O U R  F R I E N D S

What does organic this mean? The word organic now has a legal meaning. The National Organic Standards Board has declared that in order to be called “organic” produce growers may not use synthetic pesticides. Genetic modification and irradiation are prohibited, biosolids may not be used as fertilizer and the land must be free of chemical applications for three years or longer.

For livestock, the label “organic” means that the animals are given access to pasture, that they are not given growth hormones or antibiotics and that they are fed organically grown feed. There is currently no organic standard for seafood, not even for farmed product. This is why we have included the phrase “or harvested in the wild.” We do not want to imply that our seafood is organic as there is not a standard for it.

Why do we say “Raw Product” Raw means unprocessed and not altered in any way. We say this because we are not 100% organic. Many of the Asian products we use (like Chinese fermented black beans) have no province (can’t be traced), but we are too much about these kind of ingredients to stop using them. We have sourced many organic dry ingredients such as flour and sugar, dry beans and olive oil. As we continue with our learning there will be more and more non-raw ingredients that will be organic. We’ll keep you posted.

Why are we doing this? Flying Fish has a proud history of leading the way! When we opened our restaurant going on 12 years a go, we were serving fish that no one had on their menus. We had a restaurant design that was more like San Francisco or New York than Seattle. We addressed the issues of sustainability before it became fashionable. We’ve supported the farmer-chef connection in a very big way with our relationship with Whistling Train Farm. Now we’re taking on organics. Our earth and our bodies cannot sustain the level of abuse that they are taking from us. Agricultural contaminants have been linked to serious diseases. We have birthed a policy of trying to control nature, rather than aide Her. We all agree it’s time to stop, but someone will actually have to be the one to do it. So we’re stopping. Yes, it’s hard to find some things. Yes, it’s more expensive. But we’ve already seen a bit of a ripple effect. Some of our suppliers are asking us what product they can source for us. Others are happy to expand there offerings to meet our needs. We can help be part of the impetus that helps make organic products more readily available for other restaurateurs. We can show everyone that it can be done. This is how things change!

~Chef/Owner Christine Keff