Dan Barber How I fell in love with a fish

Summary

The speaker reflects on their evolving relationship with fish, initially captivated by a seemingly sustainable farmed fish, but disillusioned upon discovering it was fed chicken. They then fall in love with a unique fish farm in Spain that doesn't feed its fish, instead fostering a natural ecosystem that purifies water and supports bird life. The story contrasts conventional industrial agriculture with ecological farming, emphasizing the need for sustainable, relationship-focused agriculture that benefits both nature and flavor. The speaker calls for a future of food grounded in ecological balance and sustainability.

Takeaways

• 🐟 A chef shares his journey with two distinct fish he loved, beginning with his experience supporting sustainable fish farming.
• 🌊 The chef acknowledges the widespread depletion of wild fish populations due to overfishing, emphasizing the need for aquaculture.
• 🚫 While fish farms are a future necessity, the chef discovers unsustainable practices like feeding chicken pellets to fish, leading him to fall out of love with the first fish.
• 💡 The second fish, farmed in a unique ecological system in Spain, is raised without external feed, eating naturally occurring biomass like algae and zooplankton.
• 🌿 The Spanish fish farm restored wetlands, created a thriving ecological network, and even supports a large bird population, including 600,000 flamingos.
• 🦩 The farm's success is measured by the health of its predators, like birds, which feed on fish eggs and shrimp, creating a balanced ecosystem.
• 💧 The fish farm also acts as a water purification system, filtering out contaminants and improving the water quality before it flows into the Atlantic.
• 🍽️ The chef praises the flavor of the fish from this sustainable system, noting that it tastes cleaner and more natural than fish from traditional farms.
• 🌍 The chef advocates for a new ecological model of farming, which focuses on restoration and sustainability, rather than industrial-scale, resource-intensive agriculture.
• 🔄 The overarching message is that sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, built on ecological principles, can provide a solution for feeding the world while preserving natural ecosystems.

Q & A

What issue does the narrator raise about the sustainability of farmed fish?

The narrator highlights the unsustainable practices of many fish farms, such as inefficient feed conversion ratios (e.g., 15 pounds of wild fish for 1 pound of farmed tuna) and the use of unsustainable protein sources like chicken pellets.

What prompted the narrator to fall out of love with the first farmed fish?

The narrator fell out of love with the first fish after discovering that 30% of its feed consisted of chicken pellets. This revelation made the fish seem unsustainable, and the narrator felt that it tasted like chicken.

How is the second fish farm described as different from the first?

The second fish farm, located in Spain, is ecologically sustainable. It doesn't feed its fish artificial feed; instead, the fish eat what they would in the wild, such as plant biomass and phytoplankton. The farm also supports a thriving ecosystem, including bird populations like flamingos.

What was the ecological impact of the land before the Spanish company took over?

Before the Spanish company purchased the land, it was used for raising cattle, which resulted in draining wetlands and creating ecological damage. This led to the loss of about 90% of the bird population in the area.

How did the Spanish company restore the ecological balance of the farm?

The Spanish company reversed the flow of water through a series of canals, flooding the land to recreate wetlands. This restored the natural ecosystem, turning the area into a thriving fish farm and bird sanctuary.

Why are flamingos important to the second fish farm’s ecosystem?

Flamingos are a sign of the farm’s ecological health. They feast on shrimp that thrive on phytoplankton, and their pink bellies are an indicator of the health of the system. The farm loses 20% of its fish and fish eggs to predators like flamingos, but this is considered a success as part of the extensive ecological network.

What makes the second fish farm's water quality unique?

The water in the second farm is purified as it passes through the system. It starts as contaminated water from the Guadalquivir River, but by the time it leaves the farm, it is cleaner than when it entered, making the farm a water purification system.

How does the second fish farm define success?

The second fish farm defines success by the health of its predators, like birds, rather than just focusing on fish production. The thriving bird population and the ecological balance of the farm are key indicators of its success.

What does the narrator imply about the current food system's flaws?

The narrator criticizes the current food system for prioritizing efficiency over sustainability, leading to environmental destruction. Practices like feeding chickens to fish, using chemicals, and focusing on mass production have created a system that is damaging the environment and failing to produce truly good food.

What solution does the narrator propose for the future of agriculture?

The narrator proposes adopting an ecological model of agriculture that prioritizes relationships within ecosystems. Farms like Miguel’s, which restore rather than deplete resources, are seen as the future of good food production.

Outlines

00:00

🐟 A Passionate Love for Fish and Sustainability

The narrator reflects on their past love for a particular farmed fish, praising its taste, texture, and the company's sustainable approach. However, upon further investigation, the narrator discovers that the fish feed contains 30% chicken, which contradicts the sustainability claims. This realization causes the narrator to fall out of love with the fish, highlighting the problematic nature of the current state of aquaculture and fish farming.

05:02

💖 A New Kind of Love for a Truly Sustainable Fish

The narrator describes a new type of love for a different fish they discovered in Spain. Despite being overcooked, the fish tasted amazing, thanks to a unique fish farm run by a biologist named Miguel. This farm, located in wetlands, reversed the environmental destruction caused by previous owners and created a thriving ecosystem where fish grow naturally by feeding on what they would in the wild, requiring no external feed. The farm symbolizes a harmonious relationship between agriculture and nature.

10:03

🌸 The Success of an Ecological Fish Farm

The narrator continues their exploration of the Spanish fish farm and its unique approach to farming. The farm prioritizes the health of the ecosystem over maximizing fish production, even allowing birds like flamingos to feast on 20% of the fish. The farm has become a vital bird sanctuary, attracting hundreds of thousands of birds annually. The farm's extensive, rather than intensive, farming model emphasizes ecological balance, demonstrating that success can be measured by the health of predators and the surrounding environment.

15:04

🌊 The Power of a Self-Sustaining Fish Farm

The farm's water, coming from the polluted Guadalquivir River, is purified as it flows through the system, thanks to the healthy ecosystem created by Miguel and his team. The farm not only produces fish without needing external feed but also cleans the water before it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The narrator is impressed by how the farm functions as both a sustainable fish farm and a water purification plant, seeing it as a model for the future of food production and environmental restoration.

20:06

🌱 A Radically New Conception of Agriculture

The narrator argues for a new approach to agriculture, one inspired by ecological models like Miguel's farm. Instead of relying on industrialized agriculture that depletes resources and produces mediocre food, they advocate for farms that restore ecosystems and produce food that tastes good. The narrator critiques the current food system for focusing solely on feeding the world cheaply, resulting in environmental destruction, and proposes a shift toward self-sustaining, community-focused farming that benefits both people and the planet.

Keywords

💡Sustainability

Sustainability refers to practices that do not deplete natural resources, ensuring long-term ecological balance. In the script, sustainability is a major theme in the discussion of fish farming, where the speaker initially supports a farm that claims to have high standards of sustainability. However, the revelation that the farm uses chicken pellets as feed challenges the notion of true sustainability, highlighting the importance of transparency in sustainable practices.

💡Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR)

Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is the amount of feed required to produce a specific amount of animal product, such as fish. In the script, it is emphasized that a high FCR, like 15:1 for tuna, is inefficient and unsustainable. The speaker contrasts this with a claimed FCR of 2.5:1 at the farm they support, though this claim is later questioned when it is revealed that chicken pellets make up a significant portion of the feed.

💡Aquaculture

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, and plants. The video presents aquaculture as both a solution to overfishing and a problem if done unsustainably. The speaker highlights how most fish farms pollute and are inefficient, but later shares an example of an ecologically responsible farm in Spain that operates without artificial feed, promoting a healthier environment.

💡Chicken Pellets

Chicken pellets are processed feed made from chicken by-products such as feathers, bones, and skin. The revelation that a fish farm uses 30% chicken pellets in its feed disrupts the idea that it is environmentally sustainable. This example underscores the hidden practices in the aquaculture industry and raises ethical questions about feeding terrestrial animal products to fish.

💡Ecological Network

An ecological network refers to the complex web of relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. In the script, the Spanish fish farm is described as part of a larger ecological network where predators like flamingos feed on shrimp, shrimp feed on phytoplankton, and this balance supports the health of the entire system. The farm's success is measured by the thriving of all species involved, not just the fish.

💡Bird Sanctuary

A bird sanctuary is a protected area where birds can live and breed without disturbance. The fish farm in Spain doubles as a bird sanctuary, hosting 600,000 birds from 250 species. This highlights the farm's extensive ecological integration, where birds like flamingos are allowed to thrive, and the farm measures its success by their health and population. This is an unconventional approach for a fish farm.

💡Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are microscopic plants found in aquatic ecosystems and form the base of the food chain. In the video, the Spanish fish farm is described as a self-sustaining ecosystem where fish feed on phytoplankton, replicating their natural diet. The absence of artificial feed and reliance on this natural food source helps maintain the ecological balance and enhances the flavor and quality of the fish.

💡Water Purification

Water purification refers to the process of removing contaminants from water to make it clean. In the context of the video, the Spanish fish farm is lauded for purifying the water that flows through it, despite being initially contaminated with chemicals and pesticides. By the time the water leaves the farm, it is cleaner than when it entered, demonstrating the farm's positive environmental impact.

💡Extensive Farming

Extensive farming is a type of agriculture that uses larger areas of land with lower inputs of labor and resources per unit of land. The Spanish fish farm practices extensive farming, focusing on ecological balance and sustainability rather than maximizing production. This approach contrasts with intensive farming, which often leads to environmental degradation, and it emphasizes the farm’s role in restoring ecological health.

💡Flavor and Relationships

Flavor and relationships are intertwined concepts in the script, where the quality of food is tied to the ecological relationships that sustain it. The speaker emphasizes that the fish from the Spanish farm tastes better because it is part of a healthy, self-renewing ecosystem. The relationships between species (fish, birds, algae) contribute to the overall flavor and quality of the food, suggesting that ecological health directly influences taste.

Highlights

The speaker initially describes their passionate relationship with a farm-raised fish that was supposedly sustainably produced but later learned it was fed unsustainable chicken byproducts, leading to a loss of trust.

Overfishing has led to the collapse of 90% of large fish populations like tuna, halibut, salmon, and swordfish, creating an urgent problem for chefs.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, is presented as a potential solution to overfishing, but it often faces sustainability issues, including pollution and inefficient feed conversion ratios.

The company behind the first fish claimed to have a sustainable feed conversion ratio of 2.5 to 1, but the speaker's investigation revealed that 30% of the feed was made from unsustainable chicken byproducts.

The speaker's second love affair with fish began in southern Spain, where they tasted a fish that remained delicious even when overcooked, revealing the quality of the product.

The farm in Spain, led by biologist Miguel, reversed ecological destruction by flooding wetlands, creating a 27,000-acre fish farm that restored the local bird population.

Unlike conventional fish farms, Miguel’s farm does not feed its fish. Instead, the fish live off the natural ecosystem, consuming plant biomass, phytoplankton, and zooplankton.

The farm’s success is measured not by fish yield but by the health of the predators, such as flamingos, which consume 20% of the fish population.

The Spanish farm has become the largest private bird sanctuary in Europe, housing over 600,000 birds from 250 species.

The water flowing through the farm, which is initially contaminated with chemicals and pesticides, is purified by the system before returning to the river cleaner than when it entered.

The fish farm is effectively a self-sustaining ecosystem, serving as a water purification plant that benefits the environment as well as producing high-quality fish.

The farm offers a model for the future of sustainable agriculture, one that restores ecosystems rather than depleting them.

The speaker challenges the agribusiness model, advocating for ecological agriculture that relies on natural processes honed over billions of years.

Agribusiness has driven food production based on quantity over quality, often harming the environment in the process, which is unsustainable in the long term.

The speaker concludes that sustainable food production needs to enable every community to feed itself and focus on quality and ecological harmony rather than mass production.

Transcripts

thank you

so I've known a lot of fish in my life

I've Loved only two

that first one was uh

it was more like a passionate affair

it was a beautiful fish a flavorful

textured meaty the best seller on the

menu

what a fish

even better

it was farm raised to the supposed

highest standards of sustainability

so you can feel good about selling it

I was in a relationship with this beauty

for several months

one day the head of the company called

and asked if I'd speak at an event

about the farm sustainability absolutely

I said

here's the company trying to solve

what's become this unimaginable problem

for us chefs

how do we keep fish on our menus

for the past 50 years

we've been fishing the Seas like we

clear-cut forests

it's hard to overstate

the destruction

ninety percent of large fish the ones we

love the Tunas the halibutes the Salmons

swordfish they've collapsed

there's almost nothing left

so for better for worse

aquaculture fish farming is going to be

part of our future a lot of arguments

against it

Fish Farms palute most of them do anyway

and they're inefficient take tuna a

major drawback

it's got a feed conversion ratio of 15

to 1. that means it takes 15 pounds of

wild fish to get you one pound of farm

tuna

not very sustainable

it doesn't taste very good either

so here finally

was a company trying to do it right I

wanted to support them

the day before the event

I called the head of PR for the company

let's call him Don

Don I said just to get the facts

straight you guys are famous for for

Farming so far out to sea you you don't

pollute that's right he said we're so

far out

the ways from our fish gets distributed

not concentrated

and then he added

we're basically a world unto ourselves

that feed conversion ratio 2.5 to 1 he

said best in the business

2.51 great it's like 2.5 what what do

you feeding sustainable proteins he said

great I said got off the phone

and that night I was lying in bed and I

thought

what the hell is a sustainable protein

so the next day just before the event I

called down I said Don what are some

examples of sustainable proteins

said he didn't know

he would ask around well I got on the

phone with a few people in the company

no one could give me a straight answer

until finally I got on the phone with

the head biologist

let's call him Don too

Don I said what are some examples of

sustainable proteins

well he mentioned some algaes and some

fish meals and then he said chicken

pellets

I said chicken pellets he said yeah

feather skin

bone meal scraps dried and processed

into feed

and said what percentage

of your feed is chicken

thinking you know two percent

oh it's about 30 percent he said

I said Don

what's sustainable about feeding chicken

to fish

there is a long pause on the line

and he said there's just too much

chicken in the world

okay I fell out of love with this fish

not because I'm some self-righteous

Goody Two-Shoes foodie

I actually am

now I fell out of love with this fish

because I swear to God after that

conversation the fish tasted like

chicken

this second fish

well it's a different kind of love story

it's the romantic kind

the kind where the more you get to know

your fish you love the fish

I first ate it at a restaurant in

southern Spain

a journalist friend had been talking

about this fish for a long time

she kind of set us up

okay it came to the table a bright

almost shimmering white color

chef

had overcooked it

like twice over

okay amazingly it was still delicious

who can make a fish taste good

after it's been overcooked

I can't

but this guy can

let's call him Miguel actually his name

is Miguel

no he didn't cook the fish and he's

say that you and I understand it

he's a biologist

it's a fish farm in the southwestern

corner of Spain

it's at the tip of the guadalupeer river

until the 1980s the farm was in the

hands of the argentinians

they raised beef cattle on what was

essentially wetlands

they did it by draining the land they

built this intricate series of canals

and they pushed water off the land and

out into the river

well they couldn't make it work not

economically

and ecologically it was a disaster

killed like 90 percent of the birds

which for this place is a lot of birds

and so in 1982

a Spanish company with an environmental

conscience purchased the land what did

they do

they reversed the flow of water they

literally flipped the switch

instead of pushing water out

they use the channels to pull water back

in they flooded the canals

they created a 27 Thousand Acre fish

farm

bass mullet

shrimp eel

any in the process Miguel and this

company completely reversed the

ecological destruction

the Farm's incredible I mean you've

never seen anything like this

stare at a horizon that is a million

miles away and all you see are flooded

canals and this thick Rich Marshland

I was there not long ago with Miguel

he's an amazing guy

like three parts Charles Darwin and one

part Crocodile Dundee okay

there we are slogging through the

Wetland

you know I'm panting and sweating I got

mud up to my knees and Miguel is calmly

conducting a Biology lecture

here he's pointing out a rare black

shoulder kite

now he's mentioning the mineral needs of

phytoplankton

and here

here he sees a grouping pattern that

reminds him of the Tanzanian giraffe

it turns out Miguel spent the better

part of his career in the makumi

national park in Africa

I asked him how he became such an expert

on fish

said fish

I didn't know anything about fish

I'm an expert in relationships

and then he's off

launching into more talk about rare

birds and algaes and strange aquatic

plants and don't get me wrong I was

really fascinating you know the biotic

Community unplugged kind of thing you

know it's great but I was in love and my

head

was swooning over that overcooked piece

of delicious fish I had the night before

so I interrupted him I said Miguel what

makes your fish taste so good

he pointed out the algae

I know dude the algae the phytoplankton

the relationships this is amazing

right but what are your fish eating and

what's the feed conversion ratio

what goes on to tell me

it's such a rich system

that the fish are eating what they're

beating in the wild

the plant biomass the phytoplank the

zooplankton it's what feeds the fish the

system is so healthy it's totally

self-renewing

there is no feed

ever heard of a farm that doesn't feed

its animals

later that day I was driving around this

property with Miguel and I asked him I

said for a place that seems so natural

unlike

any fish I like a farm I'd ever been at

how do you measure success

what that moment it's as if

film director called for a set change

and we rounded the corner and saw the

most amazing site thousands and

thousands of pink flamingos

a literal Pink Carpet for as far as you

could see

that's success he said

look at their bellies pink they're

feasting

feasting I was totally confused I said

Miguel aren't they feasting on your fish

yes he said

we lose 20 of our fish and fish eggs to

birds

all right well last year this property

had 600 000 Birds on it

more than 250 different species it's

become today the largest

and one of the most important

private bird sanctuaries in all of

Europe

I said Miguel isn't a thriving bird

population like the last thing you want

on a fish farm

he shook his head no he said we Farm

extensively

not intensively

this is an ecological Network

the flamingos eat the shrimp the shrimp

eat the phytoplankton so the pink of the

belly the better the system

okay so let's review a farm that doesn't

feed its animals

and a farm that measures its success

on the health of its predators

a fish farm but also a bird sanctuary

oh and by the way those flamingos they

shouldn't even be there in the first

place

they brewed in a town 150 miles away

where the soil conditions are better for

building nests

every morning they fly 150 miles into

the farm

and every evening they fly 150 miles

back

they do that

because they're able to follow the

broken white line of Highway a-92

no kidding

you know I was imagining a March of the

Penguins thing you know so I looked at

Miguel I said Miguel do they fly 150

miles to the farm

and then do they fly 150 miles back at

night

do they do that for the children

he looked at me like I just quoted a

Whitney Houston song

laughs

he said no they do it because the food's

better

you know I didn't mention the skin of my

beloved

fish

which was delicious and I don't like

fish skin I don't like it seared I don't

like it crispy

is that acrid tar-like flavor

I almost never cook with it

yet when I tasted it at that restaurant

in southern Spain it tasted not at all

like fish skin

it tasted sweet and clean

like you were taking a bite of the ocean

I mentioned that to Miguel and he nodded

he said the skin acts like a sponge it's

the last defense before anything enters

the body it evolved to soak up

impurities and then he added

but our water has no impurities

okay a farm that doesn't feed its fish

a farm that measures the success by the

success of its predators

and then I realized when he says a farm

that has no impurities he made a big

understatement because the water that

flows through that farm comes in from

the guadalcovere river

it's a river that carries with it all

the things that Rivers tend to carry

these days

chemical contaminants pesticide runoff

and when it works its way through the

system

and leaves the water is cleaner than

when it entered

the system is so healthy it purifies the

water

so not just a farm that doesn't feed its

animals not just a farm that measures

the health

it's success by the health of its

predators

but a farm that's literally a water

purification plant

and not just for those fish

but for you and me as well because when

that water leaves it dumps out into the

Atlantic

A Drop in the Ocean I know but I'll take

it and so should you

because this love story

however romantic

is also instructive you might say it's a

recipe for the future of good food

whether we're talking about bass or beef

cattle

what we need now is a radically new

conception of Agriculture one in which

the food actually tastes good

right

but for a lot of people

that's a bit too radical

we're not realists us Foodies we're

lovers

we love farmers markets we love small

Family Farms

we talk about local food we eat organic

and when you suggest these are the

things that will ensure the future of

good food someone somewhere stands up

and says hey guy

I love pink flamingos

how are you going to feed the world

how are you going to feed the world

can I be honest I don't love that

question

no not because we already produce enough

calories to more than feed the world

one billion people

will go hungry today one billion that's

more than ever before

because of gross inequalities and

distribution not tonnage

now I don't love this question because

it's determined the logic of our food

system for the last 50 years

feed grained herbivores

pesticides to monocultures chemicals to

soil chicken to fish

and all along agribusiness has simply

asked

if we're feeding more people more

cheaply how terrible could that be

that's been the motivation

it's been the justification it's been

the business plan

of American agriculture we should call

it what it is

a business and liquidation

a business that's quickly eroding

ecological Capital that makes that very

production possible that's not a

business

and it is agriculture

our Bread Basket is threatened today not

because of diminishing Supply but

because of diminishing resources

not by the latest combine and tractor

invention but by fertile land

not by pumps but by fresh water

not by chainsaws but by forests and not

by fishing boats and Nets but by fish in

the sea want to feed the world

let's start by asking how are we going

to feed ourselves

or better

how can we create conditions that enable

every community

to feed itself

to do that

don't look at the agribusiness model for

the future it's really old and it's

tired it's high on Capital chemistry and

machines

and it's never produced anything really

good to eat

instead let's look to the ecological

model

that's the one that relies on two

billion years

of on-the-job experience

look to Miguel Farmers like Miguel

Farms that aren't worlds unto themselves

Farms that

restore instead of deplete Farms that

farm extensively instead of just

intensively

Farmers that are not just producers but

experts in relationships

because they're the ones

that are experts in flavor too

and if I'm going to be really honest

they're a better Chef than I'll ever be

you know I'm okay with that

because if that's the future of good

food it's going to be delicious thank

you

we only succeed because we have really

good really smart people

the technology the ideas how you bring

them to Bear how you scale them up how

you make them real is from the people

I'm an engineer I work in early stage

cell culture I'm a senior scientist in

the department of molecular oncology and

research senior supervisor for the

manufacturing plant in Vacaville I work

in cell culture process development I'm

a functional manager within the PD

Development Group what I do Sports

access Solutions which is the part of

the company that works directly with

patients a group head of project

management I manage a group of system

Architects at Genentech

no one person is any more important than

any other person even the most senior

people are always willing to engage in

scientific discussions with you

Genentech has a teaching culture we tap

on the shoulder the people who are the

smartest functional experts in their

area

when I first visited Genentech it was so

clear that patients were something that

people thought about every day there's a

real sense that you're doing something

that that has a purpose everyone here

has their own story and has their own

reason for being here it means a

tremendous amount to me to be able to

work on developing products that help

save lives my brother was diagnosed with

leukemia and I lost him to that battle

my youngest sister who had a breast

cancer and unfortunately she was

overseas and unable to access

medications like genentec provides and

she passed away from cancer to know that

something I do really could make a

difference and be meaningful in someone

else's life I think we all seek meaning

in our life in different ways and for me

this place offers that and why I show up

every day is The Big C is to try to

solve that mystery I would love to

what I've witnessed at Genentech is this

unrelenting desire to make sure we

deliver and we act and behave and make

decisions with the patient in mind

whether you're discovering the drug or

whether you're packaging the drug you're

all part of this concept genetic does a

fantastic job of communicating the big

picture how the science just just pure

academic science ultimately becomes a

drug that's administered to a patient in

the clinic oh it's a fantastic question

that has so much to offer it's a great

place to start your career continue it

and finish it here you know it's there's

so much to do here I'm excited when I'm

putting on the still-toed shoes walking

through the man of action plan because I

know what I'm doing is making a

difference I get to actually do

something that goes into the to the drug

that has ultimately administered to a

patient I love coming to work it's feels

good to be here it knowing every day

that you come to work you're doing

something that touched somebody's life