GREEN CHEFS, BLUE OCEAN

Because 70% of the revenue generated by seafood sales in the United States occurs in restaurants and catering services, we believe working with established culinary professionals and engaging the emerging talents in US culinary schools can significantly affect demand. Green Chefs, Blue Ocean strives to endow the next generation of great chefs with the skills, knowledge, and inspiration to practice seafood sustainability and promote ocean conservation.

Chefs are the gatekeepers of the seafood industry. They command a unique influence over the purchase, trade and consumption of seafood. The flow of seafood sustainability information to chefs, while on the rise, isn’t powerful enough. The lack of useful information and tools leads to confusion and missed opportunities to build consumer awareness – all at the cost of declining fisheries.

Green Chefs, Blue Ocean provides a missing link in current sustainable seafood education efforts. In partnership with Chefs Collaborative and our 15-member Advisory Board, Blue Ocean is designing an interactive online curriculum about seafood sustainability for chefs and culinary students. The curriculum and other resources can be found on our Green Chefs, Blue Ocean website at OceanFriendlyChefs.org (April 2009).

Green Chefs, Blue Ocean empowers a new generation of chefs with skills and insight to source sustainable seafood and shift seafood sustainability from consideration simply as an environmental concern to a mainstream culinary concept. Our curriculum will cover all facets of seafood sustainability including: fisheries and aquaculture, global supply and demand, and the challenges of purchasing and sourcing ocean-friendly seafood. Practical components will include: current “best” seafood choices; fresh vs. frozen; menu design; marketing sustainability; staff training; and consumer awareness.

Our online course overcomes the limitations of a traditional classroom and allows immediate access to current and cutting-edge information on. Coupled with a complementary website, Green Chefs, Blue Ocean will be a critical resource for chefs and chefs-in-training.