UK towns and cities challenged to champion sustainable fish

On World Oceans Day, June 8th, UK towns and cities have taken up the challenge to buy, serve and promote only sustainable fish. 

• 12 UK places to compete for sustainable fish city title
• 200 million meals pledged nationally in support of sustainable fish
• Caterers, universities, hospitals, workplaces and restaurants called to support  

Raymond Blanc OBE, ambassador of the Sustainable Fish City campaign [1] said, “We are delighted to see towns and cities running Fish City campaigns, and supporting a responsible approach to buying fish. By coming together as towns and cities we have the buying power to transform the way fish is bought and sold in the places where there is a huge demand for fish.”
 
So far, twelve towns, cities and counties feeding over 13 million people have confirmed that they are working towards becoming a Sustainable Fish City; Belfast, Bournemouth & Poole, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Hull, Lancashire, Liverpool, London, Plymouth and Stockport. They are all members of the Sustainable Food Cities network, a new collaborative approach to tackling food issues across towns, cities and counties [2]. Each area will now work to generate the support of local schools, universities, hospitals, businesses and restaurants – asking them to sign up to a fully sustainable fish policy.
 
Ruth Westcott, the campaign coordinator said, “It is inspiring to see so many towns and cities taking up this challenge. It shows how important this issue is to people across the UK. We don’t want to be contributing to the loss of our precious marine ecosystems when we eat out, and I am delighted to see so many businesses, as well as places, joining in, to take a stand on this vitally important issue. We estimate that together, these areas spend over £700 million on fish every year [3], which could be supporting our sustainable fisheries.”
 
Businesses and organisations serving well over 200 million meals per year have already come forward to pledge their support for the campaign [4], including central government for prisons, government departments and the armed forces, 19 universities, the National Trust, John Lewis, Carluccios, Brasserie Blanc, Michelin starred restaurants and well-loved independents [5]. A number of large catering companies have also committed to switch to sustainable fish for all their catering [6]. Following in the sustainable fish footsteps of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, visitors to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will only be served sustainable fish after the Commonwealth Games committed to a fully sustainable fish policy [7].
 
Restaurants and caterers can support the campaign in their area by signing the online fish city pledge, and take advantage of expert advice and promotional materials to help improve the sustainability of their seafood menus. Local people can get involved by asking the places where they eat out – restaurants, canteens and sandwich shops – to sign up to a fully sustainable fish policy.

Fish is just one of many food issues that these towns, cities and counties are working on through their Sustainable Food City partnerships. Over 30 places in the UK are taking this collaborative approach addressing issues including food waste, food poverty, improving public sector food and supporting food enterprises.

For photos and more information please contact Ruth Westcott on 0203 5596 777 or ruth@sustainweb.org

Notes

1. Sustainable Fish City is run by a group of not-for-profit organisations working on sustainable seafood issues, listed at: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/about/. The group includes: Good Catch; Seafood Choices Alliance; Marine Conservation Society; Marine Stewardship Council; Pisces Responsible Fish Restaurants; Fish2Fork; Environmental Justice Foundation and Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming (which coordinates the campaign). 
2. The Sustainable Food Cities network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations using food as a vehicle for positive change. It is coordinated by Food Matters, Soil Association and Sustain, and is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. www.sustainablefoodcities.org 
3. Calculated from Office For National Statistics data on average weekly household expenditure on fish www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/family-spending/family-spending/2013-edition/sum-headlines.html
4. The Sustainable Fish City pledge (detailing the commitment made by these organisation) can be downloaded at www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/sustainable_fish_pledge/

• For Larger organisations - caterers, restaurant chains and businesses, download a Sustainable Fish Cities pledge: Word document / PDF 

• For smaller organisations - independent caterers, restaurants and businesses, Download a Sustainable Fish Cities pledge: Word document / PDF

5. A full list of Sustainable Fish City pledge signatories can be found at www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/whos_working_on_it/

6. Large caterers that have signed up to the Sustainable Fish City pledge include the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the country’s second largest contract caterer Sodexo, and close competitors Restaurant Associates, BaxterStorey and ISS Food and Hospitality

7. The Food Charter for Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games, containing the commitment to serve only sustainable fish, is available here: www.glasgow2014.com/document/food-charter