A lack of consumer education is one of the top reasons that U.S. seafood consumption doesn’t reach its potential. Consumers are bombarded with misinformation and are unsure of how to select or even prepare fish. Two University of Idaho professors recently developed a curriculum designed to boost consumer education to encourage greater seafood consumption. Gary Fornshell, multi-county aquaculture educator, and Rhea Lanting, family and consumer sciences extension educator, created the “Seafood at its best” program to get consumers science-based information about seafood’s health benefits. They both talked to SeafoodSource recently about the curriculum, the importance of eating seafood and what the industry can do to increase consumption.
Forristall: Describe the curriculum you developed.
Fornshell: We put together a four-lesson curriculum to encourage people to eat more seafood. The first lesson is what is seafood. It provides background on where seafood comes from, including capture fisheries and aquaculture, and what we tend to eat here in the U.S. — so the top 10 species. Also, we discuss what we predict for the future in terms of supply.
The second lesson is on the health benefits of seafood. We follow the 2005 [U.S. Department of Agriculture] dietary guidelines for Americans.
The third lesson is on the risks or foodborne illnesses from eating seafood. Personally I think its one of the more critical lessons because there is so much misinformation and confusion. People tend to focus on contaminants, [but with] seafood, like any other food, the real risk is bacteria from temperature abuse and improper handling.
The fourth lesson is seafood tips where we talk about how to select and purchase fish, [as well as] handling and cooking. We also provide recipes.
Why did you feel it was important to develop such a program?
Lanting: I had some experience doing some different curriculums that has been pretty successful [with consumer sciences]. And so we realized not only that people don’t know the health benefits of seafood, but that they might be afraid to cook it because they don’t know how to do it properly, so they’ve steered away from it. But Americans need to consume more seafood, so working together we decided there certainly was a need.
Fornshell: I received a considerable amount of feedback and input from aquaculture producers about five or six years ago when the mercury issue really started gaining traction. We felt the need to counteract all the misinformation and sensationalism in media reports, in particular about aquaculture products. We wanted to provide science based information for consumers.
What role has the mainstream media played in deterring consumers from eating seafood?
Fornshell: I think they’ve done so much damage. A recent CNN story [about wild salmon being healthier than farmed] really irritated me. Here’s this so-called expert — she’s a doctor and a nutrition and fitness expert — and she goes to an advocate group that doesn’t know anything about nutrition or seafood, whether it’s wild or farmed, and gets information from them and basically just puts out their perspective. [Mainstream media] makes it much more confusing. I think the media in the majority of cases have gotten it totally wrong and have totally confused the American public about seafood.
Lanting: It’s an easy bottom line: Eat healthy food. But it’s not that simple because the media gives so many confusing messages about food. People are totally confused about what to eat and what not to eat. With our research-based curriculum we’ve developed a lot of good answers to help people out.
How can the industry combat misinformation in the mainstream media?
Fornshell: You have to be proactive. In our curriculum we don’t advocate for wild or for aquaculture, we advocate for increased consumption of all seafood. People need to be proactive, not reactive. [They] get the positive information out there and keep it simple because people are confused. Be positive but honest and be proactive. Be ahead of the curve and get the positive information out there first. Educate people as much as you possibly can.
What will it take to get consumers to eat more seafood?
Lanting: We’re going to try and do our part with this curriculum. The better informed consumers are, the more seafood consumption will increase.
We did pilot testing throughout the United States, and after class when we asked participants what they would do, they stated they would increase consumption to at least two to three times per week. They said the information they received was valuable and they learned a lot for what to look for when they go to the market to purchase seafood.
