"There's no escaping the fact that everything we eat has a global impact. So try and learn as best you can what that impact is and then take the first step to minimize it." - Barton Seaver
Chef Barton Seaver, of Washington, D.C., currently holds the position as my favorite TED speaker.
Chef Seaver's talk adresses sustainability and ocean conservation, just like those of Sylvia Earle and Brian Skerry. However, while they discuss global fisheries and marine protected area, Seaver discusses something that is much closer to home -- Dinner! Seaver calls for eating restorative seafood, which entails eating sustainable varieties of seafood while also doing what you can to help threatened species recover and unthreatened species thrive.
One might ask, "How can I help aquatic species thrive while still enjoying seafood?" Seaver has an all too simple answer to this question. And that is to reduce portion sizes of protein (seafood or other) and to compensate by increasing helpings of vegetables. Coincidentally (or not), shrinking our protein portions while compensating with piles of veggies is also an excellent way to attain a healthy weight. This is the main point that I think everyone should take note of: Seaver's suggestion to increase vegetable consumption while also reducing protein portions will not only increase the health of our oceans, but will also increase the health of our bodies.
When it comes to concerns about ocean conservation and sustainable food options, it is very easy for people to act disconnected and aloof. But this is no surprise. The ocean is waaaayyy over there while the empty stomach is aching right here. I admit that when I get hungry, my mind is very focused on securing nourishment, while not necessarily contemplating how obtaining that nourishment is going to impact the world around me. On the other hand, concerns about health and diet are much more likely to be on the mind of an average human being, and so, theoretically, are much more likely to influence our actions. And this is what makes Seaver's insight so powerful; by choosing to eat sustainable seafood in appropriately-sized portions, you are not only doing the ocean a service, but you are also doing a favor for your body and your health.
Being healthy is great, and doing good for the oceans is an excellent side effect! So let us all shrink up those protein portions, pile on that plant matter, and I will raise a toast to your health and the health of our oceans.
For more from Chef Seaver and some tasty looking recipes, check out his website!
For information on sustainable seafood options, check out the Explore More page!
Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Brian Skerry and His Underwater Camera
Brian Skerry, an underwater photographer for National Geographic, takes some pretty incredible photographs:
Not only does Skerry take spectacular photos of ocean creatures, but he also uses those images to spread awareness about issues that plague our oceans.
What a great guy. Check out his TED Talk* at the bottom of this post!
Skerry's talk is a masterful combination of powerful photographs and carefully chosen words. He very effectively uses the images that he has created to emphasize the need for change in the way that we interact with our oceans. There is not much more for me to add, as my words cannot begin to compete with the images that Skerry has to pair with such words. So please, just watch the video. The one last, notable thing that I have to add is about Skerry's mention of marine protected areas (MPAs). Just like Sylvia Earle and her TED Talk, Skerry spends the last few minutes of his talk discussing MPAs. He tells of his experience photographing at a MPA (specifically, a marine preserve) near New Zealand, and how only 20 years of protection have transformed it from an urchin barren, back into a bountiful kelp forrest. Skerry's anecdote provides further support for Earle's position that a much larger percentage of our oceans ought to be protected.
"So I think the message is clear. The ocean is, indeed, resilient and tolerant to a point, but we must be good custodians." - Brian Skerry
For more of Brian Skerry's photography, visit his website!
*Yes, I know this is my second post in a row that I spend trying to get you all to watch a TED Talk, but these really are awesome videos. I can guarantee you that this will not be my last TED Talk post. :)
Photograph By Brian Skerry
Photograph By Brian Skerry
Photograph By Brian Skerry
Not only does Skerry take spectacular photos of ocean creatures, but he also uses those images to spread awareness about issues that plague our oceans.
What a great guy. Check out his TED Talk* at the bottom of this post!
Skerry's talk is a masterful combination of powerful photographs and carefully chosen words. He very effectively uses the images that he has created to emphasize the need for change in the way that we interact with our oceans. There is not much more for me to add, as my words cannot begin to compete with the images that Skerry has to pair with such words. So please, just watch the video. The one last, notable thing that I have to add is about Skerry's mention of marine protected areas (MPAs). Just like Sylvia Earle and her TED Talk, Skerry spends the last few minutes of his talk discussing MPAs. He tells of his experience photographing at a MPA (specifically, a marine preserve) near New Zealand, and how only 20 years of protection have transformed it from an urchin barren, back into a bountiful kelp forrest. Skerry's anecdote provides further support for Earle's position that a much larger percentage of our oceans ought to be protected.
"So I think the message is clear. The ocean is, indeed, resilient and tolerant to a point, but we must be good custodians." - Brian Skerry
For more of Brian Skerry's photography, visit his website!
*Yes, I know this is my second post in a row that I spend trying to get you all to watch a TED Talk, but these really are awesome videos. I can guarantee you that this will not be my last TED Talk post. :)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sylvia Earle on the "Blue Heart of the Planet"
"I wish you would use all means at your disposal -- films! expeditions! the web! more! -- to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet." - Sylvia Earle
For those of you who do not know Sylvia Earle (do not feel bad, I did not know anything about her unti I was instructed by my Oceanography professor to watch her TED Talk), she is an aquanaut and ocean advocate. I would tell you more, but I would rather you just watch her TED Talk!
Okay, all I will tell you is that she is amazing, and she has numerous important things to say. Like how the ocean is our "life-support system," "the blue heart of our planet," and how we need to act now to protect it, before it is too late. Sylvia is a huge advocate and supporter of increasing the percentage of the ocean that is protected by marine protected areas (MPAs), and I cannot think of anything much better for someone to advocate for. Pollution, development, climate change, and non-sustainable fishing practices are all major threats to our oceans, but the installation of a properly-enforced MPA would theoretically protect a chunk of ocean from three out of the four of those dangers. How can you argue against that?
Watch the video, so you can hear from Sylvia not only what is wrong with our oceans today, but how we can make it right.
For those of you who do not know Sylvia Earle (do not feel bad, I did not know anything about her unti I was instructed by my Oceanography professor to watch her TED Talk), she is an aquanaut and ocean advocate. I would tell you more, but I would rather you just watch her TED Talk!
Okay, all I will tell you is that she is amazing, and she has numerous important things to say. Like how the ocean is our "life-support system," "the blue heart of our planet," and how we need to act now to protect it, before it is too late. Sylvia is a huge advocate and supporter of increasing the percentage of the ocean that is protected by marine protected areas (MPAs), and I cannot think of anything much better for someone to advocate for. Pollution, development, climate change, and non-sustainable fishing practices are all major threats to our oceans, but the installation of a properly-enforced MPA would theoretically protect a chunk of ocean from three out of the four of those dangers. How can you argue against that?
Watch the video, so you can hear from Sylvia not only what is wrong with our oceans today, but how we can make it right.
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