Omega-3 fatty acids are one of America’s most popular—and hyped—nutritional supplements, the cornerstone of a multi-billion-dollar market promising a healthier heart and sharper brain. But a closer look at the omega-3 sensation reveals something much deeper and more troubling: they are the product of a vast, global industry that over the last century has boiled down trillions of pounds of marine life into animal feed, fertilizer, margarine, and dietary supplements.

In my new book, The Omega Principle, I explore the big stories of the push-and-pull of science and business, of the fate of our oceans in a human-dominated age, of the explosion of land food at the expense of healthier and more sustainable seafood, and of the human quest for health and long life at all costs.

And I believe that another world is possible. Imagine what a yeoman farmer from the early 19th century would have said if you described the plan for the next 200 years: Fossilized algae will be pumped from the ground and burned to create energy. Next, a network of pipes will be laid under much of America’s farmland to drain it of its excess moisture. Crop by crop, we’ll pare down the bulk of what is grown until we focus on two species: corn and soybeans. Hardly anyone will eat these crops. We’ll take all of the grazing animals off the land, put them in feedlots, feed them that corn and soy, and supplement their diet with a range of things, including anchovies carted in from the Southern Hemisphere.

My guess is that no one would have found that to be a particularly plausible, let alone good, idea.

So the idea of a food system that could promote longer, healthier human lives, that recycles rather than generates pollution, and that has the potential to produce a whole coast’s worth of energy—I don’t think anyone would say that this was an unworthy goal.

But until the day when the food system starts to shift meaningfully in that direction, there are actions the average consumer can take to embrace an omega-3-centric world even if it’s not here yet. Here, then, are some thoughts on eating that dream:

1. Eat a Mediterranean/Pesca-terranean Diet.

What does eating a Mediterranean Diet mean? When I asked Walter Willett, one of the diet’s most cited scholars, he put it very simply. “It’s a whole package of healthy components: healthy forms of fat, whole grains compared to refined grains, a variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts, modest amounts of dairy, and low amounts of red meats. Put that all together and it basically describes the Mediterranean Diet.” In the Pesca-terranean model, one would strive to make the animal protein portion of the diet as ocean-based as possible.

2. Try to get your omega-3s from food whenever possible.

When I asked Gary Wikfors if any of his work at NOAA had influenced his personal eating habits, he replied very bluntly: “The first very practical aspect of my scientific knowledge that influences my own nutrition is to reject supplements. That comes from years of working with lipid chemists and algal samples and the precautions one has to take to avoid oxidation. No lipids are more prone to oxidation than omega-3s. Oxidation will result in the creation of cytoxic compounds.” These compounds are, at best, not helpful to living cells. In an industry where much fish oil is still being harvested using vessels that lack necessary refrigeration, oxidation remains a problem.

Eventually it may be solved, but why even involve yourself in this industry in the first place? There is something to be said for the argument that a food should be eaten in context, and taking a lipid-based supplement outside the context of other lipids does seem to work against metabolic logic. In any case, just a little more than an ounce of canned anchovies is enough to meet the 500-milligram daily intake many physicians suggest for omega-3 consumption, though to this day there is no recommended daily allowance of omega-3s.

3. If you want to continue taking omega-3 supplements, take supplements that do not derive from fish caught specifically for reduction.

There are several brands of marine oil that use by-products from fish for human consumption as their source. Among them, Pure Alaska Omega Salmon Oil and Wiley’s Finest (derived from pollock discards) are worth considering, as is good old-fashioned cod liver oil (Peter Möller’s 19th century cod liver oil company is still selling the stuff).

Because the oil derives from fisheries that are already geared toward harvesting fish for human consumption, there’s a better chance that the raw materials will have stayed under refrigeration throughout the supply chain, leading to a lesser chance of oxidation. There are also several brands of omega-3 supplements derived from algae that are currently on the market. Almega, Isaac Berzin’s creation from Imperial, Texas, is intriguing because instead of using fermented sugarcane as a substrate to grow algae, the company relies entirely on photosynthesisfueled algae. It’s worth remembering that any omega-3 supplement regardless of its source is prone to oxidation. Supplements should therefore be kept under refrigeration.