Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

chocolate gelato, chocolate mousse, or a plain square of super dark chocolate

Caviarandcodfish, It's great that you are taking the time to read the Solidarity Center report--it is so important that consumers like you learn the truth about their food so they can make informed choices!

When you finish reading the SC report, you might want to check out www.shrimpless.wordpress.com, a blog that specifically addresses not only the human rights abuses associated with imported shrimp, but the environmental and health costs as well. The blog is a project of the Mangrove Action Project (www.mangroveactionproject.org), and is intended to educate consumers about the widespread destruction caused by industrial shrimp production.

Did you know, for example, that shrimp farming is the #1 threat to mangrove forests? Mangroves are coastal wetlands that act as nurseries for many fish and other aquatic species, protect coastlines from erosion and storm damage, provide sustenance and resources to coastal communities, and prevent global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide.

The shrimp produced is mostly exported to the U.S., and it could be posing a risk to consumer health due to residues from antibiotics and pesticides. Did you know that the FDA inspects less than 2% of imported seafood, so it is likely that contaminated seafood is reaching our plates?

So...here is what you can do:
1)ALWAYS ASK about the origin of your seafood.
2) ALWAYS AVOID IMPORTED FARMED SHRIMP
3) Choose domestic and sustainably-harvested varieties of shrimp
4) Reduce your overall consumption of shrimp, as there is simply not enough to feed the growing demand!

Simple cooking: My Scandinavian immigrant grandmother. Gourmet cooking: My Cordon Bleu-educated other grandmother. Health food: My organic/natural foods-obsessed mother. Overall cooking techniques: stints as prep cooks and an internship at Chez Panisse!

If I can't have dark chocolate mousse, then a square of super-dark (85% or above) does the trick!