Save the environment, one oyster at a time

Oysters are probably the best thing you can eat to save the environment.

I am absolutely in love with The Splendid Table episode on oysters. They cover a wide gamut on my favorite mollusk, from family oyster businesses to the story of Thomas Downing, the Oyster King in New York during the late 1800’s. It’s fascinating.

Selfishly, one of the stories I was drawn to the most was about oyster farming. Two oystermen from the Chesapeake Bay of Virginia talk about how they inherited their family business, and how oyster farming is not only a sustainable fishing practice, but it’s also restorative.

Oyster farming allows them to grow oysters out of season. Part of the farming process is to put the farmed oysters grown back into the ocean, which creates more spawn in the wild population due to all the larvae they are putting back in.

For every oyster they sell, they’re putting 12 more oysters back in the water.

How often can we eat a ton of seafood without feeling guilty of depleting the earth’s resources? In the case of oysters, the more you eat, the more you’re helping our planet. I am so on board.