A review of catering for the UK's ministry of food and farming (Defra) has demonstrated that is affordable and achievable to serve sustainable fish. The review set out to assess Defra's compliance with new mandatory Government Buying Standards for catering which require that all fish should be demonstrably sustainable.
The 2011 review, published in January 2012, shows that:
- Fish is available on 17 occasions during the four week menu cycle (82% white fish, 18% oily fish). Fish options make up 28% of the hot main meals choices available at lunch time (excluding vegetarian food option).
- During this reporting period, the ministry's caterer Eurest had reviewed their fish suppliers and are now providing fish that is only either Marine Stewardship Council certified or on the Marine Conservation Society ‘fish to eat’ list rating 1 or 2.
Jon Walker, coordinator of the Sustainable Fish City campaign that helped Defra to introduce the policy, and has since trained government chefs to comply with it, said, "We congratulate the UK's ministry for food and farming for having achieved such a robust sustainable fish standard. We look forward to seeing reports from the other departments to which these standards apply. We hope they have done equally well."
In June 2011, the UK government announced a new mandatory policy of using only sustainable fish in its catering for Central Government in England. The government has adopted the same definition of sustainable seafood as we have used for Sustainable Fish City and as for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games catering.
This policy now covers all catering for Number 10, Whitehall, Central Government departments, prisons, and some parts of the armed forces - greatly improving the sustainability of fish served in meals to around 400,000 people per year. Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Jim Paice MP commented “we are sending out a clear message to the wider public sector to take the same action”.
The report Government buying standards for food and catering services: Defra catering GBS report, October – December 2011 can be downloaded here.
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Join us in calling for a sustainable fish future!
Caroline Bennett, Moshi Moshi
"I am determined to do something about the way we fished the seas. We know the problems, we don’t even need any additional information to know how to fix them: we just have to get on and do it. No excuses."
We're working on it
So can you!
Allegra McEvedy MBE, chef, writer and presenter
"To stand by and do nothing, say nothing as we slowly drain the oceans of their livestock is to make one complicit, and that's just not a position with which I was comfortable."
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Rosie Boycott, London Food Board
"Taking a sustainable approach to fish is critical to the food security of our city. It is shocking to think that within our lifetimes, we could lose some of our favourite species from the seas forever."
We're working on it
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