We’ve been championing sustainable fish for the last year or two. It’s one of the last remaining natural food sources we have and many of the options that we’ve been provided as consumers are either endangered or leaving tremendous damage in their wake (pun intended). My Mother grew up in a fishing village in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and I’ve seen the results of the collapse of the fisheries in 30+ years of visiting her home. The impact on the ocean has a direct impact to the people who once depended on it for a livelihood that no longer can.
I am thrilled to share the arrival of Slow Fish Toronto to our vibrant foodscape:
Slow Fish was announced a few weeks back with the first event (as part of a series called “Fishing After Dark”) being hosted at Hooked. Slow Fish is being championed by Slow Food Toronto and is part of an International Effort by Slow Food to inspire reforms to the choices we have and the ethics behind them. The mandate is a simple one: Good, Clean and Fair Fish.
Slow Fish will run several events to raise awareness and call to action. They are starting with a lecture series (called ‘Close Encounters’) that will bring people closer to their food and how it is sourced. I’ve been told of a few of the possible lecturers and I am truly blown away by how amazing this program is likely to be.
Slow Fish will also be launching a series of events in the summer and are looking to launch a fishing trip as part of their vision.
I’m thrilled that this program has arrived in our city and will be excited to share as events are announced and happen!
It was our friends at Hooked which turned me on to this little video which we shared with out Facebook Group but realized that the rest of you may find it just as powerful.
Kolapore Springs is an example of a sustainable fish farm doing things right. By watching the two-minute video below you`ll learn about some of their approaches – including feeding their fish art of their natural diet (a fresh water shrimp) as well as continuously feeding their fish ponds with sediment-rich water flowing through the farm from the local creeks:
The farm is fed by two different springs which run through the sediment-rich forest. This, combined with the natural cold temperature of the water that is fairly unique to a fish farm produces a firm-flesh fish which is both naturally brighter in colour as well as adding significant taste.
Not all fish farms feature genetically modified stock few antibiodic or other `pills`for sustinence. Kolapore is such an example – one that I plan on learning a lot more about.
We`d love you to enter our Seafood contest (great prize packs and details can be found here). To enter, click here (it`s a direct link to our video on the Ocean Wise page). LIKE Ocean Wise and LIKE our video and you`re entered!
If you`ve swung by these parts to enter our contest and don`t have the patience to go through all the details below, here`s the nitty gritty: We`re giving away prizes to randomly to people helping us compete in a competition to get the word out on Sustainable Seafood. Enter the contest by liking our video on Facebook, Tweeting links to the same video and asking people to like it or sharing it on Facebook (tag us in those posts so we know you`ve shared it). One entry per action and multiple tweets or shares are allowed.
Happy Monday!
Remember this?
That was our video entry for the Ocean Wise Seafoodie contest. We were selected as one of twelve finalists from Toronto to be possibly named the Ocean Wise Seafoodie. We were awarded a dinner for two (Dana and I went last week) of sustainable Seafood at Starfish Restaurant in Toronto (a separate review of the restaurant and experience will follow this week).
Following dinner we were to embrace a final challenge – create a 60-second video which shared a message about sustainability that we thought was important, share something we learned from the chef, mention a bit about the meal we ate, introduce ourselves and… well, you get the idea – we had to pack one-minute with a lot of info. We submitted our video last night (we’ll explain how to view it below). Here’s a teaser from the video (yay to Dana who created some killer titles this time around):
The objective behind the contest is to raise awareness for Ocean Wise and sustainable seafood. We are encouraged to use our social networks to share the video and to ask you to “LIKE” it on Facebook. The video with the most likes at the end of the contest will be named the winner. Since we’ll be on vacation for much of the voting round, we’re at a disadvantage to promote our video – so we’re hoping the combination of running our own contest and the awesomeness of you all who read this will help us get the message out.
Our main objective is to get the word out about something we feel passionate about (I am, after all, writing this message at 2:00am the first night of my vacation). And because there`s some pretty cool prizes in for us if we win (a set of pots, a cooking lesson and another dinner) and because we were already treated to an amazing experience, we`re going to share the wealth and run a contest of our own – and help you get in on the action!
Well Preserved’s Sustainable Seafood Contest
The concept is simple – help us get the message out. You will be entered in our contest as follows:
Press Like our original video on Facebook (you can only do this once per person – Facebook won’t allow you to do otherwise). The direct link to our video is here (there are others you can check out to – we were encouraged to link direct to our own video for self-interest :)).
Every time you tweet or retweet the link to the video and ask people to like it (make sure to mention us by adding “@wellpreserved” so we know you’ve mentioned it out there. Do this as many times as you’d like
For every share on facebook (again add ‘@wellpreserved‘ or write on our wall that you’ve done so and we’ll see your link).
The contest runs between now and April 25th!
Here are the prizes we’re offering to our followers (with special thanks to our friends who have contributed):
Bottomfeeder book by Tara Grescoe courtesy of Hooked (Hooked is Toronto’s only completely sustainable seafood store and there is very little, if anything, like it in the world – the link above goes to their thriving Facebook community – this one will take you to our review of what they do). Dan (who owns Hooked with his wife, Chef Kristen), encouraged me to read this book to learn more about sustainable fish and the state of our oceans. This book inspired me to shoot the first video for this contest in a hotel room in Glasgow.
One of Shucker Paddy’s Pistol Grip Oyster Shuckers. Shucker Paddy was one of our hosts and can be seen in the background of our movie. He has created the most unique Oyster Knife in the world – after all, it is moulded in the likeness of his own hand. This is a deluxe Oyster knife designed by a champion shucker (his world championship belts litter the restaurants basement like a prize fighter’s trophy room). Here’s a review from The Globe and Mail and details from the man himself.
Awesome seeds from Cubits. Laura and her awesome organic seeds have come to the table – she’ll ship a care package of awesome seeds for herbs that go with fish: dill, cilantro, flat parsley, moss curled parsley and basil. You’ll find Cubit’s all over the web – like on Facebook, Twitter, Etsy and their own blog. But you should check them out because they’re lovely people trying to make a difference and offering fabulous organic seeds for your garden (we’ve got some plans involving our packages and whole bunch of dirt coming up this year!0
WellPreserved gift pack #1. Consists of a TShirt, buttons and fridge magnets. We`ll make sure you`re all decked out for summer!
WellPreserved Gift Pack #2. A signed, numbered Printers Proof of the Periodic Table of Waterbath Preserving. This will be one of very few (and possibly THE only) printers proof that we will approve our mass run of posters for. Given that the initial run is 500, this lucky winner will have something that`s a rare collectible. The exact number of proofs will be determined by the process – you will essentially win the print that we use to approve the mass run of posters. As the main run won`t be limited, this is truly something different.
As a bonus: if we win the contest (the grand prize is a complete set of cookware, a cooking lesson and dinner at C5), we will donate $250 to Ocean Wise in the name of one of our entrants.
If that wasn`t enough – Ocean Wise is running it`s own draw for people who `like`a video so you`ll also have a chance to win a prize from them!
Help us get the word out – and good luck to all of us!
Ocean Wise is a program that was founded and is supported by the Vancouver Aquarium.
Their goals center around educating and empowering consumers around the issues of sustainable seafood. They do this through several initiatives including:
Working with restaurants and to certify items on a menu as sustainable options.
Amongst other initiatives, Ocean Wise announced a contest open to Toronto Residents (plan to expand to other locations in the country are in the works, according to some of the tweets i had seen from them a few weeks back). They have challenged Torontonians to make a 30-40 second video to introduce themselves, share their passion for sustainable seafood and make a case for being the “Ultimate Seafoodie.”
Round 2 will see 12 finalists independently going out for a sustainable meal in Toronto in early April and submitting a final video about the experience.
I’m not one for titles – but the chance to help spread the word on sustainable seafood was too good a chance to pass up. I’ve had a bit of extra time on a recent business trip and thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about making a short video and adding our voice to the fire.
See what you think – and if you like it, I have a favour to ask of you below:
Part of the criteria is our ability to promote our video through social media. If something in the video resonated with you, I would love your help by tweeting (hashtag is #owseafoodie) sharing, liking and commenting on it. I’m not so much concerned with competing as much as I’d like to try to inspire people to think about the choices we make when it comes to our last major resource of wild food.
We’ll be printing a regular column about the state of our ocean in the coming weeks – completing a bunch of research and checking facts and figures before proceeding.
If you are new to SeaChoice, they are a Canadian organization dedicated to the education concerning the responsible consumption of fish and ocean fare for consumers, businesses and others. David Suzuki, amongst others, is a member of the coalition that is behind SeaChoice. Their information is starting to appear in more and more public places and they hope to influence the purchase of sustainable food from the sea.
Their material is super easy to follow. The Canadian Seafood Guide covers more than 60 species of animals on a single page. Canadian troll-caught Tuna is listed as a best choice, US Tuna contains some concerns and Bluefin is listed as something to avoid (this issue has been coming to a head this week at Nobu).
They also offer a Guide for Businesses (which includes a case study featuring Jamie Kennedy). An eye-opening Sushi Guide provides more reflection and consideration for it’s readers.
In addition to the PDF documents above (and printed versions for your wallet), they have just launched a new application for your iPhone to support choices on the fly. The application offers more than a simple recommendation on purchasing – it describes a bit about the fish and includes a small picture of the whole animal. Check it out here (you can view it without an iPhone).
Well Preserved 