Three years ago while I was studying in the famous
French culinary school “LE CORDON BLEU”, my chef canceled one day’s class that
was designed to teach us how to prepare tuna.
He said that he didn’t want to teach us how to prepare tuna because the species
is under threat from overfishing. This
was my first introduction to conservation, and created the thought in my mind
that I am capable of specific actions that will help to protect a species.
And that was really the limit of my contribution. I simply stopped cooking or eating tuna until
today. Now that I’m becoming engaged
with my “Conservation Biogeography” class, I am increasingly aware that marine
animals are threatened on a much larger scale and that many species will be
extinct in 20-30 years time if we don’t do something about it now.
From a chef’s perspective, I feel that we carry
greater responsibility for rectifying this problem. We are the ones responsible for preparing
tasty fish dishes for diners and increasing their demand for these meals. If we could simply stop cooking certain fish
or only use environmentally sustainable sources, consumer demand for these fish
will fall, driving down the price and the incentive for fisherman to go to
every more extreme measures for their catch.
Shark fin soup provides a very good example. Hong Kong is a shark fin trading center as
well as the primary transit point for the mainland Chinese market. In China, Hong Kong and other Chinese
communities, inclusion of shark’s fin soup on the menu is a sign of status
during a celebratory meal. It is a
staple at corporate events and weddings across the social scale.
Under pressure from environmental groups, the
Shangri-La and Peninsula hotel chains removed shark’s fin soup from the
menu. The Berjaya chain in Malaysia
subsequently followed suit. Cathay
Pacific, a leading global airline based in Hong Kong, then announced that its
cargo arm would no longer be engaged in the “delivery of non-sustainable
sources of sharks and shark products.”
Finally, the Chinese government then said it would ban shark fin soup
from official banquets over the next three years.
Shark fin soup requires more than 72 hours to prepare
– it is almost impossible for ordinary people to prepare at home. In addition to the corporate actions above,
if chefs could be convinced to refuse to prepare such a meal, it would cut off
demand for shark products at the root.
Continued public awareness and pressure at both the
corporate, government and personal level are visibly capable of changing
attitudes and demand for unsustainable food sources. In my future posts, I will examine what can
be done to save other species under pressure.
References:
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