Barramundi Can't Eat Locally
Barramundi is not a true locavore option [see Locavore, Jan. 22, 2009]. No fish that is a predator can be sustainably raised unless you're growing its food as well. While barramundi certainly is a better choice than farm-raised Atlantic salmon, since it needs much less animal protein to grow, it requires a certain amount of fish meal in its pelletized food. The animal protein in fish food derives from the marine food chain and usually consists of anchovies, sardines, herring and the like, all creatures that are harvested in mass quantities from the ocean, and whose subtraction means less forage for whales, birds and bigger fish. Tilapia is the only fish that can be grown relatively sustainably, since it's a strict herbivore.
Erik Hoffner
via email
Advocate Off Target
The Alan Bisbort article "Truly Alternative: Giving our shared humanity a media voice" [Jan. 22, 2009] brought home some deep unsettled feelings. This well-crafted story-in-a-story also brought to light what I found missing in the Advocate. Cynthia McKinney was the keynote speaker at an event to honor Martin Luther King Day. This came on the heels of an international incident on a ship named "Integrity" that, while bringing mercy supplies to Gaza (with CNN and others on board), was rammed three times by an Israeli navy speed boat. It began to take on water. My website, flybynews.com, has links to youtube videos on this incident.
Another subject that the Advocate (and many peace activists) avoid is 9/11. Such issues appear to have bottomless dark holes to get lost in, but avoidance of an issue can make the hole that we are in deeper, too. Valley 9/11 Truth is sponsoring an open screening of Bill Moyers' 1987 documentary called The Secret Government: Constitution in Crisis at the Media Education Foundation, 7 p.m., Wednesday, February 11. Prior to and following the film there will be discussions of how to apply what we learn for our integrity and for a just future.
Jonathan Mark
Wendell
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I would like to offer thanks to Mayor Higgins for making it possible for members of our community to witness Barack Obama's inauguration at the Academy of Music. For those of us not able to travel to D.C. to be there in person, it was the next best thing. This was not a political event, as some suggested [see "Politics in the People's Academy," Jan. 29, 2009], but a community event. It was certainly not a self-serving act for the mayor; her presence was fairly low-profile. I resent the implication that it was a politically self-promoting event for her. The energy of the audience was palpable. It was a way to bring our community together and renew our patriotism.
Nancy Jessup
Florence
