A storm has been raging over the past few days on the Manchester Confidential website, following food critic Ruth Allan’s visit to the city’s Loch Fyne seafood restaurant. Her review was straightforward enough, but it has created a barrage of feedback — not related to her opinion on the food, which proved to be acceptable enough, but to her take on sustainable seafood.
She started off by pointing out that “this company is dedicated to the protection of our seas, our maritime communities and all forms of marine life. The many menus … repeat this mantra, as do placemats, staff and comment cards.” She went on to say, “Oh, for God’s sake shut up would you. Frankly, I’m not that bothered about where my food comes from, more about whether it tastes good.”
Rarely does a food critic dare to admit that he or she doesn’t care about sustainability.
Readers who commented on Ruth Allan’s review ranged from the outraged to those who agreed with her sentiments. An anonymous contributor spoke for many when he said, “Fact is, the average diner does not care where their food comes from. If they did, the cheap chain restaurants and pubs offering a steak for a fiver would not be packed out.”
Roy Brett, chef proprietor of Ondine, one of Edinburgh’s top seafood restaurants, is an avid supporter of the Marine Stewardship Council and menus only sustainable seafood. “We get the occasional person who wants to discuss the origin of their seafood, but in the main they trust us to get it right — just like they trust the supermarkets. It doesn’t have to be overstated, though.”
Last year, UK supermarket Waitrose commissioned a YouGov survey of 2,000 UK adults to get their thoughts on sustainable seafood, and 78 percent admitted that they don’t bother to choose sustainable seafood. However, once informed about the issues, 70 percent claimed they would be more likely to seek out sustainable seafood, with more than half prepared to pay twice the price.
However, what people say they would do in surveys and what they do in real life are frequently different things. In addition, 90 percent of respondents said they wanted restaurants to serve only sustainable seafood on their menus, but almost three-quarters were unaware which fish are threatened, despite the vast amount of information available.
It’s safe to say that the majority of people do care about sustainability, but they don’t care enough to sort it out for themselves and want someone else to do it for them. So perhaps it is just as well that the environmental organisations are powerful enough to make the supermarkets, restaurants and suppliers care. This should not make us apathetic or underestimate the educational work still to be done, but it should make us aware that being preached at too much can turn off consumers.
So is it the job of food critics to educate the masses about sustainability? Perhaps not, but neither is it their job to knock those who take on the responsibility.
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