Poison Fish

Recently my local paper ran a story about eating fish: the strengths and weaknesses of various species for people in general and for the very young, the very old and the very pregnant. Depending on mercury and PCB levels, there was advice to eat infrequently, sparingly, rarely or not at all.

The article was in the food section of the paper, which indicates that the process of normalization is essentially complete. This story can be run as a prominent news item today only by a shrill, vibrantly leftist or eco-crusading carrier. We are at an historical stage when it has become normal to read with our muffins that farmed salmon has higher levels of PCBs than wild, and then go off to play golf. After the game we should take a moment to pen a note to the descendants apologizing for poisoning their food supply. On the other hand, nobody apologized to us for eliminating passenger pigeons and most of New Jersey. The planet is made by what it makes.

Still. If someone were about to put motor oil in your bowl of Cheerios, would you say: “Just a tad. I’m not allowed to eat too much of that.”