The Sounding Line
The Sounding Line
Local Seafood and the Supply Chain
Today, you'll get to hear from Andrea O'Donnell, Sustainability Coordinator at Ipswich Shellfish Group. And Doug Winslow, Sodexo Executive Chef at the University of Maine Farmington.
Sophie Scott (Host) is the Sustainable Seafood Project Manager at GMRI where she works to get more local and responsibly harvested seafood into the marketplace. The Northeast region has an abundance of well-managed and sustainable fisheries but local seafood must compete in an increasingly global marketplace, and one in which 90% of the seafood we eat in this country is imported. Through the Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested program, GMRI developed a place-based eco-label that helps seafood processors and dealers around the region connect and help their customers prioritize and source local seafood. One such partnership is between Ipswich shellfish group and the food service management company Sodexo.
Host:
Sophie Scott, Sustainable Seafood Project Manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Guests:
Andrea O’Donnell, Sustainability Coordinator at Ipswich Shellfish Group
Doug Winslow, Executive Chef at the University of Maine Farmington
You're listening to the sounding line from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Sophie Scott:I'm Sophie Scott, sustainable seafood project manager at GMRI. Thanks for joining us. I'm part of the Sustainable seafood team at GMRI, where we work to get more of our local and responsibly harvested seafood into the marketplace. We have an abundance of well managed and sustainable fisheries in our region. But our local seafood must compete in an increasingly global marketplace, and one in which 90% of the seafood we eat in this country is imported. Through our Gulf of Maine responsibly harvested program, which is our place based eco label. We connect with seafood processors and dealers around the region, who in turn help their customers prioritize and source local seafood. One such partnership is between Ipswich shellfish group and the food service management company Sodexo. Today, you'll get to hear from Andrea O'Donnell, sustainability coordinator at Ipswich shellfish group. And Doug Winslow Sodexo, Executive Chef at the University of Maine Farmington.
Andrea ODonnell:The idea for me that makes just even the fact that we're talking about local and it's becoming such a common thing that it is what a lot of folks going into a grocery store, it really is a buzzword, and I think it's not just oh, I'm looking for the word organic, and I don't really know what it means local is something that really can, can truly, you know, come back to basics. And people really have a better idea of where their food is coming from the processes going into it. And I think something like local seafood, we know it's not just an easy, you just go out to your pond and throw a line and bringing it in and put it on your plate, there's a whole lot of steps that go between what our fishermen and women are doing to bring in the catch. And before it actually goes through the whole steps of the process through the folks that are processing it and distributing it. And like Ipswich shellfish group does, to bring it to the folks at Sodexo, and Chef Doug being able to then make it into beautiful plate and putting it out for the college students. And so I think the idea of really, you think about like meeting the folks and putting a face with a name, but being able to put a place with the product really, I think gives a lot more value to it. And so really talking on the local scale gives so much more. So much more value to what people are eating and looking for.
Doug Winslow:I'm from Maine, I grew up here, I left for a while decided I needed to come back. And to be able to see the change in how how we view the food we eat, rather than, you know, eating to live, we live to eat. But it's true. Because you know, we and especially with all the information that comes out about the processing, chemicals used and you know those type of things. It is so important. And when you talk about exciting, it's exciting to know that we have good sustainable food, you know, within a drive to get it or to have it deliver. You know, I I know back a few years ago I was one of my daughters is they did some farming here in town. You know, we had a we had a long conversation about defining local, what's local is it you know, is it that is it a plane flight in a day? Is that local because it's it it can be picked from the field and on my plate that night? Or is it you know how how far a truck can travel on a day. So you know there's a lot of definitions that we've done that defining very well I think and and you know a big part of it is with you know the seafood knowing where it comes from right out of our shores. Is that's exciting and it's exciting to get the information to our students where we work in a college venue. It is it is a you know tremendous place to start and get these kids the information and let them know that you know we do have these options and we do work hard at it to bring them food that is as fresh and as clean and it is local.
Andrea ODonnell:I love what what Doug was saying and it is kind of bringing me back to the days so I had moved to the North Shore of Massachusetts after living in Charleston, South Carolina and you don't go to a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina looking for the best lobster roll in the world you're going looking for who's got the best local shrimp and grits. But while I'm up here in Massachusetts and in Maine and visiting the areas in New England, this is the place I'm Looking for the best lobster roll, or you're looking for the local. So it's local is different depending on where you are. And again, the definition of local can be very different from one place to the next. And so I think it's, it's also just educating folks more on just like why local is great because you're thinking lower carbon footprint and you're really supporting the local fisherfolk in the region. But you're also getting to explore and learn a little bit more about an area and something that you might not have had an option and so the idea of I always love the monkfish is one of my favorite of the Gulf of Maine and responsibly harvested species to pinpoint into to recommend here when we offer that at Ipswich, shellfish fish market. Because to me, it's like its face only a mother could love. That's my, that's my nanny, saying that truly, it might not be the most attractive fish. But to me, it is spot on one of the best fish when I see that available and more selling it, I'm bringing some of that home to have because it's also known as you know, the poor man's lobster, it's so much more efficient use of your money, and you're being able to get so much great product. And it's it's just a really delicious meaty fish that a lot of people don't know anything about. And so it's part of my job. It's part of Chef Dougs job, Sophie's job, it's the folks at GMRI, getting the word out about these different species that maybe aren't salmon, and tuna delicious. Things we do offer Pollock is a great option. But I'm thinking the tuna and the salmon are things that typically come to people's heads. And that's all they know. And they might not realize it something like monkfish, Pollock, all these different local options are a really great thing to try out, whether it's your cooking in your own home or seeing it out at a restaurant or in the dining hall at U Maine
Doug Winslow:well, and I think that that with this, with everything that's gone on over the past year, a year ago, year and three or four months ago, you could not find a Bean plant, you could not find a tomato seed plant. So I think it was all of the sudden, people were realizing that I have to be a little more self sufficient or be a little bit more self sustainable. And that I think I thought was really cool. And I see it coming back around this year. Those people have saved some seeds and actually done some growing so and I know we're not talking I'm not talking about seafood, but it's the sustainability. side of that, even with seafood is that we need to harvest and use what we have available with us and not get, you know, tuna from Indonesia.
Andrea ODonnell:That's true. And you you just referenced even the idea of just like why sustainability is so important. And to really draw into the seafood side of things. It's like we want fish for the future. That's my read your description for what is sustainable seafood, it's fish for the future. There are a lot of different ways we can guarantee and make sure we have it. There's everything from like learning that aquaculture and species and farm raised species are not necessarily a bad thing. There are some not great culture products out there. But it's not all bad. There's some some issues in wild caught species in certain parts of the world. But it's being able to share this information making it more digestible for the Average Joe and Josephine that want to learn more about where their food is coming from how it was caught, how it was raised all the above, giving them the power to make this decisions, whether they're at the market or sitting at a restaurant, and deciding to between two dishes, and maybe being willing to try something a little bit different than there used to. We're also just even having the questions to be, you know, prepared with to ask the server, ask the person behind the counter. You can guarantee everybody has all of the answers. But until we start asking these questions, you can't really expect that people are going to worry about finding out that information or knowing where their food is coming from. And it's a big part of what we pride ourselves on here. It's we do the best at Ipswich shellfish group to provide what our customers are asking for. And so knowing working with folks like Chef dug into the subject, so group, Maine, Maine shellfish company is proud to be able to source that local pollock if that's what you're looking for. And we are able to track it through our system and get you exactly what you're looking for. And it's again beyond just the tuna in the salmon shrimp that everybody expects to have. But knowing you know having all that back information, to be able to present to you I think is just as important as you know. I love the idea that you're talking about having that that bean to grow and whatever I mean, it's so if you if you don't have that, if you don't know where it starting from, you really have no value in it. And I think that to me, it made me think a question for you, Chef Doug, was the idea of like, what got you interested in willing to try and explore the different species? Because there is unfortunately, I feel like too many chefs out there who still aren't. Aren't at that point yet.
Doug Winslow:Well, I, I'm, I can't say that there was an epiphany at any point in time. My, my family in the past have worked on the water. My sister actually worked in a processing down in Portland, when she was at school or just out of school. But so, you know, we had the opportunity to try a lot of different things. And, you know, I love fish, I will try anything. And I feel very fortunate to live in a state that, you know, we, we have an enormous coastline, we have the opportunity to bring these in, folks that bring in some of these oysters that we get, and I know I'm kind of off topic here. I get it, but, but it's just those products that
Andrea ODonnell:I love bivalves.
Doug Winslow:I knew there were 25 Different more than that, but species up and down the coast, and they could be as different as night and day. So, you know, it's for me, you know, it was just, it was always there. When I was living in Kansas, I really miss having fresh, good fresh fish, you know. So I guess that answers the question. I love fish. And you know, we
Sophie Scott:that was Andrea O'Donnell, Sustainability Coordinator at Ipswich shellfish group, and Doug Winslow Sodexo executive chef at the University of Maine Farmington. I'm Sophie Scott, the sustainable seafood project manager of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Narrator:Sounding line is a production of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. And you can find more episodes and read more about our work at gmri.org. Thanks for listening