One step at a time to ‘sustainability’

Yes, it’s spring, and, last month, time for the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Last year’s show went by in a blink for me, but I still managed to find a liquor booth staffed by models wearing nothing but body paint and, later in the evening, accidentally shaft one of the best restaurant servers I’ve ever had out of their rightful tip. It’s the story of my life: good and bad experiences with people or places, side by side, or one after the other. As a result, I am neither overly enthusiastic nor overly disappointed about anything. (Just ask the wife, who sometimes mocks me with, Don’t you smile? Or, Don’t you get upset?)

My narrow spectrum between enthusiasm and disappointment is the perfect temperament for trade shows, I think. After attending many of them for both my current and previous professions, I’ve learned if I keep the expectation bar low and wear sensible shoes, my day will likely balance out emotionally. I do a little planning, pick out booths that sound interesting, and visit people I know I should.

This year in Chicago, I had an extra full day at the show, and was able to attend at least one discussion panel. So, I polished up my old steel-toed work boots—they look sorta dressy all cleaned up with black shoe polish, and I can be on my feet days at a time in them, if necessary—and stalked the show floor. And it was just fine. Found some interesting items (visit more detailed coverage with photos beginning on page 16) and was denied once again a subscription to Food Arts (they accused me of being competition. Please.).

Sunday was more interesting—after additional required wandering, I stepped into a discussion panel called “Making Your Seafood Choices More Sustainable.” I was interested for several reasons, but namely because demand for seafood is stronger than its ever been, and oceans—no matter who does the math—are being depleted at an alarming, and potentially catastrophic, rate. The answer to the demand might be aquaculture, but, like American cattle feedlots, it has also come under fire for its feeding practices, use of hormones and antibiotics, and the environmental impact of having thousands of fish raised in a confined area—much like a feedlot’s manure buildup, it ain’t pretty. And, like any animals (humans included) living in a crowded environment, farmed fish are susceptible to parasites and viral and fungal infections. A recent New York Times article documented a virus killing millions of farmed salmon off the coast of Chile, forcing 1,000 workers to be laid off.

The panelists were, as one might guess, in favor of preserving the environment and developing effective and environmentally-friendly aquaculture. The panel, moderated by Mike Boots, director of the Seafood Choices Alliance, included Mary Smith, marketing director of the seafood distributor Plitt Company; Henry Lovejoy, president and co-founder of Eco-Fish Inc., a Marine Stewardship Council-certified seafood distributor; Michelle Jost, conservation manager for the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago; and Rick Bayless, the James Beard-award winning chef, PBS television host and owner of Mexican restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolabampo.

Why was Shedd Aquarium represented? They are in the mix developing Midwest outreach programs to educate consumers, wholesalers and restaurateurs on purchasing seafood from sustainable sources—both from the wild and farmed. Who knew? Not me.

Missing from the discussion were any shrill harangues about the plight of the planet, which, while I’m largely in that camp, I found refreshing. (It’s another facet of my yin-yang existence—road kill saddens me, yet I often feel it’s appropriate to bludgeon PETA spokespersons.) It wasn’t the environment for a teacher-ly lecture, and there aren’t many that don’t grasp there’s a problem out there. The panel was optimistic about the future and the industry’s ability to change. “Accentuate the positive,” Lovejoy said. “There’s a lot of good news out there. People want to know the story behind the food, and (restaurants are) in a unique position to do that.”

Bayless’ perspective was particularly notable. His restaurants have earned a reputation for their attention to using locally-grown fruits and vegetables and sustainably-farmed proteins. But he’s been in business 20 years, he said—it took time to do that. “It’s one step at a time,” he said. “Many get overwhelmed and feel they have to come up with a full-blown program,” which isn’t the case.

Bayless said he really assessed his restaurants’ sourcing during what he called the “John Dory phase,” the popular fish that, at the time in the 1990s, was cheap and plentiful. “The way we think here is that it will never run out,” he said. But, as stocks declined, it was replaced by Chilean sea bass, and the over fishing process started again. “I began to question things…and take a longer perspective,” he said.

Sustainability might be the buzzword in the industry right now, Bayless continued, but it also means “sustainability for the enterprise. If our establishment goes out of business, it doesn’t help anybody.”

Bayless started with a “sustainability wish list” at his restaurants and committed to change one thing every six months. “Educate your staff, and also guests where appropriate,” he said. “Don’t be overwhelmed. One aspect at a time.”


Frozen better than fresh?

There isn’t a restaurant trumpeting “frozen seafood” on the menu, but perhaps they should—it can be better than the fresh stuff, according to the panelists. And one simple way to tackle sustainability is to experiment with frozen product where previously only “fresh” would do. “Frozen seafood gets a bad rap, but it minimizes waste,” said Plitt Company Marketing Director Mary Smith. To which Bayless jumped in to say, “Frozen seafood is not fashionable, but I have to underscore what she said. We shouldn’t be turning our noses at it. We’re not in the 1960s anymore. There are better freezing methods. What we have to learn is to defrost it properly. Put it in the cooler and defrost it for 24 hours. It’s often better quality than the fresh stuff.”


Helpful organizations
• Marine Stewardship Council
• Seafood Choices Alliance
• Global Aquaculture Alliance