Making Waves: The Save Seafood Tour October 5, 2005

The Save Seafood Tour, a partnership between Bon Appetit Management Company and the Monterey Bay Aquarium?s Seafood Watch Program, is coming to St. Olaf College for a presentation on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. The purpose of the tour is to provide information about the endangered state of our oceans, the impact of over-fishing on the global environment, and to teach consumers about sustainable seafood choices.

?We?ve found that consumers are eager to learn more but don?t know where to turn for more information,? said Helene S. York, Director of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation and one of the speakers. ?Everyone wants to protect the environment and eat healthy food. We try to bring those concerns together in one evening.? The presentation will feature a 30 minute film, Can the Oceans Keep up with the Hunt?, as well as a talk by Jennifer Dianto, Senior Program Manager for Seafood Watch, a division of the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Following a Q&A period, Bon Appetit will provide a dessert reception prepared with local, sustainable food products.

As the global population has increased and more people have become aware of fish as a healthy source of protein, demand has grown dramatically. Worldwide seafood demand has increased from 45 million metric tons in 1973 to more than 91 million metric tons in 1997. Increased consumption of fish protein has placed enormous stress on our oceans, lakes and streams. Globally seafood is being harvested at an unsustainable rate using practices that severely damage the environment and compromise the quality of the seafood available for us to eat. The presentation focuses on the emerging science behind Seafood Watch?s consumer purchasing guidelines and is generously funded, in part, by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

?Bon Appétit Management Company has used the Seafood Watch science-based standards to change its company-wide purchasing practices and to educate its workforce about sustainable seafood,? said St. Olaf executive chef Peter Abrahamson. ?The next step is to educate consumers. Bringing the Save Seafood Tour to St. Olaf is part of our commitment to protect future supplies of healthy food by teaching our guests about the global issues so they can make informed decisions about seafood.? Participants will emerge from this event with new knowledge about the issues and with an activist kit to spread the word about sustainable seafood.

The presentation will be held between 7:00 PM ? 9:00 PM, Wednesday, October 5, 2005, at The Lion?s Pause, Mane Stage. It is free and open to the public. No advance registration is required.