of nitrites; hardly any animal product is pristine.
We use the pocket seafood selector (http://www.edf.org/documents/1980_pocket_seafood_selector.pdf) as a reference.
It lists good and bad seafood choices, rated by mercury and PCB levels, and also omega-3 content and environmental impact. We don't look at it every time we shop-- wild salmon on sale is a no-brainer-- but it's especially useful when a good discount beckons on an unfamiliar item.
You specified that you were purchasing *farmed* salmon-- other than cost, is there a reason?
Everything I've heard indicates that wild salmon are better for you: lower in mercury, PCBs, and other contaminants, higher in omega-3s. In fact, farmed fish often have to be dyed, or they wouldn't be "pink fish"; their flesh is grey!
Also, buying wild doesn't threaten Pacific salmon's existence via the interbreeding of escaped (inbred, lice-infested, antibiotic-pumped) Atlantic stock from farms. (Farmed = Atlantic; wild = Pacific)
Dear BH - I used to buy farm raised salmon because I let a crazy person convince me it was better nutritionally because of the 'mercury scare of 07'. I am so not buying it any more....they die their flesh? yuck....thanks for the tip and thanks for the link to the seafood selector!