Posts tagged ‘BP Oil spill’
I eat sustainably because I care
Kelvin Roth
Some people have asked why I’m writing about food on a blog ostensibly dedicated to EHS and Sustainability business matters. Well here’s my short answer – because I care.
As Joe Fiksel so nicely pointed out in his recent post, there are several approaches to sustainability from a corporate perspective. But I firmly believe that sustainability is a ground-up grassroots individual-driven issue. No company is “sustainable” because of government regulations, shareholder referendums or board resolutions. Those may all eventually happen, but sparks of “sustainability” occur when someone in the organization cares and they are able to express it’s importance and get others involved.
Although people often equate sustainability with sacrifice and compromise, food is the one area where it’s relatively easy to do the right thing. A friend of mine once said that if he started on a quest to find the most sustainably-raised shrimp and I started on a quest to find the tastiest shrimp, we would end up in the same place with the same shrimp. This is true about so many items within our food chain. The Slow Food movement has summed up this experience in a common saying – “Eat it to save it!” – and I like to modify that a little bit to “Eat the best to save the best.”
Food sustainability is something that we can all participate in every day. This has never been truer than for the Gulf fishers and foragers who have survived this summer’s catastrophic spill. Shrimp season is now open and Gulf shrimp are not only some of the tastiest shrimp you can get, but also some of the most sustainably raised/harvested shrimp. Gulf shrimp fisheries have been effective in maintaining stocks, researching habitat effects, and addressing by-catch issues.
This presents us with a true “eat it to save it” opportunity: The largest potential damage to the Gulf fishing/food community may, like the oil spill itself, be man-made – a marketplace that is hollowed out by fear of contaminated food, even if it’s actually safe to eat.
Although many fishers and foragers were (are still) directly affected by the Gulf oil spill, the Gulf food community is not dead. Shrimp, shellfish, and other seafood from the Gulf that have been green-lighted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program are still making their way to market and to restaurants near you.
There are many safeguards in place, not the least of which is a community of proud artisans who care not only about the profits, but the craft of their labors. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has also been sampling seafood both in closed and open waters, and sending it off for chemical testing. There are even “seafood sniffers” – state and local inspectors who have been trained to literally sniff out traces of oil contamination on seafood.
“There’s nothing wrong with Gulf seafood, because it’s tested probably more than any seafood that’s being removed right now,” retired Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen told reporters during a press briefing last week (August 18).
So if you can find Gulf-area food at a market or restaurant near you, buy it and feel good about supporting fishers, foragers and a food community in dire straits. There may be no better time for eaters, foodies and chefs to support an important economic backbone of the Gulf and country – and you can do it all by eating something tasty… how easy is that?
So, who’s minding the store?
Frank Brandauer
I came up in a time when an “engaged and fair” regulator was viewed (if not begrudgingly) by industry as a necessary and valued partner. Their actions kept the playing field level, provided a measure of protection and helped industry keep its risks in focus. Whatever the relationship, regulators were seen as a real and significant force both in terms of actions and outcomes.
Nowadays there seems to be a never ending list of government branches and agencies that are unable to effectively regulate. And their failures have had profound and wide-ranging impacts on our society. From the financial sector (Enron, the mortgage collapse, AIG and Madoff) to Consumer Product Safety (imports from China, contaminated meats and vegetables) and most recently oil and gas exploration (BP and natural gas fracking), enforcement does not appear to be what it once was.
Clearly there has been a shift away from strong and aggressive regulation toward a belief in the power of corporate governance, transparency and market forces. In light of recent events, I wonder if we can afford the costs when these other approaches fail?
We are in the midst of a great social experiment, be it planned or not. My brother-in-law says that “no one ever goes to jail,” and other than a few executions in China (in extreme cases), it seems that individuals are not being held accountable for their mistakes. Thus said, I believe (and truly hope) CEO’s around the world are taking a second look at their EHS risks and efforts after seeing how their colleagues at BP have fared in recent weeks.
From the perspective of an EHS manager, the questions I think are most interesting are:
- Does reduced regulatory oversight or effectiveness actually increase or decrease industry’s EHS risk and associated costs?
- Is the amount of EHS citations still an effective EHS metric?
- Are market forces and NGO’s an effective substitution for regulation?
- Have you talked with your management today, and if so what did you say? If not, why not?
Frank Brandauer is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Therapak Corp., President of Avail Consulting Services LLC and a member of the NAEM board.
