Source: WND
Roger Simmermaker highlights work of 6 San Diego families
He’s the author of “How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism.†He also writes “Buy American Mention of the Week†articles for his website, and is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report, a.o.
If you’re like me and love tuna, perhaps you’ve felt a little constrained in enjoying it as often as you like for a couple of reasons.
First, the tuna seen in stores always seems to be caught off the coast of Thailand or some other distant country. And second, there’s that popular story about tuna containing high levels of mercury, so tuna lovers have been told to consume tuna only in moderate levels at the most.
If you’ve avoided tuna, enjoying it less than you would normally like, you’ll be happy to know there’s an American source for tuna that will put any health concerns you may have to rest.
The company is appropriately called American Tuna, and recently it has begun to get the recognition it deserve in a more domestic-friendly and health-conscious consumer environment.
At American Tuna, officials say their albacore is caught, canned, and distributed by American fishermen off the North Pacific coast. American Tuna’s pole-caught small albacore tuna is hand-filleted and hand-packed in BPA-free cans. Once in the can, it’s steam-cooked with no water, oil, soy, or fillers of any kind added.
What makes American Tuna so authentically American? The company is comprised of six fishing families from San Diego, and all of the tuna is caught off the Pacific American coastline.
American Tuna is simply the best tuna you’ll ever eat out of a can, and its product is becoming more widely used at a growing number of restaurants, delis, and smaller natural and organic stores as well. And you can even find American Tuna at a Whole Foods Market near you.
You also can do what I’ve done in the past, and that is order it by mail through the American Tuna website.
Enjoying American Tuna will cost a little more, but the benefits – both to you and your country – are many.
As a patriotic consumer, you’ll be supporting an American company and generations of American fishing families that use truly sustainable fishing methods. American Tuna is the first and only tuna fishery to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and meets its environmental standard for a well-managed and sustainable fishery.
The MSC is an independent, global, non-profit organization whose role is to recognize, via a certification program, well-managed fisheries and to harness consumer preference for seafood products bearing the MSC label of approval.
Now, what about all that talk of the unsafe mercury levels in tuna that you’ve no doubt heard, a growing concern for many tuna lovers? First, the albacore that contain these unsafe amounts of mercury are older, reaching a life span of over 40 years. As they get older (and have had more time to accumulate mercury in their bodies) they tend to migrate to warmer Pacific waters where higher mercury levels are common.
However, when albacore are younger, they stay in the colder Pacific waters, where American Tuna’s albacore is “hook & line†caught.
All the albacore caught from the colder Pacific waters are specifically between the ages of two and five years old. Mercury levels in these younger fish are at minimal trace levels, and some are non-detectable.
The U.S. Tuna Foundation, founded in 1976, points out that canned tuna is low in fat, rich in certain vitamins and minerals, and is so high in protein that one six-ounce can yields one-third of the recommended daily amount of essential omega-3 fatty acids.
The majority of American Tuna is exported to Spain, which supports an American trade surplus, as the Spanish enjoy the smaller, fatty (high fish oil) albacore tuna.
Unfortunately, the American consumer rarely has had the opportunity to enjoy truly American albacore until now. I can personally attest to the fact that the taste of this tuna is truly fantastic and I would recommend any fellow tuna lover to try this excellent and truly American tuna.