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There was a little bit of nostalgia for the family time that we enjoyed for that month, and we talked of the 'dinner wars' that we had. Each member of the family picked a recipe and, perhaps with a little help, produced the whole dining experience themselves, including table setting, decor, and dress code. The evenings were given a score out of ten by each person and my wife was the eventual winner with her three course French extravaganza.
Naturally the suggestion was made that we should do it again and so the recipe cards came out and there was debate over who should do what. Our family has increased by two in the last year so this time round will be a larger and more diverse affair, as we now have two meat eaters in the family - for whom we attempt to cater as respectfully as possible.
My daughter suggested that she would like to make tuna pasta - a long time favourite. But the Netflix documentary 'Seaspiracy' is large on the landscape at the moment and so the parental response was that we would not buy tuna. "Why not?" asked the eleven year old. I attempted to explain over fishing, in particular in the context of the larger predatory species. The response around the table was one of a general 'sigh and slump'. I agree; being environmentally responsible is a drag. The comment is often made that a vegetarian diet is a bit boring - and so it can be. I've certainly never been a fan of tofu.
My choice for my own attempt at dinner was going to be sushi, and still might be, although now I am struggling with that; I love sushi but it's pretty heavy on the fish. Should I just forget about conscience and do it anyway? Surely that's not going to make a difference to anyone, and family time is important. As I am sure people will write and tell me, there have been plenty of challenges to the veracity of the claims made in Seaspiracy, and as I've said before, I'd love to be able to believe that climate change is no big deal and is not caused by humans. Don't forget that 99% of all species that ever existed are now extinct - what's a few more? It would be nice to believe things are not as bad as we're told but would that be rational?
Belief that the current rate of climate change, and environmental (including fish stocks) degradation is human-induced, and that something can be done about it, is now so mainstream that most governments of the world are in line and pledging immediate and wide-ranging action.
I guess the sushi and the tuna pasta will have to be tuna-less.
Salmon's alright though isn't it?
