THE OMEGA PRINCIPLE

The James Beard Award winner and New York Times contributor dives into the world of “an oil that some believed would help us be much better than we are.”

The title refers to omega-3 fatty acids, essential nutrients in seafood but increasingly consumed as fish oil capsules, perhaps America’s leading nutritional supplement and a burgeoning multibillion-dollar industry. However, fish don’t make omega-3s; they're manufactured by phytoplankton, minuscule plants at the bottom of the oceanic food chain. Tiny crustaceans called krill eat phytoplankton, and they are eaten in turn by fish, seals, whales, penguins, and increasingly by humans. Popular writers often extol the benefits of omega-3s. Greenberg (American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood, 2014) reviews the shaky evidence and delivers a penetrating analysis of its science, business, and future, and he also turns his attention to all aspects of the exploitation of sea life. Wild land animals make up a tiny fraction of our diet, but fleets of ships have been sweeping the seas for generations. Most readers will sit up at the news that this provides not only food and supplemental oil, but massive quantities of fertilizer and animal feed. Industry spokesmen maintain that scientific management will preserve the supply, but Greenberg interviews plenty of experts who disagree. “Unlike small plots of land that farmers for millennia have tended with care…no one has ever truly cared about the sea,” he writes. “It has been treated as a mine from which wealth is taken and never returned.” In the obligatory how-to-fix-it final chapter, the author describes dedicated individuals and their ingenious techniques for preserving these resources. All seem exciting, at least in theory. Greenberg also includes specifics of a healthy, life-extending diet; it requires omega-3s—but not in pill form.

The author offers little good news but provides an expert review of the human exploitation of marine life.