Serious Eats
The Sushi Economy
Nina Lalli reviews The Sushi Economy, one of the books mentioned in the Vanity Fair piece, in this week's Village Voice:
Issenberg argues that the worldwide sushi system is a positive example of globalization. As he describes it, tuna in particular moves from the hands of fishermen to any number of middlemen by a code of trust. Despite the fact that a fish bears no label or brand, and its appraisal is entirely subjective, Issenberg says "few participants ever feel as though they get ripped off." Yet he also acknowledges the ugly side of global sushi. Most revolting is an aside about a New Jersey broker whose reaction to September 11 was "Sons of bitches! I had tuna on one of those planes!"