environment

Forever wild?

The bitter debate over fish farms and their proposed expansion along British Columbia's coast rages on. Recently, Greenpeace, fishermen, and First Nations' groups launched a flotilla of boats as a peaceful protest against fish farms. The nearby Broughton Archipelago is one of the most concentrated areas of fish farms in the world. While government officials claim fish farms pose no risk to the wild salmon population, biologists and local residents know otherwise. Fish farms are breeding grounds for parasites, including sea lice. Out of 350 wild smolts sampled in April 2002 by one local biologist, only one was free of sea lice. In 2003, three and a half million salmon were expected to return to spawning grounds; only 147,000 made it back. Refuse to eat farmed fish and add your voice to the growing dissent against fish farms.

Fast-food confessions

Fast-food restaurants might be legislated to list nutritional information of each menu item. If Bill C-398 is passed, it will require full-service chain restaurants to display the calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. In addition, fresh meat, poultry, and seafood will require full nutritional disclosure and pre-packaged, processed foods will disclose the percentage-by-weight of main ingredients. Other aspects of this proposed legislation include limiting commercial advertising directed at children (especially for food), shifting sales taxes from nutritious foods to junk foods, promoting healthy eating and physical activity through school curriculum and public service announcements, and funding preventive nutrition counselling services through Medicare. The resulting health care cost savings and productivity gains are predicted to generate five billion dollars. According to Bill Jeffery, national coordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, "C-398 promises to help reduce diet-related diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and obesity," which are estimated to cost 25,000 Canadian lives and $6.3 billion every year.