DYL | Fight for a good cause.

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When contemplating our food habits, many problems arise. I'm certain that in about 30 years our daily meals will look a whole lot different, all due to our current depletion of resources. Today I want to talk about one problem in particular: the mass consumption of tuna. 

Over the years I've talked with lots of people about the fact that I don't eat tuna anymore. The one thing that all those people had in common, was that they didn't know how huge the tuna issue really is. And why should they? You can order and buy tuna almost everywhere in Belgium (and the rest of the world for that matter). Tuna steak, canned tuna, tuna salad, raw tuna slices,.. You name it and you can buy it, without any difficulty or warning. 

The reason I'm writing this post is that I want to inform as much people as possible about the tuna issue. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to lobby for a tuna-free menu at Alcon, the large pharmaceutical company I'm currently working for. Wish me luck!

5 facts to keep in mind.

1. There exist 7 commercial tuna species, 5 of which are already listed as endangered by the IUCN. 
2. About 20-25 kg of wild fish is needed to grow 1 kg of tuna in captivity, so cultivated tuna isn't a desirable option either. 
3. Because of the devastating fishing techniques used to capture tuna, many other (endangered) species pay the price as well: for every 2 kg of tuna in stores, 3 kg of sea turtle, dolphin or seabird has died. 
4. As top predators, tuna species play a huge role in marine ecosystems all around the world. Without tuna, these ecosystems will collapse and opportunistic species like jelllyfish will overpopulate our waters.
5. The body tissue of tuna is packed with plastics, methylmercury and other heavy metals. Unhealthy crap that is directly transferred to our bodies after eating fish and that accumulates over time.

Source: tunafree.be

I hope that with this post I made some of you rethink their tuna consumption. Very cliché, but together we can make a change! Thanks for reading.

Naomi, x.