Showing posts tagged as "seafood watch"
Practicing What We Preach: Recycling at Our Annual Cooking for Solutions Event
The Cooking for Solutions Gala is a remarkable event that takes place each May. In one evening dozens of restaurants and wineries set up stations throughout the Aquarium and over 2,800 epicureans stroll throughout the galleries sampling outstanding wines, seafood and other fine fare. While all this activity goes on inside the building, others are behind the scenes carrying out a seemingly impossible mission—to eliminate virtually all refuse from this event.
The whole idea of Cooking for Solutions is to highlight sustainable agriculture and sustainable seafood—helping us all learn how to make good food choices that contribute to healthy land and healthy oceans. Yet it might seem a little incongruous that thousands of disposable plates, cups and utensils are used in a celebration of sustainability. Not so with Cooking for Solutions. Each guest is given a wine glass and wooden tray (reusable/recyclable) to hold their food and wine samples. Compostable plates are used for some food samples. Disposable cups are made from vegetable-based materials instead of plastic, and are also compostable. Even spoons, forks and napkins are manufactured from compostable material.
Behind the scenes a dedicated crew of sorters is standing by in the Aquarium’s corporation yard. As trash receptacles are emptied inside the building the bags are brought outside for the sorting crew to examine. They quickly separate out any items that may not be compostable and send the rest on to a special bin that has been brought in for the event. Wine bottles are all recycled. The final result: from hundreds of pounds of refuse, only a few pounds actually wind up in the landfill. All the rest goes to compost or recycling.
In a world where many resources are increasingly scarce, the old saying, “Waste not want not” takes on a new meaning. If we learn to reduce our waste stream, and make smart use of resources and reuse/recycle where possible, we may avoid wanting for those resources in the future. The Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, and our support of sustainable agriculture, are all about the wise use of our land and sea resources so we will never want for food. That’s the solution we’re cooking up and it’s a great recipe for a future we can all savor.
View photos of our Gala event.
Learn more about Seafood Watch.
—Jim Covel, Senior Manager of Guest Experience Training & Interpretation
Did you know that Carla Hall wants to have breakfast with you? We still have tickets for this and other events at Cooking for Solutions, May 17-19!
Entered yet? In our “Gala Giveaway” sweeps, you could win two tickets to the Cooking for Solutions culinary celebration May 17! Weekly prizes, too…
Great news! The latest round of Seafood Watch updates includes more new and revised recommendations than ever before—everything from wild-caught clams, to oysters, Atlantic flatfish and farmed tilapia. We’re most excited about the “upgrading” of several species from “Avoid” to “Good Alternative,” which indicates positive changes for fisheries management.
Our mobile site is updated and better than ever!
Can you find her? One of the Chinook salmon in the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit is undergoing the typical changes that precede spawning. These fish live to about about four years old and display these changes, such as the traditional hooked jaw, at the end of their lifespan.
Learn more about Chinook salmon from the California Department of Fish and Game and our Seafood Watch program.
Did you know that wild-caught sardines from the U.S. are a Seafood Watch “Best Choice?” Try them grilled with salsa verde, from Chris Cosentino, executive chef of Incanto, San Francisco, and co-founder of Boccalone, San Francisco, and Pigg, Los Angeles. Get the recipe.
Have you updated your Seafood Watch app for iPhone or Android? Search is now much more intuitive. Get or update the app, and let us know what you think!
