School of Oriental and African Studies

Simon Button is the Purchasing Manager at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, part of the University of London). Simon sets the standards for the catering contracts as SOAS and signed up to the Sustainable Fish City pledge.

The university covers a range of subjects including a Masters Degree in the Anthropology of Food.

Of the Sustainable Fish City campaign, Simon Button said, "The School of Oriental and African Studies is delighted to be a Sustainable Fish Champion in partnership with our catering contractor, Sodexo Education, who have recently become the first contract caterer within the higher education sector to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification. We hope that this fantastic achievement encourages other providers in the outsourced sector to increase their focus on sustainability of seafood sourcing."

Professor of Anthropology at SOAS, and chair of the University's SOAS Food Studies Centre, Harry West responded to the news of SOAS joining the Sustainable Fish City campaign, saying: "Fish is central to the culinary traditions of many of the places that we engage with at SOAS. It provides great numbers of people in these parts of the world with essential nutrients that, in many cases, would not otherwise be available to them. Bound up with this is the centrality of fishing to the livelihoods of so many people. As our appetite for fish has grown around the world, and as over-fishing has pushed many aquatic ecosystems to the brink, people who have historically relied on fish have suffered disproportionately - sometimes catastrophically. It is time that we all accepted a share of the responsibility for this state of affairs and became a part of the solution to this global crisis. Sustainable Fish City affords us a vital opportunity to do so."

Find out more about the School of Oriental and African Studies at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/
Find out more about the SOAS Food Studies Centre at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/foodstudies/

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  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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  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."

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  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Fish Fight
  “I have been travelling around the UK meeting fishermen, marine conservationists, politicians, supermarkets bosses, and of course fish-eating members of the public. It has changed the way I think about fish.”

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  Raymond Blanc OBE, Chef Patron, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
  “Good ethics should be part of everyday business. Many restaurants and caterers in this are helping to protect our precious marine resources. They should get rightful recognition and inspire others to do the same.”

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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."

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  Silla Bjerrum, Feng Sushi
  "Ensuring the future supply of fish is very important. Eating fish can be a component of a healthy lifestyle. Future generations rely on us to pass on healthy seas and maintain biodiversity."

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  Tim Hughes, Caprice Holdings
  "It’s our duty to impart our knowledge to a wider audience, so everybody realises how important it is to cherish our fish stocks. I will continue to champion lesser-known species in plentiful and sustainable supply."