No More Sardines For Me

 
The last US sardine packaging plant, which opened in Maine in 1875, will soon close. Partly due to shrinking demand and partly due to our shrinking economy, the plant can no longer remain in business. Our thirst for imported goods from cheap labor markets is undoubtedly at fault.

In a way, we are slitting our own throats. And as a result, one-hundred and thirty American jobs will be terminated, a meager sum when contrasted with the closing of large factories in favor of shifting to offshore labor (try telling that to the families of the displaced workers). Just another sign of the times.

Now for the shocker: China and Thailand will rush in to fill the void. Only God knows what ingredients will comprise the Asian sardines. With words like melamine, mercury, lead, and other toxins floating through the airwaves and the sea, it's probably time to switch to a more trusted source for the tiny fish.

As unemployment grows, more dollars will flow to foreign nations, notably Canada and some northern European countries, for what was and should remain an American product. While I trust our Canadian and European allies not to poison us, I would strongly prefer to keep the USA label on the cans.

For us fish lovers, cod liver oil--though mostly if not entirely imported from Norway--and domestically harvested cod and salmon are good sources of omega-3 oil.

As toxic heavy metals ruin the world's oceans, few fish are safe from the poisons; hence, few fish-eating humans are safe as well. There are some clean sources of omega-3 oil, notably Carlson's Cod Liver Oil. This is the one I use on a daily basis. I'll just give up my occasional sardines. Consider this not only a personal safety measure but a boycott of Chinese goods, however weak that boycott may be.

When onshoring replaces offshoring, Americans will return to work while foreign laborers will be left to fend for themselves as we are today. Only then will our economy once again flourish. For now, the tiny sardine factory is merely an emerging part of the same malignant iceberg.