Compass Group Canada Demonstrates Second Major Sustainable Seafood Shift at Various Go Wild! Salmon Events Across Canada
The bustling Wheelock Dining Hall at Wolfville, Nova Scotia’s Acadia University was just one of the university cafeterias invigorated at the end of last month with the flavours and aroma of masterfully prepared Wild Pacific Salmon, and the Q&A’s of sustainable seafood.
The Go Wild! Salmon tasting and information sessions that took place at universtities across Canada, were an opportunity for students and faculty to taste and understand why Compass Group Canada (and the Chartwells Divisions) have made the sustainable choice of serving wild Pacific Salmon over farmed Atlantic Salmon.
Compass Group Canada is the leading contract food and support services company in Canada, and last year, became the first Canadian foodservice provider to implement a sustainable seafood purchasing policy. Working together with SeaChoice, Canada’s national sustainable seafood program, and the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program, Compass Group Canada’s policy commits them to replacing one unsustainable species approximately every 6 months. They initiated the first step with the replacement of Atlantic Cod with the more sustainable Alaskan Pollock. This second major shift accounts for the removal of 50,000 lbs of farmed Atlantic Salmon from the menu, and the replacement with wild Pacific Salmon.
Rob Johnson, Atlantic Canada Coordinator for SeaChoice was on hand at Acadia to discuss sustainable seafood with students and faculty, and to answer questions about the major issues with farmed salmon- waste, parasites and diseases, chemical/antibiotic use in production, risk to wild stocks through escapes, the unsustainable aspects of feed, and varied management effectiveness. This lead into broader questions of sustainable fisheries practices and positive consumer and business sustainable seafood choices.
At Acadia, interested parties from the university’s Sustainability office, and Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia added to these discussions, increasing the value of this session in promoting further awareness and attention to these issues and to Compass Group Canada’s progressive policy.
A special thank you to for the enthusiastic support of all the food services directors and staff!
For more information on this initiative, and to get ideas on why and how your school can get involved, please read our Sustainable Seafood 101 backgrounder.
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