Let's talk about Tilapia (fish)

I wanted to thank you for this post, as we often serve it at the retiremt community where I work. I will ask the executive chef tomorrow where our tilapia comes From and I will advise our residents based on this information..

What the ever loving frack?!?!? That just brought up so many visuals I wish I could un-imagine. Wtf, do people poop in a bucket and they take it out to the garlic fields to spread?!??

Ewwww! Never EVER touched it, and was fortunate to happen upon an episode of "Dirty Jobs" years ago before I ever had the chance to.
This will never leave my mind:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzK-8qFKm1Q
Where tilapia comes from (of course no company would ADMIT it that buys it). 48 SECONDS everyone should watch.

About Those Human Biosolids

I wouldn't necessarily trust China about anything and support local anyway, but it's not raw sewage. Animal poo isn't used "hot," either, or at least neither should be!

It's one of the few fish my kids will eat because it's mild.  I'll definitely be checking to see where it's from from now on.

And a big 'thank you' to everyone who literally called our dinner shit.  

I've heard for a long time that Tilapia are fed sewage and raised in nasty ponds. My question though is, what does that mean to me? Is it just an ick factor or is there actually a nutritional or health problem with eating the flesh of fish raised in this manner?

Here's what I know about tilapia:

Years ago in an attempt to have more fish to eat, someone put tilapia in Mexico City's Floating Gardens of Xochilmilco.  It turns out that tilapia is an aggressive fish and even though they fished the hell out of the tilapia they can't contain their growth and now the tilapia are killing the native salamander that once inhabited the lakes.  I learned that on my study abroad trip to Mexico City.

Other  than the above, frozen tilapia from Trader Joe's is delicious.

It is a very useful fish in fish farming. So is catfish, which is why both of these fishes are readily available and cheap. Catfish are bottom feeders, so they eat the fish food/pellets that are mid range or on the floor of the tank. The talapia eats the fecal matter of all the fish living above it, thereby providing a great cleaning service to the farmer and becoming a product in the end also. They breed easily and can be used in just about any recipe - very bland tasting. It's low cal and cheap protein.

I'm careful where I buy both catfish and talapia. I prefer to buy it frozen, individually wrapped - or will freeze it myself. Catfish tend to have a lot of worms in them, so I prefer farmed catfish because the feed they eat kills off the worms and this works down to the talapia also. I know I'm eating chemicals, but would prefer that over pulling the 'long strings' out of the cooked catfish.

It tastes good to me. Catfish is my favorite fish.

I remember that from being a kid spending summers at my Grandma's house. The grass was so lush right over the septic lines. One of my cousins told me why and after that I was always terrified of falling in.

I'm not all that grossed out by the tilapia thing. I feel like I should be but... tons of stuff in the food industry is gross. That's just how it is. We fertilized our tomatoes last year with horse manure and when I was a cashier I sold hundreds of bags of chicken manure every year. Nasty yes, but it sure helps the plants produce good food.