Last night I had the opportunity to immerse myself at the “Sustainable Fish Solutions” panel discussion and food tasting event which took place at LMU.
The speaks were: Ted Lieu – California State Senator (SD 28), Mike Bonin – Los Angeles City Councilmember (CD 11) and David Rosenstein – Founder, EvoFarm
The panelists were: Paula Daniels (moderator) – Founder, Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Mary Sue Milliken – “Top Chef Masters” & Co-Chef/Owner, Border Grill, Tim Aupperle – Regional Seafood Coordinator, Whole Foods Market, Sheila Bowman – Manager of Culinary and Strategic Initiatives, Seafood Watch and Mark Helvey – Program Lead, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.
Food and Beverages were provided by:
Whole Foods Market • Border Grill • Alaska Seafood • TwoXSea
Santa Monica Seafood • Community Seafood • Carlsbad Aquafarm
Sodexo • Marine Stewardship Council • Greenbar Craft Distillery
The cost for this event was $10!
sea bass on crostini
Tuna Sashimi
MacFarland Trout
It was a real wake up call to action and as we all know, information and good choices are power. I got to personally engage in a nice conversation with Kenny Belov from TwoXSea, who personally took it upon himself to create a source of sustainable, delicious MacFarland Trout to supply his personal restaurant, Fish, then make it available to other restaurants and retail outlets. Kenny ends up selling roughly 250,000 pounds per year. These fish are farmed using gin clear, cold water from the Susan River which allows for a slow growth rate and are fed a completely vegetarian diet. I was impressed and very optimistic that more entrepreneurs should follow suit looking at Kenny’s successful operation in sustainable fish protein.
Tim Aupperle – Regional Seafood Coordinator, Whole Foods Market made a great point, we as consumers need to expand our palates and try different sustainable fish, so we put less stress on the less adventurous tunas & salmons.
Check Seafood Watch for best options, and do be shy, ask you markets where their fish are coming from. By local US!
flies, sand & surf 