SARDINES
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 8:30 pm
SARDINES
In promoting these small oily fish let’s go back to the start,
he who made them popular, Napoleon Bonaparte,
to feed his hungry army, helped by another man
by name of Nicolas Appert, the inventor of the can.
As it’s widely known, an army marches on its stomach,
and preserved sardines saw the French best many a hummock.
Unbeknown to Napoleon, while he fed his troops the best
as a dinky di nineteenth century John West,
was the great nutritional benefit of omega three
contained in spades in sardines, plus vitamins B12 and D.
I’ll wager few of Bonaparte’s forces suffered heart disease
and tests for cholesterol would have been a breeze.
As one with some experience on cardiovascular matters,
did something in my diet leave my arteries in tatters?
Here am I endorsing sardines to mankind
whereas in truth, to eat them, I’ve never been inclined.
Perhaps “do what I say, not what I do”, should apply here
and I’ll tell you more about the sardine, never fear.
Part of the Clupeidae family, small, oily and soft boned,
at the bottom of the food chain, they’re virtually disowned
but, feeding solely on plankton, they harbour little impurity,
a fact that no doubt, gives sardine diners security.
Known too as pilchards and herrings, depending where you are,
arguably the most commercially caught fish by far.
Yet, for those who eat them, there’s some cause for concern,
shove too many down the hatch and you may get to learn
sardines contain purines which can foster uric acid,
forming kidney stones and gout, neither of these placid.
Knew there was something that turned me off sardines,
I’ve enough already on my plate from my lousy genes.
Man is not the only predator sardines have to face,
larger forms of marine life barely give them breathing space,
fishing bans are needed to make their catch sustainable
otherwise our menus will see sardines unattainable,
not that this will worry me because my dearest wish
is to keep healthy without the need to consume fish.
Jeff Thorpe © 16 April, 2015
In promoting these small oily fish let’s go back to the start,
he who made them popular, Napoleon Bonaparte,
to feed his hungry army, helped by another man
by name of Nicolas Appert, the inventor of the can.
As it’s widely known, an army marches on its stomach,
and preserved sardines saw the French best many a hummock.
Unbeknown to Napoleon, while he fed his troops the best
as a dinky di nineteenth century John West,
was the great nutritional benefit of omega three
contained in spades in sardines, plus vitamins B12 and D.
I’ll wager few of Bonaparte’s forces suffered heart disease
and tests for cholesterol would have been a breeze.
As one with some experience on cardiovascular matters,
did something in my diet leave my arteries in tatters?
Here am I endorsing sardines to mankind
whereas in truth, to eat them, I’ve never been inclined.
Perhaps “do what I say, not what I do”, should apply here
and I’ll tell you more about the sardine, never fear.
Part of the Clupeidae family, small, oily and soft boned,
at the bottom of the food chain, they’re virtually disowned
but, feeding solely on plankton, they harbour little impurity,
a fact that no doubt, gives sardine diners security.
Known too as pilchards and herrings, depending where you are,
arguably the most commercially caught fish by far.
Yet, for those who eat them, there’s some cause for concern,
shove too many down the hatch and you may get to learn
sardines contain purines which can foster uric acid,
forming kidney stones and gout, neither of these placid.
Knew there was something that turned me off sardines,
I’ve enough already on my plate from my lousy genes.
Man is not the only predator sardines have to face,
larger forms of marine life barely give them breathing space,
fishing bans are needed to make their catch sustainable
otherwise our menus will see sardines unattainable,
not that this will worry me because my dearest wish
is to keep healthy without the need to consume fish.
Jeff Thorpe © 16 April, 2015
