The ongoing fight for the use of sustainable fish is at its weakest when it comes to the British restaurant industry. From the finest of dining right down to the countless thousands of fish & chip shops, the British consumer hasn't really gotten on board with the whole sustainable sourcing concept. We still expect cod or haddock with our chips, tuna and salmon in our sushi or as the fish option in a gastropub and we shy away from anything even slightly unfamiliar. As a sea-going race, we sure are squeamish when it comes to eating its bounty.
However, another giant leap has been made by... wait for it... McDonald's who has recently changed all fish used in its British and European restaurants to those from sustainable MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) sources, including Alaskan Pollack, New Zealand hoki and Baltic cod. Now, you may be wondering why we're even mentioning the evil fast food Goliath in this trés serieux blog on restaurant life, but actually once again, the Golden Arches have forged ahead where relatively few of those apparently higher up the dining chain refuse to follow.
The truth is this: In recent years McDonald's has openly and proudly changed its food sourcing policy to support the growing trend amongst shoppers for ethical and sustainable food. Therefore, all its eggs are free-range, the beef is British, the coffee is Fairtrade and now the fish is sustainable. (We won't mention the dreadfulness of the pork and chicken but we're sure that will change eventually too). The important word in that last sentence, folks, is shoppers. Not diners. In fact McDonald's goes as far as to state that it hopes that these food policy changes will influence the way consumers shop and eat.
We think they're onto something here. Most of us would like to think we shop responsibly. We buy higher welfare meat, free-range eggs, Fairtrade bananas and chocolate and so on, but when it comes to eating out – and not just when fish is on the menu – we are still hesitant to really question our dinner's origins. Unless it's signaled on the menu in flashing lights, we still don't have a clue and how often do you actually eat in those kinds of places? We're talking about the hasty Friday night curry, the fish & chips for Saturday tea, the Sunday roast down the pub; just how often do we bring our shopping ethics to the dining table?
So while fish is the hot topic of the moment and we should all be looking out for MSC-qualified sources, let's spread our nets a little wider. Let's shop and eat out well. After all, you're paying for the food just the same, so why pay a little more for something you wouldn't necessarily allow over your own threshold?
Maybe all eating establishments should indicate if their fish comes from a MSC scource or not.