Bon Appétit Fish Feud
The following is a story about sloppy reporting and the gradual decline of a once-worthy food magazine.
The January 2008 issue of Bon Appétit tried to sum up some of the culinary trends of 2007. What resulted was an unbelievably mundane list, including “Indulgence of the Year: French Fries” and “Dish of the Year: Asian Noodle Soup.” (Why French fries could be classified as 2007-ish and why I need Bon Appétit to suddenly reveal the greatness of a long-standing Asian street staple is beyond me.) But the entry that irked me the most was “Ingredient of the Year: Fish.” Not only is it stupid to call one of the primary dietary staples of a large portion of humanity the “ingredient of the year,” but the article contained a notable factual error. Bon Appétit doesn’t print letters of complaint from readers, reserving its pages for pithy requests for recipes, but I decided to write to them anyway.
Here is my letter to the magazine detailing the error:
January 7, 2008
Bon Appétit
6300 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048Dear Bon Appétit Editors:
As the daughter of a serious fly fisherman and environmental educator, an error immediately caught my eye in your section “Ingredient of the Year: Fish” from the January 2008 issue. The piece repeatedly recommends the use of “steelhead salmon.” There are two problems with this: the first is that steelhead are not salmon. In fact, they are a type of rainbow trout that lives in saltwater for a portion of its life and returns to freshwater to spawn.
The second problem with recommending steelhead is that they are a threatened species throughout their range. Because of this, they are not easy to come by. Steelhead trout are only available commercially from Native American fishermen who retain the right to fish them for sale. No other true steelhead is legally available. As a magazine that purports to understand the value of sustainable food, Bon Appétit should not be recommending threatened species to readers. It should also be more careful to use correct terminology so as not to create more confusion in a fish market already filled with moral dilemmas.
Sincerely,
The Mango Lassie (my real name was inserted here)
I sent the letter off (with Daddy Salmon’s proud approval), and you can click on the following image to see what I got in return:
In addition to completely dismissing all of my contentions, Ms. Katherine Odell from Bon Appétit sent me photocopies of Paul Johnson’s book Fish Forever as proof that the article was correct. It seems that Ms. Odell hadn’t read the passages herself. Much of the proof for my argument, including the fact that steelhead are rainbow trout, was printed right there on the pages she had sent. In addition to the following letter, I sent Bon Appétit a page printed from NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. Here is my second letter to Bon Appétit:
January 22, 2008
Bon Appétit
6300 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048Dear Bon Appétit Editors:
I recently wrote to you about an error in your section “Ingredient of the Year: Fish” from the January 2008 issue. The piece recommended the use of “steelhead salmon,” which, I contend, is actually a trout. I also stated that it is the same species as rainbow trout and is threatened throughout its range.
I received a response from Editorial Assistant Katherine Odell. Ms. Odell wrote that “steelhead salmon” is a known species, distinct from rainbow trout. She said the fish was not endangered or threatened. Ms. Odell included a photocopy from the book Fish Forever by Paul Johnson, referenced in the article.
After reading the segment she sent me, it was clear to me that Ms. Odell had not read it herself. Mr. Johnson parenthetically mentions the scientific name of steelhead, O. mykiss, or Oncorynchus mykiss. A simple Internet search would have shown that this is indeed the scientific name for steelhead trout. Mr. Johnson also directly states in his article (attached and highlighted) that steelhead have “the same fine texture as their stay-at-home freshwater version, the rainbow trout.”
In regards to steelhead’s threatened status, Mr. Johnson states that steelhead are “under review…as a sustainable fishery” in Washington State. This is hardly an assurance that they are not threatened or endangered. A quick Internet search on O. mykiss yielded the enclosed document from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. I have highlighted the sections relating to the contentions I made in my earlier letter. A review of this document should satisfy Bon Appétit editors that: (a) steelhead is a trout; (b) steelhead trout and rainbow trout are the same species; and (c) steelhead are endangered and threatened throughout their range.
Bon Appétit owes it to readers to print a correction or clarification of this error. The magazine’s fact checking has fallen short of what readers expect. I hope that future articles, especially those concerning protected natural resources, will be more carefully reviewed. I also hope that future letters from readers will more carefully considered than my first letter to you on this topic.
Sincerely,
The Mango Lassie
I have not heard anything from Bon Appétit since I sent the second letter. I can only relish the slight satisfaction of their embarrassment at the realization that I was right. Interestingly, the February 2008 issue of Bon Appétit was “The Green Issue,” supposedly meant to highlight local, sustainable eating. All I can say to that is too little, and way too late.
Bugle Eater said,
February 17, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Go, Mango, Go. Not exactly Cintas – but the stew certainly stinks on this one !
Auntie Pasti said,
February 17, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
I’m proud of you. Stick to your guns, lassie.
Flava Flav said,
February 18, 2008 @ 10:59 am
Way to make Daddy Salmon proud.
Now you proved that you were listening– at least some of the time!
Popover said,
February 18, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
Nice work, Lassie. I think Ms.Uppity Odell is in need of a demotion. And I can think of someone who might take her place…
Brownie Benefactress said,
February 18, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
Popover is right!
Please let us know how this proceeds. Should we start a write-in campaign?
Charlie Tuna said,
February 19, 2008 @ 2:26 am
It seems that the pseudofactual information would be enough for the offending parties here. Ms. Odell must be compelled to stick to her guns because she knows that Salmon, Steelhead, Trout, and Char all come from the Salmonidae family, all derived from the same line of fish. Must be good enough for their thousands of readers, but one of the problems with food journalism in particular is the snobbishness with which many magazines, especially Bon Appetit and Cooks Illustrated, thumb their nose when challenged. I cannot think of a single instance where they have actually second guessed their own brand of journalism and printed a retraction or correction, stating “We misspoke. We apologize for the egregious error and terrible lapse in judgment. We did not feel that our demographic was so heavily based in the Pacific Northwest.”
As long as you don’t say, “Well I’m from Seattle*, so I know my fish,” you’ll keep your standing in terms of being a concerned reader and harbinger of truth rather than a whistleblower, but so far, that’s a very level-headed approach.
*and yes, I do realize it’s Puddox.
Daddy Salmon said,
February 21, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
Way to go Mango Lassie! I’m so proud of you! Steelhead are incredible fish that are extremely challenging to catch. I am offended that Bon Appetit would include them in the category of “ingredients.” Aside from their beauty and strength, steelhead are important strands in the ecological fabric of the Pacific Northwest along with salmon. Their endangered status negatively impacts tens of other species of animals that depend upon them.
Thank you for speaking up when ignorant or sloppy journalists print untruths in their magazine. It also makes me feel good that you actually must have been listening to at least some of my environmental rants at the dinner table and learned the differences between fish species and their ecological significance.
Love,
Daddy Salmon
Mango Lassie said,
February 22, 2008 @ 10:42 am
Thanks to everyone for your supportive responses. I still haven’t heard anything in response to my second letter. As Charlie Tuna suggests in his comment, it’s rare that some of these publications will admit they’re wrong. Unlike a daily newspaper, some food magazines don’t seem to think they have the same responsibility to provide accurate information to readers.
Interestingly, Gourmet, Bon Appétit’s sister publication has done a notably superior job of tackling the tricky issues of sustainable eating. It also prints reader letters, and you can be sure it would have printed a correction by now. I will look closely at the next issue of Bon Appétit to see if a correction has been printed, but I am not crossing my fingers. After that, I am considering canceling my subscription.
The only thing that prevents me from doing so now is my fear that no one will be the watchdog for this magazine in the future.
Empanada Boy said,
February 25, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
Steelhead for Prez ’08!
The kid said,
March 3, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Dag. You are so bad ass. Can I say that on here? Either way, I feel so educated now–thanks for explaining everything to me, your readers, and that magazine.