fishery

Friday Faves No. 107

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Lobster Rolls Take London As all New Englanders know, the lobster roll is the best thing to happen to summer since ice cream. How did this possibly take so long to jump the pond? (Guardian)

We told you beer was good for you, and so is the waste from brewing: Spanish scientists have developed a new biomaterial from waste discarded after beer brewing which can be used to regenerate human bones.  (Drinks Business)

How could we not have a world cup story? Pass the ketchup: World Cup 2014 players dip into favourite foods England has tomato sauce to hand while pasta is Italy's preferred fuel before matches, says their team nutritionist (Guardian)

Walmart China Is Substantially Upping Its Food Safety Game In light of rampant food fraud in China, the multinational giant is throwing $48.2 million at the problem. Says a Walmart rep: “We see this as our future home market." (First We Feast)

Yes, you will have to get your own idea if you wan to be different. Craft-beer: One strategy won’t fit all shows why you shouldn't only look at your competitors when you need brand inspiration (Drinks Business)

Goats In The City? Making A Case For Detroit's Munching Mowers (NPR)

This story was everywhere last week, but just in case you missed it: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK It's a situation you really should know about. "I thought I was going to die," said Vuthy, a former monk from Cambodia who was sold from captain to captain. "They kept me chained up, they didn't care about me or give me any food … They sold us like animals, but we are not animals – we are human beings." (Guardian)

Friday Faves No. 100

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Kenzo Creates Virtual Aquarium Pop-Up In Paris To Raise Awareness Of Overfishing  (Design Taxi)

A Cold One For Everyone: Craft Beer Sales Surged In 2013 (NPR)

Scotland adds sake to its brewing line up. It would be a shame to send it all for export before exploring just how well sake can pair with Scottish meats and seafood. (BBC)

OMG! The question occupying marketers everywhere — what are Milennials eating and drinking? (Bon Appetit)

Carp(e) Diem: Kentucky Sends Invasive Fish To China (NPR)

Wackaging: do we want our food to talk back? You can blame Americans for increasing casualization, but twee is Brit-made (Guardian)

As Commodity Farmers Shift Course, a Library to Collect Their Stories (Civil Eats)

This isn't the first Lego "food" we've covered, but this one comes in a kit, so you can make yourself a KitKat, or maybe a dinosaur if that's more to your liking. (Design Taxi)

Sing Along Snacks: At The Codfish Ball

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

It's time for the Boston Seafood Show again (now called Seafood Expo North America). Shirley Temple sends us off in style with At the Codfish Ball.

See you there! This year we're moderating a panel on Sunday from 3:30 - 5 pm: Putting the “Food” back in Seafood – lessons learned from sustainable food systems, featuring Michael Dimin, Founder of Sea to Table, Louisa Kasdon, CEO & Founder of Let’s Talk About Food, and Joshua Brau, Director of Food With Integrity Program at Chipotle. Bring your questions.

"Come along and follow me
To the bottom of the sea
We'll join in the Jamboree
At the Codfish ball

Lobsters dancing in a row
Shuffle off to Buffalo
Jelly fish sway to and fro
At the Codfish ball

Finn-an-haddie leads the eel
Thought an Irish reel
The Catfish is a dancing man
But he can't can-can like a sardine can"

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 86

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • Got high temperatures and constant sunlight? Start a roof-top algae farm like these in Bnagkok that grow "super food" spirulina (above). EnerGaia is the company that's making it happen, and they want to feed you their vitamin and protein-rich brew in everything from smoothies to pasta. (Design Boom)
  • Wine under attack in France? What's the world coming to? Alas, the tone of a new campaign to tax wine as a health risk sounds awfully American. “Gastronomy, art de vivre, wine in moderation – this is still the majority of the French, but there is a real minority that wants to make illegal everything that could possibly be harmful." Sigh. (Wine Spectator)
  • The news that people in the seafood industry have known for years is hopefully coming into the mainstream: farmed salmon is a lot better than it used to be and not every producer is the same. The article doesn't get us all the way there, but it's a step in the right direction. Even Seafood Watch can admit: “Our understanding of the science has changed, and production practices have changed....Some of the older concerns are less of a concern.” (Washington Post)
  • From Senegal to the American South: a Charleston chef traces the roots of his favorite Southern dishes back to West Africa. "'The contributions of Africa to beloved dishes like gumbo, jambalaya and collard greens are monumental,' he says. They are dishes born of the terrible legacy of slavery that, as he puts it, "need to find their true voices again." (Food & Wine)

 

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 75

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • Draught and flood-resistant gorilla beans (above) are helping fight malnutrition in central Africa. "Protein-rich gorilla beans have been bred to target malnutrition in DRC's North and South Kivu provinces. They contain up to double the iron and 70% more zinc than regular beans, and are often used as a meat substitute. Much of the scientific research into the purple and white kidney-shaped pulses, which have been produced without genetic modification, has been conducted by African research institutions" (The Guardian)
  • Rising temperatures are throwing food production in jeopardy, especially in the western US, and we're not doing enough to adapt, says an OpEd on Our Coming Food Crisis. "Last year some farmers made more from insurance payments than from selling their products, meaning we are dangerously close to subsidizing farmers for not adapting to changing climate conditions." Maybe we should be looking at Gorilla Beans too. (New York Times)
  • The Distraction of Data: How Brand Research Misses the Real Reasons Why People Buy "The evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller believes that humans display brands like proud peacocks exhibit their tail feathers, as “fitness indicators” that advertise their potential as mates....Humans also advertise their “fitness” to our fellow kind. The brands we choose are symbols that signify traits that mark our success and worth in the pecking order." (Fast Company)
  • We love collective action: A new seafood industry coalition for sustainability has formed called Sea Pact, made up of member companies Albion Fisheries, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Ipswich Shellfish Group, Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood and Seattle Fish Co. "The coalition will pool resources to promote fisheries and aquaculture improvements, in an effort to support more environmentally-friendly fishing and seafood farming." (Seafood Source)
  • In the shadow of the world's tallest building, Dubai has a farmers market. "A whopping 4000 people attended the first market. 'People were unbelievably grateful...Local produce just was not available to the common man.'” (Modern Farmer)
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Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 72

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weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • Amelie meets butter (above) in one of the coolest cooking commercials we've ever seen.
  • Gin is at risk: British gin distillers could be facing a production crisis as a deadly fungus rips through Scottish junipers, leaving the berries “in serious trouble.”
  • A new culprit in cod decline? "Scientists believe they have evidence global warming may hold a clue in the mystery of why, despite 20 years of increasingly harsh fishery regulations, cod hasn't rebounded. The species of zooplankton that is one of the preferred foods of larval cod simply can't take the heat."
  • And one from the advertising vaults: If you don't have cutting-edge food photography, there's always naked ladies, like this one for Pol pasta in 1905.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 68

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

 

  • Newcastle Libraries has posted a cache of UK historical images, like the fishing photos above, to Flickr. Pictured above: At left, a studio portrait of a Fisherman from Cullercoats taken c.1890. The man is wearing a waterproof coat souwester and cork life-jacket. At right, an 1897 studio portrait of Maggie Brown a Fishwife from Cullercoats. Maggie Brown is wearing her 'best' clothes which include a printed cotton or silk blouse with matching apron. A silk square is worn to fill the neckline of her blouse.
  • Some forgotten foods of the UK (from cookies to sheep) are making a come back with help from Slow Food UK's Chefs Alliance. Says Carina Contini, of Centotre in Edinburgh: “The special ingredient is always the story. Understanding where ingredients come from and how they got there allows us to connect with our environment and food chain and we love sharing this knowledge with our customers.” 
  • On U.S. farms, women are taking the reins says a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Many are career-changers looking for a different kind of life and a way to make a difference. “We are seeing more beginning farmers coming in and I think the trend is going to continue. Women are [already] outnumbering men in owning smaller farms.”
  • Detroit's Urban Agriculture Ordinance that passed on April 15 has opened the city for urban aquaponics. Two new facilities are underway for tilapia, catfish and blue gill — although the finer points of regulation still have to be worked out. "The city is in the process of coming up with a process,” for approving fish farms, says Kathryn Underwood of the City Planning Commission. “We don't even have all of the forms quite in place yet for all of things that need to happen. We're riding a bike and building it at the same time.”

 

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 61

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

What's old is new again — Fin de siècle theme edition!

  • You can pick an apple of a city tree! Seattle is building the country's first permaculture food forest. The city’s new park will be filled with edible plants, and everything from pears to herbs will be free for the taking. "People worried, ‘What if someone comes and takes all the blueberries?’ That could very well happen, but maybe someone needed those blueberries. We look at it this way—if we have none at the end of blueberry season, then it means we’re successful.”
  • Kids are eating food worth eating! Local seafood has started to move boat to school in Oregon. "Right now, Sobell said, grants are key to making more local food available to schools. But even if they run out, she said she hopes the schools will keep their relationships with producers and incorporate some local food purchases into their budgets. 'This kicks it off and gives people new connections," she said. "Portland schools can still serve local, natural beef even if it's only once in awhile.'"
  • Glamorous ladies of the evening ride lobster-driven stove chariots! Well, in our dreams and in the fabulous image above from Retronaut they do.
  • If you've ever wanted to own a piece of French hospitality history, now is your chance. Legendary Parisian Hôtel de Crillon to Auction 3,500 Items "So what might you pick up? How about a bar created by César in 1982 (valued up to €12,000 [$15,424]) or a Philippe Starck for Baccarat “Dark Super” console table from the restaurant Les Ambassadeurs  (€15,000)[$19,280]?  Trop cher? Then perhaps a Christofle mahogany and silver-plate dessert trolley (€3,000 to €4,000 [$3,856 to $5,141]), a molded crystal and silver plated Lalique light fixture (€3,000 to €4,000 [$3,856 to $5,141]) or a large wood veneer, gilt bronze and marquetry Louis XVI–style desk from the lobby (€300 to €400 [$386 to $514]) would be just the thing."
  • And the finale to our edition, the excellent Portlandia Season Two anthem, The Dreams of the 1890's Are alive in Portland (video).

 

Go forth, drink bitters and ferment something!

Sing Along Snacks: Aberdeen Marine Lab

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

We're on a Scots-themed groove this week getting ready for our trip to Scotland with Rotifer's song Aberdeen Marine Lab.

"He's coming with my chips
He's battered and he's fried
I've slapped him on a plate
He's got nowhere to hide
They plucked him from the deep
They pulled him from the sea
I put him in a bag
And brought him home with me"

 


 

Sing Along Snacks: Fish in the Jailhouse Tonight

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

Tom Waits sings about serving Fish in the Jailhouse Tonight.

"corvina opal eye hammerhead shark
steelhead salmon or a mud bank carp
sand me one side dull
whittle the other side sharp
by Saturday night I'll be in central park

they're serving fish in the jailhouse tonight, oh boy
They're serving fish in the jailhouse tonight"

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 50

 weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • We found ourselves on a bit of a theme this week with stories from Scotland, and this little gem of a video sealed the deal. Above is a fine example of what the internet was really meant for — a goofy song featured animated Scotch Eggs.
  • It's a little geeky but a cool development for fisheries: the James Dyson Award goes to a new kind of net called a SafetyNet (link to a video that explains it all to you). "The goal of the SafetyNet system is to make commercial fishing more sustainable by significantly decreasing the numbers of non-target and juvenile fish caught during the trawling process."
  • And now to mix it up, an only-in-New York story of the The Lox Sherpa of Russ & Daughters, famous smoked fish emporium of the Lower East Side. "After growing up on a diet of flour paste, cheese soup and butter tea, Mr. Sherpa now subsists on caviar and pickled herring and wild Baltic salmon. Instead of trekking in flip-flops, he hops the F train to work (when it’s running), and he prefers coffee to butter tea. “Forget about it,” he said. “You have to start your day with coffee in this city.”'

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 46

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

  • Have you visited us on Pinterest yet? A sample of some of our favorite images of the week, above.
  • As Supermarkets Spread in Africa, Some Farmers Find It Hard to Compete. "Supermarket chains are rapidly expanding all over Africa. And they're not just changing the way people shop -- they're transforming the way food is produced in a region where agriculture provides almost 60 percent of all jobs. 'The main problem of the small farmer is market access...How will they put (their goods) into the marketplace?' As supermarkets spread, they could lift millions of small farmers out of poverty by buying from them, or competition from big commercial farms could ruin them."
  • More college grads are heading to the farm."For decades, the number of farmers has been shrinking as a share of the population, and agriculture has often been seen as a backbreaking profession with little prestige. But the last Agricultural Census in 2007 showed a 4 percent increase in the number of farms, the first increase since 1920, and some college graduates are joining in the return to the land."

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 45

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

  • Shining light of the urban food movement Growing Power has announced a $5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to fund “community food centers” aimed at relieving hunger in five of the nation’s poorest areas: Detroit; New Orleans; Forest City, Ark.; Shelby, Miss.; and Taos, N.M. As Grist reported: "Growing Power’s urban projects are frequently the subject of news reports, but the rural ones are rarely described. In the case of the Mississippi Delta, for instance, Allen says, 'Most of the land has gone over to industrial agriculture. It’s devastated those towns, because most of the people used to have their own farms.' Now, he says the area is plagued by drugs, much in the way many urban areas are. And that’s all the more reason why Growing Power’s model can make a difference."
  • Fishing in New England is declared a disaster: “Despite fishermen’s adherence to catch limits over the past few years, recent data shows that several key fish stocks are not rebuilding.... Low levels of these stocks are causing a significant loss of access to fishery ­resources with anticipated revenue declines that will greatly affect the commercial fishery.”


Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 40

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • August 15 marked what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. PBS Digital Studios honored her with a Keep on Cooking remix video. Bon Appétit!
  • There is still time for a good summer read. Check out the Grist food reading list for some tasty ideas!
  • Finally a cell phone policy that pays off. EVA Restaurant in LA explores giving diners a discount if they turn over the phone for the duration of the meal. 
  • The Diawa House takes urban gardening to a new level. The agri-cube can grow 10,000 portions of vegetables per year in a hydroponic unit the fits into the size of a parking space.  Now if they could just incorporate a vending machine component.

 

 

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 39

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

  • Spirits from Asia, absinthe, cocktails on tap (right) and other bar trends.
  • The age-old problem of how to carry your food and drink at a party and shake hands has now been solved by the GoPlate.

 

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 35

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

  • In the spirit of pre-marinating, you can watch a clam salt itself in what might be one of the strangest youtube videos ever. (What would a Friday the 13th edition be without something weird?)
  • A new resource for designing while hungry — Bacon Ipsum, filler text for your meatiest projects.


Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 34

 weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • Some of our favorite images from Pinterest this week, above. Come on by.
  • "Smart aquaponics" in Oakland, California at Kijani Grows is using tech in new ways: "Gardens that can communicate for themselves using the internet can lead to exchanging of ideas in ways that were not possible before. I can test, for instance, whether the same tomato grows better in Oakland or the Sahara Desert given the same conditions. Then I can share the same information with farmers in Iceland and China.”
  • The New York Times OpEd Dirtying Up Our Diets argues that getting natural with microorganisms and unsanitized food might be just what the doctor ordered: "As we move deeper into a “postmodern” era of squeaky-clean food and hand sanitizers at every turn, we should probably hug our local farmers’ markets a little tighter. They may represent our only connection with some “old friends” we cannot afford to ignore."
  • The title might be inflammatory, but soem interesting points are raised in the recent Salon article Eating Local Hurts the Planet. How your food is produced really, really matters. Shipping is just the part of the food system that we can see. "Not surprisingly, it turns out that food miles can only be taken at face value in the case of identical items produced simultaneously in the exact same physical conditions but in different locations — in other words, if everything else is equal, which is obviously never the case in the real world."
  • Chef Marcus Samuelsson talks about his memoir Yes, Chef and his life in the kitchen on the radio show Fresh Air (audio link).

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 31

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

  • An amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill would make commercial fishermen eligible to qualify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Services Administration (FSA) Farm Operating Loan Program. The proposed amendment includes “commercial fishermen” within the definitions of “farmer” and “farming.”
  • Small-Scale Slaughterhouses Aim To Put The 'Local' Back In Local Meat including new facilities owned by a co-op of farmers or ranchers. The whole idea is to have quality control and humane processing for local cattle, hogs, sheep and goats that provides consumers in the state with [the] locally produced products they are demanding. Having a producer-owned plan will help keep dollars, ranchers and farmers in our communities."
  • We're fans of the Michael Pollan approach that if a food has health claims tacked on it, it isn't real food, but big companies like Nestle are fighting that. "The unit is due to work closely with the Nestle Health Science company and research institute set up last year that is pushing a drive into medical foods at a time of growing overlap between "Big Pharma" and "Big Food" as many drug companies are investing in non-prescription products including nutrition."
  • While not a strictly food news item, our minds are reeling with the possibilities of showing consumers where their food comes from with augmented reality systems that can make print look like Harry Potter's newspaper.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 30

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

  • Above, a few of our favorite pins of the week on Pinterest. If you haven't been by to visit us there yet, you're missing out on the fun.

  • Historical chickens: To accompany their story on the history of the chicken as food, Smithsonian magazine dressed up a few birds (in their ready to roast state) as historical figures. via foodiggity

  • If you're in the market for something even stranger, Brazilian juice maker Camp Nectar embarked on a two year stunt to highlight that their juice is all natural — growing fruit in the shape of a juice box. Check out the video. via psfk

Polish Up Your Marketing — a new column for SEA

This week kicked off a new column on branding and marketing for SEA, Seafood Experience Australia.

Polish up your Marketing

May 2 | Posted by sea |

Today we introduce a new advice column for sustainability-minded seafood entrepreneurs and seafood professionals who are seeking answers to questions about product branding, marketing, public relations, and more.

The column’s California-based authors, Alisha Lumea and Polly Legendre together possess over 30 years of experience as entrepreneurs, activists and chefs to promote sustainable food systems.

In the column, we’ll tackle questions and concerns such as:

  • What are the best ways to communicate with my customers?
  • What does my web site need to do for me?
  • I’d love to get some press, but how do I put together a press kit? Do I even need a press kit? What’s a press release supposed to say anyway?
  • My sales materials aren’t working — help!

The goal is to make this column a place to get answers, so feel free to bring us your questions and your conundrums. Tell us a little about yourself, your business and where you are.

Up today — customized communications for individual customer groups.  We talk about customers to describe multiple stops on the value chain, but to connect with the customer, you have to understand the needs of who you’re talking to.

Tell the story to suit the audience

More often than not, seafood producers focus their attention on industry-driven information —  the latest technology used, updated hygiene practices, and the like. While this is all relevant and interesting information to aquaculture professionals and fishmongers, it is not the news that end-user customers find compelling. Let’s be honest, the latest fish pump technology is not very appetizing, and ultimately, you’re selling food.

We have to be able to adapt the message to the audience so we’re giving them information they can use. You’re not changing the story, but you are changing the framing.

Distributor purchasing Distributors need information that will allow their purchasing department to decide that your fish is the best bet for quality, shelf-life and that it will sell itself, not clog up the warehouse and sit there.  This is a very important component of selling your fish, but it’s just the first step.

Distributor sales teams The distributor sales team will need information that allows them to quickly grasp multiple facets of your product to make it relevant to their chefs, all on a three minute phone call. They are looking for the edge and what’s new and exciting to help them find the chef “fit.” Remember, these sales teams are managing hundreds of individual chefs and restaurants each day! If you give them what they need, they will talk up your products all day long.

Foodservice & retailers Chefs, waiters, hotels and banquet managers, not to mention retailers, need a slightly different set of information.  They are the front lines of service, telling your products story to the person who will be eating it. This version needs to be much more personal and appetizing.  For people to get excited about eating your fish, they need to feel good about you and your farm. When diners eat in a restaurant, they are putting their trust in the establishment and generally believe that the chef, waiters and counter staff are well informed about the products they are serving. If you supply restaurants and retailers with the kind of information they need to tempt their customers, they’ll push your products for you.

In future columns we will dive into each of these groups, head first and discuss relevant marketing angles (messaging, design, social media, PR and more) that will allow your seafood product to successfully navigate this obstacle course, coming out the other side with the kind of good stories that help make good sales.

 

About Polly & Alisha’s company: Polish Partnerships

www.polishpartnerships.com

Polish is a branding and communications company for the new gastroconomy. By creating strong partnerships with food and beverage producers, hospitality groups and industry innovators, we go the extra distance, transforming hopes, dreams and expectations into tangible, sustainable and polished realities.