Water
Mardi Gras, Po-Boys and Streetcar Strikes
My first trip to New Orleans was in July 1984, the summer it hosted the World's Fair. I was 13 and had gone to visit my best friend, Jenny, a New Orleans native who had moved back there from California a few months earlier. I remember pulling up to her family's home, half of a double-barrel shotgun...
March 08, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
Inviting Writing: Love and Lobsters
Our theme for this month's Inviting Writing is food and dating. As Lisa explained in a story about three first dates at the same sushi restaurant, we were looking for tales of "first dates, last dates, romantic dates, funny dates, dates that resulted in marriage proposals, dates that were only mem...
February 22, 2011 |
By admin
How to Crochet a Coral Reef
A ball of yarn—and the work of more than 800 people—could go a long way toward saving endangered sea life
December 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
The Colorado River Runs Dry
Dams, irrigation and now climate change have drastically reduced the once-mighty river. Is it a sign of things to come?
October 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Crude Awakening in the Gulf of Mexico
Scientists are just beginning to grasp how profoundly oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has devastated the region
September 2010 |
By Michelle Nijhuis
Getting Sustainable Seafood Lessons at the "Real Cost Cafe"
The National Museum of Natural History's Sant Ocean Hall last week hosted the "Real Cost Cafe," an interactive performance about sustainable seafood. The child-friendly program originated at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium, and was adapted by Smithsonian's Discovery Theater. Three segments asses...
August 31, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
A Quest for Conch
Uh oh! Did I just eat an endangered species?Fortunately, the queen conch (Strombus gigas) isn’t quite endangered (yet). But the species has been over-harvested in the Florida Keys, leading to a drastic decline (pdf) in its reproductive capabilities. The state of Florida has placed a moratorium on c...
August 17, 2010 |
By admin
Shelling Out For Soft-Shell Crabs
This blog has inspired me to try several types of seafood I've never had before, like sardines, lionfish and jellyfish. I cracked open my first crabs last summer, and my first whole lobster earlier this year (although that one deserves a mulligan, since apparently most lobsters aren't full of black...
August 03, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea
As the world's oceans are degraded, will they be dominated by jellyfish?
August 2010 |
By Abigail Tucker
Extreme Jellyfish
There are some 2,000 species of jellyfish. Some are tasty, others will kill you with the tap of a tentacle. Here are nine varieties that really stand out
August 01, 2010 |
By Abigail Tucker
A Taste of Jellyfish
I'm no Andrew Zimmern, but I like to think I'm a slightly adventurous eater, or at least a curious one. And I'm especially curious about foods whose production or harvesting doesn't harm—and might even help—our environment. Invasive species like lionfish, for example. So I was intrigued when the la...
July 15, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Clam Chowder: Thick or Thin?
I spent a glorious 4th of July weekend on Martha's Vineyard, where I set a personal record for the amount of fresh seafood eaten in four days. This being our honeymoon, my husband and I splurged on a couple of very nice dinners. But my favorite meal was probably the lunch we had on our second day: ...
July 13, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Guess Who's Hopping to Dinner
Let’s be clear here. I hate bugs. I loathe bugs.I was surprised by feeling excited at the prospect of chowing down on some creepy crawlies, but the occasion still called for a stiff drink. I sat down at the bar at Oyamel, one of Jose Andres’ hip D.C. restaurants, and promptly ordered a gin and toni...
July 09, 2010 |
By admin
Eat Fish, Save Our Ocean? Lionfish as Sustainable Seafood
It sounds a bit counterintuitive to eat as much of a species as possible, doesn't it? But as I was reminded at the recent Sustainable Seafood program organized by the Smithsonian Resident Associates, sustainability is all about balance. And although many of our ocean's tastiest species are being ha...
June 30, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Nourishing the Planet: Encouraging News from Africa
I've been getting weekly e-mails lately from someone named Danielle Nierenberg about a project called Nourishing the Planet. To be honest, I tend to ignore most of the newsletters and unsolicited press releases that find their way to my inbox, so I didn't pay much attention at first. But now that I...
June 08, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Coming to Grips With Lobster
I ate my first lobster last night, and I have a lot of questions, people.For one: Who decided these things were not only edible, but a delicacy? I mean, the bits of meat I clumsily extracted tasted pretty good. But take a good look at a lobster: If you'd never seen one before, how would you guess s...
June 03, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: Scary Shellfish and Other Food Fears
Welcome to round 2 of Inviting Writing! This month's theme is "food and fear," kicked off by Lisa with a tale of childhood angst & Egg McMuffins.Our first reader-written story comes from Deb Terrill in Kankakee, Illinois.Fear of Fish
By Deb TerrillMost people would call me an adventurous eater....
May 24, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
What Does the Oil Spill Mean for Seafood?
As the fish vendor at the farmer's market wrapped up my purchase last week, I started to ask: "So, are you worried...?" but didn't even get a chance to add "...about the oil spill?" before she emphatically replied: "YES."Making a living from fishing is hard enough already, she explained grimly, so ...
May 13, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Saving the World's Most Endangered Sea Turtle
Stranded on Cape Cod beaches, these Kemp's ridley turtles are getting a helping hand from volunteers and researchers
May 2010 |
By Amy Sutherland
Give Sardines a Chance
As you may have heard, America's last sardine cannery closed down last week in Maine (though it may get a second life as a processing plant for other seafood).I was startled and a little confused by this news, because sardines seem to be so trendy these days, showing up on menus at both fine and ca...
April 20, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
