Now is the time of year when most Americans resolve to make positive lifestyle changes toward better health. Often, though, these resolutions are stringent and short-lived. When it comes to food, there's an emerging trend of conscious cuisine, offering consumers a path toward pleasure while preserving their health and the health of the earth.

Verlasso, the world’s first provider of harmoniously raised fish, is part of this trend, educating consumers on how salmon should be raised. This helps to create a more conscious choice at the fish counter.

Conscious cuisine recognizes that most people choose food based on flavor, but are more fulfilled when they opt for foods raised with deep respect for them and the planet.

Verlasso's harmonious approach to salmon farming brings one of the healthiest and most delicious choices to consumers and balances the needs for nutrition and the needs of the environment. It's low in fat and high in protein and Omega-3s. 

"With the world's population growing beyond seven billion, farmed seafood plays an increasingly important role in feeding – and satisfying – a hungry world," says Allyson Fish, director of Verlasso.

"To remain a truly conscious choice, seafood farming practices must evolve to include a true consideration for the health of the ocean and its inhabitants. Verlasso strives to produce the highest-quality salmon, raised with the deepest care for the environment, as well as taste, nutrition, and economics."

Verlasso's most significant innovation is its use of 75 percent fewer feeder fish to produce healthy salmon that are rich in Omega-3s.

In addition to greatly reducing the drain on the ocean's resources, Verlasso's farming practices consciously change the fundamental relationship between the salmon and their environment:

• Verlasso salmon are raised in the cold, clean waters of Southern Patagonia, away from industrial development, ensuring a healthier salmon
• Verlasso salmon swim freely in spacious pens – less than four fish per ton of water – producing a leaner fish than traditionally farmed salmon and reducing the impact on the local eco-system
• Every phase of the salmon's life, from egg to harvest, is accounted for, ensuring integrity and freshness all the way to the consumer

Here are a few key tips that Verlasso recommends to make more conscious decisions at the fish counter:

• Ask what is the difference between farmed and wild? Is the wild fish in abundant supply or are the fish populations on the decline?
• Ask how the wild fish are caught. Fishing practices can vary widely around the globe. Some countries allow over fishing. There can be significant habitat damage from fishing gear. And international laws prohibiting the catch of unintended species, bycatch, like birds, dolphins, and other marine mammals, are not enforced. 
• If farmed, ask if the farming practices are environmentally friendly and designed to nurture the health of the fish throughout its lifecycle.
• Find out where the farm is located. Is it located in waters near industry or is it in a pure environment where the fish will flourish?
• Was the fish shipped fresh or frozen?  If fresh, ask when the fish was caught. If frozen, find out the best way to defrost.
• What does "sushi grade" mean?  How might this cut be best prepared?
• Look for fish with firm, healthy looking flesh. 
• The fish should have no deep or offensive smell and there should be no milky liquid on the meat.
• If skin is attached, it should be as shiny as when it came out of the water.