"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday 15 October 2016

Fish conundrum


It has been a melancholy week in my part of the world.

Firstly, I am concerned about the presidential candidates in the US of A.  From where I sit neither of the candidates are going to be beneficial leaders - either for that country, nor amongst the leaders of the First World order.

I will not be directly impacted by this on a day to day basis as I do not live in the US - but, whoever is president will affect the country I am living in, and the country of my birth through their foreign policies and trade deals.

Maybe I'm wrong.  I hope so.

And then you add the events unfolding in this country.

Perhaps you haven't heard anything about them - South Africa is, after all, a minor irritation in the grand scheme of things.  But, for us who live here, the potential of it sliding into another Zimbabwe is great at the present time.

I have felt like crying - and have had a throat constricted with emotion.  With despair in my heart, and dread in my soul.

I have been disheartened, disillusioned, distraught and devastated at the unconscionable political shenanigans unfolding daily in this country.

Great shuddering sobs want to emanate from within me.


I weep for this country.

I weep together with the despairing millions who live in this country. Those millions who continue to suffer because of the actions of unaccountable selfish, self-centered, greedy and ruthless people in positions of power - powerful people who care absolutely nothing for those who elected them into those positions - those powerful people whom they still trust to fulfil the election promises they were / are fed and the traditional leaders who sway them into believing that the leopards are going to change their spots.

When will this country again be given a chance to shine - to fulfil the amazing promise it has already displayed. That promise that was given accolades by the world for the peaceful transformation and transition from oppressed to free.

Or is it already too late...

Despair floods my heart and soul.

And finally, the other issue I have been agitated and fretting about is fish.
ELENA ZAJCHIKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Fish is the mainstay of millions of people around the world.  

Meat - in most cases that is completely unaffordable for the majority them.  Majority being not millions but billions of people.  Their main source of protein and minerals / trace elements are derived from the fish they consume.

Although I do not touch red meat - in any form - I do thoroughly enjoy my fish once or twice a week.

But a few articles from around my world have caught my attention recently.

One of them is regarding the contamination of marine fish due to the leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant.  You don't hear much about it anymore, but, boy, that leak is still ongoing.

There is no magical wall in the ocean to prevent that contamination from spreading - affecting anything that it comes across in the water.

And that includes the fish we all eat.

Fish from the deep, fish from the shallows.  All is becoming contaminated.

There is no magical wall...

I would prefer not to consume fish contaminated with radioactive waste if I am able.

So I thought that perhaps, if I could find a trout farmer in our area I could get my fish fix from that source - but, there are none that I can find!  I can't even find frozen trout.  Is there such a thing?  Or canned???

I've never seen either.

Finally, I read this article this week:

http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/food/4-canned-fish-you-should-avoid-at-all-costs

I know that all of these things that I have mentioned above are out of my control - I can do tiddly squat about them - but still they concern me...

< sigh >

My apologies for a negative posting - I'm sure that next week I will be in a better, more positive frame of mind.  Until then...

24 comments:

  1. I understand your "angst" at all that is going on. I feel overloaded with my emotions as well. It seems we try to better things for ourselves and yet--through no fault of our own, the world seems to be reaching that point that the air, the waters, EVERYTHING is polluted. I don't know what to say....but I understand what you are feeling.

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    1. Sue - Angst is a perfect word.

      Yes, now matter how many positive steps are achieved, backwards seems to be where we're headed :[

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  2. I'm watching the coming election with dread. If Clinton wins, things are going to get very hard for people like me. I'm resolved not to obey any unconstitutional laws or executive orders she may institute, and she's already got a list as long as your arm she's promised to initiate once she ascends the throne. I've been through this once before , with her husbands illegal gun bans in the mid nineties, and I had to live with it for ten years before it was overturned. I don't relish that kind of stress at my age, but I won't bend the knee to that crowd.

    I have been watching events in South Africa. I never say anything about it here as I don't want to get you into trouble.

    The only fish I ever eat anyway is tuna, and we know that has mercury in it, but I still eat it.....

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    1. Harry - From where I sit, neither HC nor DT are going to be of any benefit to the US. Trumps apparent attitude to women is appalling!!!!

      (Canned) Tuna is RMan's favourite too...

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  3. I don't fear Hillary as much as I do Trump. Are they the best two? No. But until we get TRUE third party options, they are the only two. And that man has no business near the command and control of our country. Let's see, none of the Bush family has endorsed him, including two former Presidents. Even President Reagan's Conservative son has refused and endorsed Hillary. Not to mention most every cabinet member from the last three Republican administrations. There must also be a reason not a single newspaper editorial staff that endorsed Bush, McCain or Romney has endorsed him. That should be telling. The 35 largest papers in our country. Oh sure, you'll hear the "media bias" argument but if they endorsed Bush, McCain and Romney but now refuse to endorse Trump, I'm pretty sure that argument is moot. Not to mention many of them have never, in their 100+ year histories, endorsed a Democrat. As for gun control, I and a large majority of American's welcome sensible gun regulations. The ban on assault weapons in 1994 was endorsed by Ford, Carter and Reagan. Sure, Bill Clinton signed it into law and it was never repealed, but it just allowed to expire after 10 years, in 2004. Bush was in the middle of campaigning for his second term. He certainly didn't repeal it during his first four years.

    We heard for 8 years of Clinton that they were giving the country over to the New World Order or some nonsense, secret black ops helicopters and of course taking our guns. They had 8 years to do it. Hmm...never did. Heard for 8 years of Obama the same thing, he is going to turn us into a communist nation, internment camps, martial law and force himself to have a third term, and of course, also taking our guns. Never did. He better hurry up with that martial law, there are only 3 weeks left.

    I always find it ironic that after 16 years of two Democratic presidents, it was under a Republican president that we lost more freedoms than ever before in our history, under the Patriot Act. Granted in response to a terror attack but still, everyone willingly gave up freedoms and allowed Government intrusion in more of our lives but that was ok.

    We'll be ok, we always are. In the end Americans make the right decision. Not everyone agrees but that's what makes us great.

    The planet does seem to be in crisis. I think she is sending us warning signs and some of us see it, but many do not. Sending good energy your way!

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    1. 1st Man - Thank you for your positive energy.

      I cannot comment on who would be best for the US, because I honestly believe that neither will be. I would not like to have to decide who to vote for come November...

      Good luck.

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  4. Ohboy Dani I feel your pain. Nothing depressed me more this week than the #sciencemustfall birdbrain who suggested that centuries of painful scientific discovery should be "scratched off" in favour of witchcraft and superstition. Here come the dark ages again!

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    1. pqsa - Under this current administration we seem to be heading backwards - rapidly. It is very worrying.

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  5. You're not being negative at all, I think you are just voicing concerns that many, many of us have at present.

    I too am watching the US election process with horrified fascination - I fear too many people are still not taking "The Donald" seriously and whilst Hillary is not perfect either, I don't think the race is yet over. No-one believed he would get the GOP nomination, but he did. I'm afraid we're not safe from him until 9th November, and possibility not even then.

    As for events in your own beautiful country - you're right Dani, not a peep or mention on UK news. I shall search online.

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    1. Jayne - Yup - 9 November will be a decider that is for sure...

      The best place to find outinfo on SA is: http://www.news24.com

      Corruption in this country has been out of control...

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  6. Dani, There was, and maybe there still is, a trout farmer in the upper reaches of the Keurbooms River near Plett. Maybe you could google? The road up there is quite hectic, but the area is beautiful.

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    1. Marlene - Thanks for the info. Plett is a tad far to go for a weekly shop ;)

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  7. I am ashamed of the US for ever voting for either of those candidates,,,will not mention their names as I am tired of hearing them. The debates I have suffered through are nothing but trashy people talking stupid shit. I have not heard anything from either that would hint they can handle the job...I will vote Green Party.

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  8. Like you, although I don't live in the US I am a little worried about the scenarios that the two candidates are capable of inflicting on the rest of the world. I think you hit the nail on the head, neither candidate will be beneficial leaders either to the states or the rest of the free world.
    On the topic of fish the other legitimate concern is that if we carry on at the rate we're going there isn't going to be anything left in the oceans to eat, contaminated or otherwise :(

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    1. TW - You're quite right there - there are countries who are raping the bounty from the oceans - mainly from the east...

      I think fish farms (who don't use any chemical additives) are the only solution long term. Oh, if we only had a steam running through our property - perhaps we could have tried trout farming ;)

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  9. Hi Dani. My hubby and I are in the planning stage of buying a plot on which to practice sustainable living. One of the things planned is a aquaponic system in a tunnel. We already have it in working in our backyard. It will be increased in size at what we talk about as "new house". We have Mozambique Tilapia at the moment, a delish fish that you would swear comes from the sea.

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    1. Sharon - We have a small hydroponic system in our shadeclovered veggie patch. It's working well, although I reckon it could probably do with some proper hydroponic additives (providing they are organic!)

      Do you have a blog? Care to share? ;)

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    1. Sharon - We're not too far from there... :D But, I reckon our smallholdings are more affordable than those in Montagu. Ours was certainly the most affordable we found after a 3 500km Western Cape search

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  11. Well, it's hard to keep positive sometimes in the world the way it is. It never seems to fail that even when people with good intentions get into power, something happens and they forget what's truly important. That being said, most Americans aren't too happy with our presidential choices either. Not that who gets elected seems to matter. We no longer seem to be a democracy, not when the judicial system can override the will of the people.

    On another note, do you think you might be interested in participating in a joint homestead author ebook bundle? Sections of your solar cookbook would be perfect. There's more information on my blog if you think that might be something you'd like to do.

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    1. Leigh - I wonder if there are any countries left who are truly democratic?

      Thanks for the invite - have left a message on your blog.

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    2. I have to agree with you on that.

      Do check out my reply to your message. Most authors just use something they already have published and on the market.

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    3. Leigh - Lol - I subscribed to comments so your reply was delivered to my inbox ;) Please - let me see how it goes - really snowed under here - there is always a rush (in our business) before Christmas and at the mo' we don't know whether we are Arthur or Martha ;)

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Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.