Barton Seaver: Visionary of Sustainability (Part 2)
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | 2 Comments
Tracking Barton’s career as a chef and restaurateur in Part 1 of this story helped us understand how his views of sustainability have evolved to the present. During SOP’s interview with head chef and owner of Blue Ridge Restaurant in DC, he dropped a couple insights into how we as consumers can engage in the sustainable seafood movement.
Barton confirms that sustainability as a concept is quite well progressed. But, he concedes, as a society we do not know what our goal is for sustainability: “we haven’t figured out what the deliverable is yet.” The tipping point where sustainable seafood becomes second nature in our society and business world “will not be reached until there is a concise message.”
In working toward the tipping point and the elusive goal of sustainability, Barton says we need to change what makes us unsustainable. His suggestion is simple: eat less protein and more vegetables. If everyone changed the portion size of their seafood, significant pressure would be taken off our fish stocks. For example, SOP pleads for you to never participate in another all-you-can-eat shrimp event.
Barton sees the sustainability battle being won at Wal-Mart and other big retailers around the world. Look around the seafood section every so often when you visit the grocery store. If you have not already, you will start to see signs that sustainable seafood is creeping its way into mainstream society.
SOP hopes we all become more conscious of how our behavior affects the health of our oceans and fish. Soon enough as a society we will reach that tipping point, and the end goal of sustainability will be clear.
Tags: Barton Seaver > Blue Ridge Restaurant > chef > fish > fish stock > ocean > restaurant > retailer > seafood > sustainable > tipping point > Wal-Mart
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March 2nd, 2010 @ 11:14 PM
Great series, Brad. I like Barton’s sensible approach. Portion size and especially food waste are the great overlooked factors in nearly all the discussions of “greenhouse gas emissions” etc. If we all just eliminated or reduced our food waste, we’d make a huge difference.
March 3rd, 2010 @ 7:39 PM
Thanks, Jacqueline! Well said.