“Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish that feed on plankton and other tiny organisms … They include particularly fishes of the order Clupeiformes”

• herrings
• sardines
• shad
• hilsa
• menhaden
• anchovies
• and sprats

Thus saith the Wiki. Digging deeper, the page on sardines says:

“Although they are not true sardines, sprats are sometimes marketed as sardines. For example, the european sprat, Sprattus sprattus, is sometimes marketed as the ‘brisling sardine’.”

Conversely, the page on sprats says:

“Sprats are sometimes passed off as other fish; products sold as having been prepared from anchovies and others sold as sardines sometimes are prepared from sprats, as the authentic ones once were less accessible. They are known for their smooth flavor and are easy to mistake for baby sardines”.

And indeed, some of the sardine tins I’ve been opening lately list the main ingredient as being sprats.

Who cares? I do, for a variety of intertwining reasons.

If you go looking for lists of The Best Fish for health (of both human bodies and the planet), you will find that ‘sardines’, anchovy, and herring–forage fish–always rate very highly, often ranking above otherwise fine critters like salmon and mackerel, because they are still relatively abundant, low in mercury, and high in essential Omega-3s and other good things.

And of course they are cheap. They are virtually always ‘wild-caught’ as opposed to farmed (there’s no money in farming them, and thus no point in it either from a capitalist perspective). And they have unmatched shelf life, which appeals to the half-ass prepper in me.

As I’ve begun to sing their praises, I’ve encountered a strong reaction that amounts to “Ewww!”. Okay darling, whatever.

Of course, unprepared and cold out of the tin, they are pretty eww, but so would be any beloved trendy fish at the top of your list.

Thus: I’m preparing them. Warming them. With care and intention.

I’m still in the process of perfecting that intention, that ‘recipe’ if you will.

But what I have so far is not too different from a crab cake, and in my humble opinion, superior to that traditional delicacy.

I think that when I get back, instead of re-joining Butcherbox and stuffing my freezer with cod and salmonburgers alongside the pork butt and fancy beef, I’m going to try simply investing in a case of quality forage fish, and caring for them purposefully at the stove one or two tins at a time, as a staple of the evening meal.

Along with the eggs, and the eventual beans and better tortillas when my waistline can afford carbs again.

Along with the intensively researched lunch salads.

On my way toward a practice of forever eating that is both enjoyable and sustainable, to invoke that broken word in earnest.