Farmed Salmon Passing As Wild

Catching up on some reading over the weekend, I found the New York Times reported a few days ago on a study that found a rather stunning amount of salmon labelled as wild is actually farmed. It looks like restaurants are more likely culprits than supermarkets, but those are in the game as well. I just hope (and rather don't think) the stores I shop at aren't among the transgressors. You can read the NYT article here.

One-Day Salmon Sale Friday At Whole Foods

We all know Whole Foods' fish carries a pedigree unmatched by other stores, so this sale on farmed salmon for Friday only should be a good one.  Here are the details from them.

Holiday meals are delicious – and they can be heavy. Why not lighten up the table before all those festive dinners… and save some money in the process? On Friday, November 2, fresh Responsibly Farmed™ Atlantic salmon will be on sale for $8.99/lb at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide.

This salmon is raised without antibiotics or added hormones, then harvested and shipped to order directly from farms in Iceland, Norway or the U.K. that are third-party verified to meet Whole Foods Market’s Quality Standards for Farmed Seafood. The Responsibly Farmed™ label assures shoppers that seafood is raised according to the industry’s highest aquaculture standards. Not only are the fish raised without added hormones or antibiotics, but we also prohibit treating our fish with parasiticides and phosphate and sulfite preservatives.

Our Quality Standards also require our farmers to maintain low density pens so fish have room to swim and stay healthy, and to monitor water quality to prevent pollution.

One-Day Sale at Whole Foods Tomorrow

Our local Whole Foods stores will offer us a quintet of special sales for tomorrow only, the 21st, including one I'd been hoping for: Boulder's own Chocolove Bars, at a fantastic price! (Just think - stocking stuffers, little office gifts? Perfect!) Here's what they say:

One-Day Sale
Wednesday December 21st only!

Chocolove
Chocolate Bars
4 for $5
(save $1.44/ea)

Whole Foods Market®
Mustard Dill Sauce
$1.99/ea
(save $2/ea)

Fresh
Norwegian Salmon
$11.99/lb
(save $5/lb)

Metropolitan
Triple-Cream Brie Rounds
$3.99/ea
(save $3/ea)

Brioche
2 for $6
(save $2.99/ea)

This Week's Boulder Salmon Scene

Here's a rundown of current prices in front of me for salmon, fresh, previously frozen, or unspecified (in alphabetical order, as always):

King Soopers - wild caught sockeye salmon fillets, previously frozen, $6.99 a pound with card,

Safeway - wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, previously frozen, $8.99 a pound, club price,

Sprouts - fresh salmon filets $8.99 a pound,

Sunflower - fresh salmon fillets $8.99 a pound,

Whole Foods - wild caught sockeye salmon fillet $12.99 a pound.

So Ends the Wild Salmon Season

We saw this coming, and here it is: the end of the fresh, wild salmon season. But there's some good news to go along with this, too. Sprouts tried to continue with fresh, wild salmon, and at the fabulous price of $4.99/lb, but I've just learned that the fin de saison shipment they received was not up to their standards, so they tossed it. The good news is that they've replaced it with farmed salmon at the same price, and today it's Norwegian salmon. I've been wanting to try Norwegian salmon for some time (I keep hearing it's wonderful, and is farmed in exceptionally deep waters, better than other farmed salmon), but the wild salmon availability kept getting in the way, so now's my chance. Sprouts' fish guy told me that eventually they'll probably offer Canadian farmed salmon instead, as they won't be able to keep up with demand for the Norwegian, but at least today, the case is nicely stocked with the product of Norway.