Corfu

Hi again,

I've spoken to a few locals and it seems August is way too hot for fresh fish to be sold locally and one has to pitch up at the market at 6-7 am in Corfu town to get what's available...which isn't a lot supposedly. I've been told that everyone eats almost all frozen seafood right now because it's so hard to keep the fish chilled. And yes, supermarket shopping is now the norm vs. farmer's markets. Just thought I'd let people know and I wonder if it's the same in other parts of Greece or on other islands. I suppose one needs to be beside a fishing village to get the latest catch.

Best,

Hi,just say that we have a house on the bay of Corinthos near Loutraki and Corinth.I saw on the news recently that a Greek naval commander has lodged a petition/law case with the high court of Greece because of the very bad state of the Corinthos bay,he states that it is completely over-fished,highly polluted and full of jelly fish.he demands something must be done.I see now on the news they are putting huge nets to stop the jelly fish coming too near the shore for swimming safety.Alas fish will be a rarity one day,thats obvious.West of Athens near Megara we find small farms selling biological food,wonderful local meat,great eggs,semi free range,lovely local sheep and goats yoghurt,still the herdsmen wondering around with the sheep and goats.Our little village where we have the house has a guy with nine cows and he sells the milk only one euro fifty for one half litres,you just boil it for a few minutes,literally straight from the cow.also we also have a guy with a small biological fresh food farm in the village.There is all sorts of lovely real food west of Athens but not too west as around a place called Thiva which is a very ancient place,doesnt look it though, they have a fairly serious problem with pollution coming from factories,small industrial units which settles on the fields,they grow a lot of veg there but EU scientists went there a few years back to investigate the high levels of chromium etc.. in the soil,those veg are sold around Athens unfortunately.A small farm at Megara has chickens which are only fed on corn which they mill themselves.Dont forget that fish become very contaminated by pollution in the rivers and seas,they also absorb hormones and other drugs secreted by humans,the genitals of male fish for some time now have been changing into female genitals,I presume as a result of human waste.

Hi Concertina,

Thanks for this. Yes, it's all very true and so sad regarding the seafood issues. However, it sounds like you have wonderful opportunities for healthy, clean food from your locales. That's so good to hear! I know when I lived in Turkey, there were periods in the summer months when there was no fishing allowed. I think it was a combination of pollution levels in the waters and mating rhythms of the fish.

best