FISH AND SHELL FISH

FISH

FISH IN THE DIET

1. FISH provides another class of high-protein or tissue-building food. As this term is generally
understood, it includes both vertebrate fish--that is, fish having a backbone, such as salmon, cod, shad,
etc.--and many other water animals, such as lobsters, crabs, shrimp, oysters, and clams. A distinction,
however, is generally made between these two groups, those having bones being regarded properly as
fish and those partly or entirely encased in shells, as shell fish.

It is according to this distinction that this class of foods is considered in this Section. Because all
the varieties of both fish and shell fish are in many respects similar, the term sea food is often applied
to them, but, as a rule, this term is restricted to designate salt-water products as distinguished from fresh-water fish.

2. Fish can usually be purchased at a lower price than meat, and for this reason possesses an economic
advantage over it. Besides the price, the substitution of fish for meat makes for economy in a number of
ways to which consideration is not usually given. These will become clearly evident when it is
remembered that nearly all land animals that furnish meat live on many agricultural products that might
be used for human food. Then, too, other foods fed to animals, although not actually human foods,
require in their raising the use of soil that might otherwise be utilized for the raising of food for human
beings.

This is not true in the case of fish. They consume the vegetation that grows in lakes, streams, and
the ocean, as well as various kinds of insects, small fish, etc., which cannot be used as human food and
which do not require the use of the soil. In addition, much of the food that animals, which are warm-
blooded, take into their bodies is required to maintain a constant temperature above that of their
surroundings, so that not all of what they eat is used in building up the tissues of their bodies. With fish,
however, it is different. As they are cold-blooded and actually receive heat from their surroundings, they
do not require food for bodily warmth. Practically all that they take into the body is built up into a
supply of flesh that may be used as food for human beings.

3. With fish, as with other foods, some varieties are sought more than others, the popularity of certain
kinds depending on the individual taste or the preference of the people in a particular locality. Such
popularity, however, is often a disadvantage to the purchaser, because a large demand for certain
varieties has a tendency to cause a rise in price. The increased price does not indicate that the fish is of
more value to the consumer than some other fish that may be cheaper because it is less popular, although
quite as valuable from a food standpoint. The preference for particular kinds of fish and the persistent
disregard of others that are edible is for the most part due to prejudice. In certain localities, one kind of
fish may be extremely popular while in others the same fish may not be used for food at all.

Such prejudice should be overcome, for, as a matter of fact, practically every fish taken from pure water is fit
to eat, in the sense that it furnishes food and is not injurious to health.
In addition, any edible fish should be eaten in the locality where it is caught. The transportation of this
food is a rather difficult matter, and, besides, it adds to the cost. It is therefore an excellent plan to make
use of the kind of fish that is most plentiful, as such practice will insure both better quality and a lower
market price.