Sustainable Ocean Wise Seafood On The Menu At UBC
UBC has always sourced much of its seafood from the Ocean Wise choices, but now, 100 percent is Ocean Wise! My husband Michael works for UBC Food Services and I’m always so impressed of how much care goes into considering our environment on a day to day basis and this news is just icing on the cake! Bravo UBC!
I traveled out to visit him yesterday and watch the announcement go down, in conjunction with some Summer Sizzler chef demos from UBC Chef Johnny Bridge and the Ocean Wise team, including Chef David Lee and Chef Ned Bell.
Chef Bridge had UBC Farm strawberries on hand as well as Shishito Peppers grown from our friends, Taves Farms, and sold through Vancouver Farmers Markets Direct , and at local Vancouver Farmers Markets. In fact, I just bought some on Sunday at the Kitsilano Market.
UBC has announced it will purchase and offer only 100 per cent Ocean Wise recommended sustainable seafood beginning July 1, 2019. The change will include every food service location on both the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses, excluding franchises. According to UBC executive chef and culinary director David Speight, this transition has been in the making for some time.
“UBC spends approximately $1.2 million on seafood annually, and is one of the largest bulk seafood purchasers in British Columbia,” says Speight. “We’ve been a great Vancouver Aquarium Ocean Wise Seafood program partner since 2008 and for the past five years we have committed to ensuring all of our fresh seafood follows that program’s recommendations. However we still purchased a significant amount of non-recommended frozen seafood. We have committed to changing that. ”
UBC Food Services primarily buys seafood from large-scale food service providers that offer Ocean Wise recommended seafood, but is committed to additionally working with local, small-scale and family-owned fish mongers who follow sustainable fishing practices.
