Josh Mogerman, Deputy Director, National Media, Chicago

Getting attention at this town’s most high-profile food function, the Taste of Chicago, can be tough. But it’s not every day that folks attending the Taste get free grub. And even less often that they are served one of the most talked about and infamous species around: Asian carp. The agencies tasked with beating back the invasive fish got mounds of attention when they took the unusual step of distributing mini carp-wiches to the first 750 folks who would sample the sliders in a bid to help change public attitudes about carp consumption. It’s a savvy marketing move that garnered a lot of cute clips throughout the Great Lakes region. Sorry to be a killjoy, but the fun event also sends the wrong message. I’ve made the point in the past, but it is worth revisiting in light of the Taste of Chicago stunt:  “If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em” implies we can win the battle with our knives and forks. We can’t.

And worse, moving forward the fishing solution creates an incentive to keep the carp around…

Chicago Tonight’s Ash-har Quraishi gets to the heart of ...

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