Sustainable Seafood at the University of Minnesota

Transcription

1 Sustainable Seafood at the University of Minnesota Prepared for SUST 4004 Sustainable Communities by Andrea Bolks, Will Clausen, Jodi Larson, Andrew Orthober Picture from- (The Sustainability Ninja, 2009)

2 Contents Sustainable Seafood at the University of Minnesota 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 3 3. Objectives and Performance Measure 7 4. Possible Actions to Improve 4.1. All possible actions considered What other schools are doing Action Plan Design Elements of a Resilient System References Figure 1. Rich Picture Figure 2. Schematic Roadmap 25 A Packet on Sustainable Fish/Seafood *Note online version does not include sources of information we provided in the printed version given to ARAMARK 1. An overview of sustainability, relating to fish and seafood choices Important aspects to assess with Regards to Fish and Seafood Current and Future Certification Programs and Recommendations Suggestions for Sustainable Fish and Seafood 4.1 Our Suggestions for Sustainable Fish and Seafood Contact Information Our Assessments of the Species Purchased ARAMARK Chef Sustainability Information and Resources Our Example Pilot-Scale Survey What Other Universities are Doing 8.1 University of Notre Dame Certification Process- From 51 Donald Miller 8.2 s from Donald Miller- University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame Sustainable Seafood, Contact 56 Information, and Other Universities 1

3 1. Executive Summary The ultimate goal of this project is to transform the process by which seafood is purchased and consumed at the University. Currently, no criteria for acceptable levels of sustainability are in place for seafood bought and served by University Dining Services (UDS) in the dining halls. Serving seafood produced in an unsustainable manner can have a wide variety of negative effects on people and the environment including such things as; declines of wild fish stocks, destruction of seafloor habitat, soil and water contamination, and unstable economies of fishing communities. Actions need to be taken to begin to move the UDS system into a new way of operating, in which sustainable seafood is employed. This project sets the stage for actions to be taken by individuals and groups within UDS. We recommend and describe four action steps necessary to establish sustainable seafood as a permanent part of the menu. Our group has completed the first action, the compilation of valuable information and resources into a packet to be reviewed by UDS. This includes, for example, contacts and information on local sustainable fish farms, resources for creative and delicious seafood recipes, and an overview of some popular sustainable seafood certification programs. The second action calls for members of UDS, specifically the Sustainability Coordinator and a newly hired chef focused on sustainability, to review and discuss the information from the packet. The third action step entails the first implementation of sustainable seafood within the dining halls. This step calls for UDS to market and promote sustainable and local seafood producers at special events throughout the year such as Eat Well, Live Well. This third step is a stepping stone that allows testing out the responsiveness of consumers. Finally, if step three works smoothly, step four calls for the permanent integration of sustainable seafood products into the menu. Also included in this step is the establishment of minimum acceptance criteria for seafood sustainability by a working group of UDS employees and students. This entire action plan also calls for the creation of a sustainability intern within the Green Team who would work with the Sustainability Coordinator on a number of additional research and other identified tasks. Following the recommendations and performance measures described in this report will help set UDS on track to a more sustainable menu: one that will promote a healthier university and a healthier natural environment. 2

4 2. Introduction Human activity over the past few centuries has placed a lot of stress on natural systems to continue being productive in a way that they have been historically. Public awareness of the impacts of these stresses has been aroused only very recently. We, as humans, are beginning to understand the need to adjust the way we think about the systems we have created, and the need to take swift, yet well thought out, action to correct the way we operate within the world. Seafood production is one such system that needs to be addressed. Among the important reasons for altering the current state of the system, ecologic and social issues stand out. Ecologically, the methods employed by many fishing companies are devastating to the oceans, lakes, and rivers they harvest from. In areas with relaxed regulations, fishing companies can wipe out whole fish populations in their pursuit of profit. Not only do select species get overfished, but many methods of mass fishing for instance shrimp trawling take indiscriminately. What is hauled out and not wanted is simply thrown back into the sea, dead. Studies have shown that many variables, including governmental control, stakeholder involvement, and strict limits on how much can be taken can determine the sustainability of a fishery (Dankel et al, 2007). When considering sustainability, one also has to consider the social and economic sides of the issue at hand. Large national and international corporations increasingly dominate the fishing, aquaculture, processing and distribution of seafood for markets in North America (Marshall, 2001). These companies can displace local and smallerscale producers because of the lower prices that they can usually offer due to economies of scale. We must address the unsustainable aspects of the seafood system in order to ensure that humans will be able to continue fishing in the future and that the fish will be able to continue playing their role in the ecosystem. The best way for an entity such as the University Dining Service (UDS) to help transform the system is to make the decision to purchase seafood from a source that values sustainability and implements sustainable practices. If customers continue to purchase seafood that is harvested in unsustainable ways, there will not be a great incentive to fishing companies to adopt new practices. UDS has taken actions in the past with other food products to promote the transformation on a larger scale of the food system. Just last year, UDS and the Green Team worked together to make the switch to completely cage free eggs served at 3

5 the dining centers at the University of Minnesota. Now it is time for actions that will begin to shift the way in which UDS buys and serves seafood. It is important for there to be a good deal of demand from the customer in order for UDS to feel that the shift to sustainable seafood should be made. If people do not want to eat seafood, there will be no incentive for change. Unfortunately, the demand for fish and seafood at UDS dining halls is rather low. That is why educational campaigns about the health benefits of seafood and the ecological, social, and economic benefits of sustainability need to exist and be marketed to University of Minnesota students and staff. A wealth of knowledge exists describing the health benefits of eating a fair amount of seafood. Seafood is rich in two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids and contributes to the development of the brain; but some fish can also contain high levels of methylmercury. In most situations, however, the health benefits far outweigh the risks (Gladyshev et al. 2009). Marketing done by UDS can influence and increase fish consumption in the dining halls if students and staff understand the positive aspects of eating more seafood. Changing UDS policy and convincing students and staff of both the health benefits of seafood and the importance of sustainability will have a very good chance of resulting in a successful transformation at the University of Minnesota to sustainable seafood. Our project aims to begin the process and lay out the actions that will need to be taken to achieve this desired outcome. On the most basic level, University Dining Service acts as a conduit between food providers and consumers. However, reality is much more complex than this simple description. The whole system involves seafood producers, Sysco Foods, ARAMARK, UDS, Students, Staff, and all of the employees for each entity (Figure 1). Since, for the purpose of this project, we are focused on UDS, the description of the whole system can start there. UDS is actually operated by ARAMARK, which has had a contract with the University of Minnesota since 1998 to provide dining services to students and staff. Because ARAMARK runs the operation, it must approve any request for orders by UDS before any food order is placed. ARAMARK has a purchasing sector called the supply chain which is the group that actually creates the purchasing contract that tells UDS which suppliers are approved. This list is fairly extensive and covers most of the food items needed at UDS. Anything that UDS wishes to source beyond this set list requires permission from the ARAMARK supply chain. This is where Sysco comes into the system. Ultimately, Sysco is the distributor of almost all of the food that 4

6 comes to UDS, as well as to thousands of other entities across the country. Sysco and ARAMARK have a national purchasing agreement which is the basis of their relationship and the reason that Sysco provides most UDS food. Once an item has been approved by the supply chain at ARAMARK or has been established on the set list of approved sources, UDS simply contacts Sysco to request a food item, indicating it was approved by the supply chain sector of ARAMARK. A variance is the technical term for requests that UDS can make beyond the scope of the set list of sources. UDS would need to request a variance to establish the ability to purchase more sustainable seafood. It is also possible for UDS to purchase food from distributors other than Sysco, whether those distributors are other large national corporations, or small family run operations. However, in order to place orders with other distributors, the distributor must forge a contract with ARAMARK. This is to ensure the safety of the food and also requires the distributor to claim any liability. UDS goes through all of this trouble in purchasing food, avoiding direct contact food producers, because Sysco offers insurance that any illness resulting from consuming UDS food will fall on Sysco s shoulders. Without this insurance, UDS would be in constant danger of losing a lot of money to lawsuits from any illness caused by food served in its facilities. Unfortunately, this creates a barrier to getting sustainable and local seafood on the menu at the University of Minnesota. UDS cannot simply contact a local trout farmer directly to purchase fish. This brings us to another important actor in the rich picture: the food producers. UDS can only make purchases from producers that are certified by, and have a contract with Sysco or some other distributor that has its own contract with ARAMARK. It can be difficult for a small producer to enter into such a contract because of the associated cost. Because the production side of the rich picture is so complex and beyond our ability to influence, we have focused in more detail on UDS policy and on the consumer side of the rich picture. Through the actions recommended in our action plan, this side of the rich picture will surely need to be considered. Understanding purchasing agreements, food insurance contracts, and the dynamics of suppliers and distributors goes beyond the true scope of our project and should be left to the individuals at UDS who understand the processes better and may be implementing our recommend actions. Understanding the processes by which UDS obtains food is important to this project because it helps us understand how to suggest that UDS get in contact 5

7 with, and potentially partner with local and sustainable seafood producers. However, beyond that aspect, this project does not delve into any changes that may need to occur within ARAMARK or Sysco. On the consumer end, the important actors are students and staff. Since UDS exists to feed these two groups, and UDS wants to cover its costs by selling food that will be consumed, ultimately students and staff have significant influence on what is and is not served in the dining halls. UDS can track the most popular dishes and by conducting surveys, maintaining suggestion boxes, or simply monitoring how much of each specific dish is consumed. UDS has found that seafood is not particularly popular among University of Minnesota students and staff, making it important to find why and how this might change. If consumer demand is not sufficient switching to sustainable seafood may not be cost effective. Finally, several important actors work within UDS. Efforts to serve more sustainable food products have already begun with groups like the Green Team, which exist to promote sustainability and engage the student body in these actions. The Green Team will need to play a role in the conversion to sustainable seafood, as well. UDS also employs a Sustainability Coordinator who is in charge of developing a long term sustainability plan for UDS. And of course, you cannot have a dining service without chefs. The chefs play an important role in designing menus and creating dishes. The chefs will need to create seafood dishes using sustainable products that the consumers will want to have. Because the whole system is complex and diverse particularly on the production side with all of the contracts and purchasing agreements it is fairly resistant to change. The resilience is high, but more and more changes are being attempted which can push the system into a new regime. Currently, most of the food served at the dining halls is not evaluated for sustainability, but actions are gradually accumulating to ensure that more, and eventually all, food goes through such evaluations. This project is meant to be one of the first steps towards ensuring sustainable seafood at the University Dining Services. 6

8 3. Objectives and Performance Measures The broad aim of this project is to aid University Dining Services at the University of Minnesota to transition to the use of sustainable seafood in its various dining facilities. Specifically, the objectives are the following (listed according to the actors responsible to meet the objective): Our team: -1. to provide UDS with a synthesized packet of information to guide its gradual adoption of sustainable seafood and that includes: -1.1 resources to help define current standards/guidelines/criteria pertaining to sustainable seafood -1.2 initial evaluation and identification of current seafood sources that do not meet these criteria -1.3 a list of local and/or sustainably produced seafood options. UDS and ARAMARK: -2. to thoroughly review our information packet and pursue our suggestions for gradual incorporation of sustainable seafood into dining options including: -2.1 to do further research to learn more about the concept of sustainable seafood -2.2 to apply sustainability standards/criteria to evaluate seafood sources from which they purchase, and -2.3 to establish a team that will further develop, implement and monitor the gradual addition of sustainable seafood to the menu. Meeting these objectives requires consideration of some key factors. Employing concepts from soft-systems methodology (Checkland and Poulter, 2006), we have considered those people and environmental components expected to be affected by these changes, the main actors who 7

9 will need to carry out the action plan described below, the intended transformation resulting from meeting the objectives, the various worldviews that will come into play from all parties involved in or affected by this project; and who has the power to affect or even overpower or stop the success of the action plan. Aquatic environments would benefit from the achievement of these objectives. The ultimate aim of using sustainable methods in supplying fish for human consumption is to deter unsustainable fishing from the sea and freshwaters, and unsustainable aquaculture (farming) of certain seafood. The concern here involves methods that fail to take into consideration their effects on fish populations, other aquatic biodiversity and surrounding ecosystems, or fail to act in a way that promotes the health and longevity of these populations and systems. But the beneficiaries extend beyond this. Also included are fisheries that do go about their business with the concepts of sustainability in mind, which will also affect the operation of Sysco and ARAMARK themselves. Last, the consumers of UDS food will benefit from the implementation of this project by realizing the health benefits of eating seafood, as well as being exposed to a greater variety of dining options. Several actors will play key roles in the implementation of this project. UDS and its Head Chef will be invaluable players in creating demand for sustainable seafood and changing consumption patterns. Given the connections between ARAMARK and Sysco and the structure currently in place, this will involve higher level cooperation to plan for and change current purchasing practices. Last, part of the success of this undertaking will lie in the hands of consumers and their reception of seafood offered. The overall transformation desired is for University Dining Services to regularly serve sustainable seafood in its dining facilities. Achieving this transformation from current consumption or purchasing patterns to the use of more sustainable options will take time. Our action plan takes this into account by building from education and exposure activities to a final phase of mainstreaming sustainable seafood into the regular menus. Our action plan aims to accommodate a range of different worldviews held by people who will be touched by or can affect the proposed actions. Our team, for example, incorporates values of sustainability including environmental ethics, health and healthy diets, promotion of 8

10 the local economy, and the importance of raising student awareness. Other parties have quite different worldviews. Although UDS does promote the idea of sustainability, it also places high importance on cost-effectiveness, the availability of food items, and popularity of choices on the menu. The chef and cooks will likely have a similar worldview as UDS overall with additional importance placed on ease of preparation of selected products and taste or likeability. Taste, smell, presentation, and maintaining current prices will be important to consumers. ARAMARK and Sysco, on the other hand, will likely focus more on liability (if a seafood item turns out unsafe for consumption), quality and insurance, and cost of a given seafood item relative to other options. Various parties have the power to stop or hinder the success of the proposed action plan. They include ARAMARK and Sysco or other suppliers currently used, and their acceptance or rejection of changes resulting from the actions. Our proposed action plan reflects our careful consideration of its practicality. With this in mind, we recommend the following measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan as it is being implemented: Efficacy, i.e., whether or not it achieves the desired outcome, can be measured by reviewing usage of sustainable seafood each year and measuring what percentage is ordered from sustainable sources versus unsustainable sources. Efficiency will be determined by whether or not the use of sustainable seafood can be incorporated into the UDS menu without greatly increasing purchasing costs. Effectiveness of this project in furthering UDS s efforts to become a leading member of a more sustainable food system can be judged by consumer reception of the changes and whether those changes continue to be present in UDS purchasing decisions over the long-term. 9

11 4. Possible Actions to Improve Our team identified eight broad categories of possible actions to achieve the objectives stated above. A packet appended to this report contains information that we compiled and referenced below. 1) Set up better standards for selecting sustainable seafood options within ARAMARK. -Use information on the certifications and eco-labels that are currently available for fish and seafood included in the packet. -Use information provided regarding important aspects of sustainability for picking sustainable seafood options beyond our local recommendations. -ARAMARK to keep up to date with certification programs. - Recommend ARAMARK lead the way in being one of the first to get involved in using credible certifications such as the Marine Stewardship Council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council once the latter is in operation (Schwartz, 2009) 2) ARAMARK take into account our suggestions for sustainable seafood and get a local sustainable option on the menu regularly. - ARAMARK possibly purchase seafood from the recommended list in the packet. 3) ARAMARK re-evaluate some of its current seafood purchasing choices. - Use the packet s information about red flagged species. - Evaluate the sustainability of current purchases. - Replace the most unsustainable purchasing choices with more sustainable ones. 4) Chefs working for UDS should find recipes and learn how to make the new sustainable seafood products appealing to student s tastes. - Use recipes included in the packet as suggestions for cooking the sustainable seafood from our recommended list of seafood. - Use and look at our sources for recipes and chef resources. - Create a sustainability training program for Chefs, with specific resources about sustainable fish/seafood from a culinary perspective. 5) ARAMARK market the new sustainable fish/seafood option on its menu 10

12 -ARAMARK take out advertisements in the Minnesota Daily, post signs around campus, and anything reasonably priced marketing actions to let students know that UDS has decided to buy more sustainable seafood. -Purchase an advertisement in the Minnesota Daily about the health benefits of seafood, or the ecological importance of sustainable seafood. -ARAMARK collaborate with Boynton Health Services to get an ad posted about sustainable fish/seafood and have sustainable fish/seafood featured in events around campus. 6) Labeling and information of fish/seafood sources in the cafeteria - Follow a route similar to organics recycling program. - Use the packet s information on health benefits of seafood and sustainability in as an environmental and health related campaign. 7) ARAMARK set up a monitoring position/ internship or program to check on updates to the sustainability of its fish/ seafood sources and student food preferences. -ARAMARK should make yearly reports. -ARAMARK improve itself and place itself in a new and upcoming competitive market for using sustainable food sources by working with WWF (aquacultured species) or MSC (wild caught). 8) ARAMARK opening either a position or internship through the sustainability minor. The final action plan in section 5 contains all of the above actions considered and detailed descriptions of each. We rearranged these possible actions to improve into thorough step-wise phases that build upon each other (Figure 2). This makes the steps necessary to get sustainable fish/seafood as part of the regular UDS menu much more clear and understandable. Other Universities and Sustainable Seafood When it comes to sustainable seafood, the University of Minnesota, ARAMARK, and University Dining Services can learn from actions taken by other large institutions to promote and serve sustainable seafood on their campuses. Other universities, with similar dining 11

13 establishments and food standards, may prove to be very important sources of information for changes at our own university. Our research has revealed that the University of Notre Dame in Indiana is a leader in moving towards sustainable seafood practices in university food services. Though it is a smaller institution than the University of Minnesota, its geographic location makes it a good model for observing what can be done in regards to sustainable seafood practices at a Midwestern University (Office of Sustainability, 2008). The University of Notre Dame has partnered with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and their seafood supplier, The Plitt Company, in implementing a Chain of Custody certification process for all of its seafood (Seafood Staff, 2008). This means that the seafood served in Notre Dame's food services is traceable from boat to plate. Approximately sixty percent of its seafood is now certified; its certification process began a year and a half ago, with an ultimate goal of having all of the served seafood certified as sustainable (Donald Miller, April 22, 2009, message to Andrew Orthober). The impetus for changes to the University of Notre Dame s seafood sources began within its own Food Service Department s Social Responsibility Team. This group is made up of a senior associate director, a purchasing manager, nutritionist, an operational manager, and executive chef. The University of Notre Dame s student senate is also active with the social responsibility team (Donald Miller, April 23, 2009, message to Andrew Orthober). Even though certified fish supplies bear the additional cost of a site visit required for MSC certification, Donald Miller, Executive Chef for Notre Dame s Food Service, claims that the actual cost of the MSC certified seafood is no higher than his food service's previous sources. Currently, the only setbacks are that the MSC standards only apply to wild seafood, which means the catfish, shrimp, and tilapia that the food service purchase from farms cannot be certified. The only seafood they have found to be cost prohibitive under the new chain of custody certification is tuna, as the MSC certified sources are expensive (Donald Miller, April 22, 2008, message to Andrew Orthober). Also important to Notre Dame s new use of sustainable seafood is education and awareness of the goals of the new sustainable seafood program. The university holds an annual sustainable seafood show at which Notre Dame staff can introduce new recipes that can be implemented in residence hall dining facilities, catering, and retail areas. Donald Miller has expressed his willingness to discuss and advise sustainable 12

14 seafood options with someone within UDS at the University of Minnesota (Donald Miller, April 22, 2008, message to Andrew Orthober). Other Universities are also active in developing their own sustainable seafood programs. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst has begun to use sustainable seafood, based on recommendations from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium s Seafood Watch Program (2009). Though this list does not specify which individual fisheries or aquaculture operations are sustainable sources, it is a good starting point for assessing some of the species of seafood used by a University s food services. The University of Massachusetts was one of the first New England schools to implement a sustainable seafood menu in Similarly to the University of Notre Dame, the University of Massachusetts holds special events to promote its sustainable seafood menu (Hanley 2006). The University of Rhode Island (URI) began a Sustainable Seafood Initiative in June So far, URI has not implemented any certifications of sustainable seafood, but it does provide many sources and guidelines on its website regarding sustainable seafood labeling, certification programs, seafood guides, and even information about the social impacts of sustainable seafood. The website is a great resource for students to gain an understanding of the impacts of their food choices. It is a good example of how education can be useful in the beginning stages of implementing sustainable seafood (Roheim, undated). Other schools, such as Stanford (Rodriguez, 2008), and Princeton (Greening Princeton, 2006), also use similar educational websites to support sustainable seafood meal choices. In considering our proposed action plan for implementing sustainable seafood options at the University of Minnesota, ARAMARK and University Dining Service could refer to the actions already taken at other large institutions across the country. The sustainable seafood information packet, appended to this report, includes the websites and contact information of some other universities. 13

15 5. Action Plan Action #1: Our team has assembled and will deliver a packet of information to ARAMARK at the end of this course. This packet includes a copy of our group s paper (this report) and the following synthesis of information from our research: -1: An overview of sustainability and how it relates to fish and seafood choices -2: The main points/ most important aspects to assess when evaluating the sustainability of fish/seafood -3: A review of current and future available certification programs and eco-labels for seafood -4: Our suggestions for sustainable fish/seafood options and why we believe they are sustainable -5: Our assessments of the current seafood purchases made by ARAMARK -6: Resources for chefs on seafood sustainability and sources for training -7: Our example pilot-scale survey of the opinions/ recommendations/ feelings and interests of UDS customers about sustainable seafood -8: What other universities are doing Each piece in this packet has a very important role in the implementing sustainable seafood into the UDS menu. The first section, an overview of sustainability and its relationship to fish and seafood, will be useful to both ARAMARK as well as others who may work further on this project, including possible interns. It can be used as a general knowledge base for our suggested meeting between a new Chef (whose focus is sustainability) and Sustainability Coordinator; as a resource and starting point in the education of sustainable fish/seafood for our suggested intern and working group (figure 2). This section relates the recommended changes at a local scale (at the University of Minnesota and possibly throughout ARAMARK) to the much larger global environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. Consumption of nonsustainable seafood has huge negative impacts on the world around us. Issues such as overfishing, bycatch, shore-line development, and habitat destruction helped shaped the state of the world s oceans today. One in which 75% of the world s fish species have been fully exploited, overexploited or depleted over the past 10 to 15 years, making it more important than ever to 14

16 know how seafood consumption connects to sustainability. Although a relatively small-scale project compared to the scale of issues surrounding sustainable seafood, the importance of this project should not be underestimated (Chefs Collaborative, 2008). Everyone s decisions matter in this connected world, and ARAMARK has a particularly important role in this region. With 70% of seafood purchases in this country made in the food service industry (Chefs Collaborative, 2008), and Sysco,the largest foodservice marketer and distributor, this project can have beneficial consequences across the food chain (Sysco, 2008). Research on assessing the sustainability of seafood has uncovered specific points in the life cycle of the product that are most important to evaluate. The second piece in this packet synthesizes information from research, and will help ARAMARK to better understand the stateof-the-art. This becomes very important in assessing local fish that may not be certified via research done by ARAMARK, a working group, or an intern. This is shown in Figure 2 as a continuing cycle of review and research resulting in the addition of sustainable options which again loops back to more review over time. Many of our recommendations for locally available fish are, in fact, not certified. Reasons for sustainable seafood not being certified as such are many, but include: the fact that sustainable certification is still new, the cost of certification for small scale producers, and the lack of widely trusted sustainable certification for aquacultured products. The third section included in the packet is a review of certification and eco-labels to help enable ARAMARK to expand its fish/seafood in a number of different ways (Figure 2). The purchasing recommendations of these organizations could be applied directly towards the incorporation of new fish and seafood onto the menu. Many of the organizations recommend species or fisheries to purchase products from or avoid or and certify products as sustainable. These include the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC), and, in the near future, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council being launched by the World Wildlife Fund. The review of certification and eco-labels could also encourage ARAMARK to consider partnering with a highly recognized organization such as the MSC and become one of the first to get involved and closely connected with sustainable seafood in this exciting time. The final way in which this review may be important is by providing information necessary for ARAMARK to set its own standards for purchasing sustainable fish/seafood. 15

17 These standards could be compiled by our proposed working group and intern (figure 2). This section also provides ARARMARK with the information and resources necessary to stay up to date with new and upcoming aquaculture certifications. The fourth section of the packet provides ARAMARK with our suggestions for sustainable fish/seafood sources. Included are four different sources of fish, of which three are relatively local. Contact information along with details regarding the sustainability of the following four sources are found in the packet: *) MinAqua Fisheries (MN Tank-Reared Tilapia) *) Brook Park Fish Farm (MN raised fresh and smoked Trout) *) Star Prairie Trout Farm (WI raised fresh and smoked Trout) *) Australis Aquaculture (MA farm raised Barramundi) ARAMARK could contact these sources in order to move to the next steps of incorporating them into sustainable seafood events and/or putting them in contact with Sysco. Connecting them with Sysco could begin the process of adding them as a supplier through Sysco or getting a variance through ARAMARK s supply chain (figure 1 and 2). The sustainability of a fish/seafood option can only be fully assessed when the source of the product is known. This is addressed in the fifth section of the packet. Although Sysco advertises itself as transparent to information on the sources for their products, our team is not able to access this information. This information could be available to ARAMARK if requested. Because we could not identify the sources of the seafood products purchased by ARAMARK, we can give a general picture to ARAMARK as to what species may or may not be sustainable, but note there is more work to be done. We have provided ARAMARK with "green and red flags" we see in its current fish/seafood choices. This is in no way a complete assessment of sustainability, but starts down the road our group recommends (figure 1). ARAMARK should get more information on the actual source of its seafood products and then determine how these sources compare to the recommendations of certification and eco-label organizations. If a species has both certified sustainable and un-assessed sources, we recommend ARAMARK to purchase fish certified by the MSC, or for aquaculture the ACC and, in the near future, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. The sixth section of the packet focuses on resources and information geared toward the newest UDS Chef being hired in May 2009, whose focus is sustainability. Included are 16

18 resources on informative and free programs that could aid the new chef to train other chefs and UDS staff in thinking about fish/seafood from a sustainability standpoint. The packet also includes recipes for fish we are recommending, resources for finding additional sustainable fish and seafood recipes, and more resources for thinking about sustainability from a culinary perspective. Another piece included in the packet is our example of questions to ask in a pilot-scale survey that could be administered by ARAMARK, a UDS Chef, or an intern to gauge opinions/ recommendations/ feelings and interests of UDS customers about sustainable seafood. This may be useful in assessing 1) student s interest level of fish/seafood and 2) how these preferences might be influenced by the knowledge that product is sustainable. This assessment would be critical in decisions regarding the amount of sustainable seafood that could be added regularly to the UDS menu, and could complement the suggested advertising and events for tasting of sustainable fish/seafood options. Also included are sources of information about what other universities are doing to include sustainable seafood on their campuses. These sources provide examples of how other universities are using special educational programs, informational websites, and new seafood menus to promote and expand the use of sustainable seafood at universities across the United States. Our research found that the University of Notre Dame is one of the leaders in implementing sustainable seafood into their food service facilities, as well one of the first large campuses in the Midwest. Our group has been in contact with Donald Miller, Executive Chef of Food Services at the University of Notre Dame; included in our information packet is our correspondences. Chef Miller has been kind enough to provide an outline of the actions taken to implement a 'chain-of-custody' certification of all seafood through the Marine Stewardship Council (included in the packet), and has offered to provide advice for future actions at the University of Minnesota Dining Services. 17

19 Action #2- The newest chef on the UDS team (whose focus is sustainability) and Sustainability Coordinator within ARAMARK should meet to review the sustainable seafood recommendations and chef resources in our informational packet The Sustainability Coordinator and new chef would need to cooperatively develop their goals for serving sustainable food. They should also develop an action plan to take the next two steps of creating sustainability training for other chefs/ UDS staff and creating some sustainable recipes for people to taste (figure2). To do this, they would need to weigh the pros and cons of serving different kinds of sustainable fish/seafood. Cost, taste, and appeal would be important to weigh against the level of sustainability the fish/seafood offers. They will need to discuss the use of the resources our group recommended for training and discuss becoming a member of a sustainable chef group, such as Chefs Collaborative, to help stay up to date and focused on new developments in sustainable cooking. After compiling some recipes to try, they should also discuss the next step of surveying or feasibility studies on sustainable fish and seafood recipes. They need to decide how they might go about assessing interest levels of their clients (students, staff, and others eating at UDS locations), most likely working with ARAMARK (in action #4) to participate in special events or tastings to assess acceptance, taste, and interest. The pilot scale survey (section 7 of packet) should be used as a starting point for an intern or as an idea for a more in-depth questionnaire. Action #3- ARAMARK integrating sustainable seafood into its marketing and exposure to sustainability through education and events over the next 2 years. Education and exposure to fish/seafood on and around campus is a very important component of this project. We suggest focusing the message on two issues: health benefits and sustainability. For this to happen, ARAMARK needs to contact Boynton Health Services in pursuit of working together to campaign for sustainable fish/seafood by promoting its health benefits. ARAMARK would also need to start working the idea of sustainable seafood into the minds of students, staff and other customers by featuring such an item at events focused around healthy eating or sustainability. 18

20 Here, ARAMARK s chef and Sustainability Coordinator could work with the actual seafood producers, an intern with the Sustainability Studies Minor, and/or with the sustainability working group to get sustainable fish/seafood into existing recurring events like Farmstead, Eat Well Live Well, The Guest Chef program, and specialty cafeteria taste tests (Figure 2). The intern could help set up and prepare for the events, collaborate with the new sustainability chef to choose items to feature, and help contact and set up featured producers for the event (example: get a local sustainable seafood producer like Star Prairie Trout Farm to Eat Well Live Well). The second part of this education and marketing action step happens once some kind of sustainable fish/seafood is actually on the menu, even if it is being offered rarely. ARAMARK should to work with an intern as well, as the UDS Green Team, to "label" and give information on the product once it is available for people to order. We suspect it to be similar to how the Green Team communicated information for the Organics Composting Program. This included posters and notes explaining "this cup can be composted" (in the same way they could have informational posters with notes next to the product saying "this product is from, sustainably produced.") This "labeling" is necessary for the project s success and should be started as soon as sustainable seafood options are being tested out, and ready before adding one or more options to the regular menu, which we would hope to be by the end of Spring Action #4- ARAMARK develop steps to, and finally making sustainable fish/seafood a regular part of the UDS menu. The first step to getting sustainable fish/seafood on the regular menu will be for ARAMARK to contact the sources we recommended for sustainable and locally produced fish as soon as they are ready to move forward by featuring a product at an event or as a specialty menu item in dining halls/ campus restaurants such as the Bistro. This will start the process moving forward, and should be done in the next couple of months. The second thing ARAMARK needs to do is to develop a working group comprised of students, chefs, green team members, and possible interns. This group can work towards getting sustainable seafood on the menu and help to monitor progress. We hope this could be started as soon as possible after the packet is given to ARAMARK, and hopefully have something running by mid Fall 09 (Figure 2). 19

21 The actual incorporation of the sustainable fish/seafood can start small, as noted in the marketing action (step #3) with products at events to gauge interest (like at Farmstand and Eat Well, Live Well). At the same time, the packet of information we provide (as discussed in action step #1) will provide valuable knowledge and resources that can be used to conduct further research on the sources of their seafood products. ARAMARK will need to contact Sysco to find the actual sources, and to look for any life cycle available assessments the sustainability of products or at least sustainability assessments from eco-label organizations. This research could be done by an intern working with ARAMARK or members of the working group and should be done by spring 2010 (figure 2). This step would lead ARAMARK in the direction of setting a level of acceptable sustainability fish and seafood products. After the sustainability assessment is completed, ARAMARK should work towards making changes within its regular menu. This involves phasing out or replacing the most unsustainable fish/seafood, while keeping or increasing the quantity of those found to be the most sustainable. The best way to maximize the amount of sustainable seafood on the regular menu, is to serve a lower cost sustainable item, such as barramundi or tilapia, while also incorporating something like locally farmed trout into places like The Bistro and as a rare menu item (like the once-a-month salmon fillet). ARAMARK in partner with the working group can help assess and review the sustainability of the "sustainable fish/seafood" options into the future, always working toward greater sustainability, and maintaining the marketing program and student interest levels. To get new sustainable fish/seafood items, ARARMARK needs to go through Sysco, either by getting a variance through its supply chain or by Sysco inspecting the candidate production facility and adding the producer as a supplier through Sysco (figure 1). 5.2 Incorporation of Design Elements of a Resilient System The first design element incorporated into our action plan is diversity; our plan focuses on the preservation of biological and ecological diversity of marine environments and providing a variety of sustainable options to University Dining Services. Our action plan promotes the use of fish that come from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Maintaining biological diversity in marine environments is important for the health and function of the entire ecosystem; if fishing puts too much pressure on a certain species or location, the ecosystem services associated with 20

22 that location could be altered or lost. For this reason, we need to consume seafood from sources that do not put too much pressure on a fishery and protect species diversity. Also, our action plan includes the use of local aquaculture sources, which would promote social and economic diversity locally. Rather than only purchasing seafood from distant suppliers, ARAMARK and Sysco could purchase some local seafood and in turn provide jobs and economic benefits to Minnesota businesses (Walker and Salt, 2006:145). Another design element that is important to a resilient system is having tight feedbacks. Because of the interconnected nature of ARAMARK, UDS, Sysco, consumers, and the University of Minnesota, there are many opportunities to educate everyone involved about sustainable seafood and gain valuable feedback from those who purchase, cook, and eat fish. Feedback can reinforce and strengthen changes and decisions made by ARAMARK and UDS and lead to the long-term success of the long term implementation of sustainable seafood in our dining establishments (Walker and Salt, 2006:146). Also incorporated into all stages of our action plan is the innovation design element. Innovation is an important part of the actions that UDS and ARAMARK will take, as this is an opportunity for the University to model for other large universities that may be interested in using sustainable seafood sources on campus. Promoting the health benefits and highlighting the sustainable aspects of new seafood sources through some kind of marketing is another area where the University of Minnesota has great potential to be a leader. There are opportunities for creative innovations by the chefs and employees of UDS as recipes, as preparation and serving methods change (Walker and Salt, 147). By implementing this action plan, we believe that UDS and ARAMARK will not only further their own sustainability efforts, but help to lead the way in encourage other schools to reevaluate their seafood sources within the framework of sustainability. 21

23 6. References Checkland, P.B. & Poulter, J. (2006) Learning for Action: A short definitive account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for Practitioners, teachers and Students. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, Chefs Collaborative. Seafood Solutions: A Chef s Guide to Sourcing Sustainable Seafood Available from Accessed 15 April Dankel, Dorothy J., Skagen, Dankert W., and Ulltang, Øyvind. Fisheries management practice: review of 13 commercially imported fish stocks. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Vol. 18 No. 2 May Pg FishChoice.com. Fishchoice.com, Environmental Solutions for Seafood Buyers Accessed 10 April Gladyshev, Michail I. et al Benefit-risk ratio of food fish intake as the source of essential fatty acids vs. heavy metals: A case study of Siberian grayling from the Yenisei River. Food Chemistry Vol. 115 No. 2: Pg Greening Princeton: Sustainable Seafood. Princeton University, June Available from Accessed 20 April Hanley, Rachael. Good Catch: UMass Leads in Sustainable Seafood Effort. UMass Dining Services Available from Accessed 18 April Marshall, J. Landlords, leaseholders & sweat equity: changing property regimes in aquaculture. Department of Agricultural Economics, McGill University. Elsevier Science Ltd Accessed 1 June Available from 2&_user=616288&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C &_ve rsion=1&_urlversion=0&_userid=616288&md5=31bdc9b9f0a1f6def3d848c87e565ccf. Office of Sustainability. Sustainable Seafood Comes to Campus. South Bend, Indiana: University of Notre Dame,16 December Available from sustainable-seafood-comes-to-campus. Accessed 12 April Rodriguez, Chana. Stanford Seafood Sustainability Week, November Stanford Dining, Available from Accessed 20 April Roheim, Cathy A. URI Sustainable Seafood Initiative. URI Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Undated. Available from Accessed 18 April