Greenberg's 'American Catch' provides commentary on local seafood

Maybe you're a seasoned veteran when it comes to skills in the kitchen, or perhaps you're just starting to learn to cook online.

The essential guide cover

Take the Culinary Career Survey

We’ve compiled a checklist of all of the essential questions into one handy tool: career options, culinary interest surveys, educational opportunities, and more.

Campus of Interest*
Program of Interest*

Clicking the "Get the Survey Now" button constitutes your express request, and your express written consent, to be contacted by and to receive automated or pre-recorded call, texts, messages and/or emails from via phone, text, and/or emails by Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts at the number(s)/email you provided, regarding furthering your education and enrolling. You understand that these calls, texts, messages and/or emails may be generated using an automated or pre-recorded technology. You are not required to agree to receive automated or pre-recorded calls, texts, messages or emails as a condition of enrolling at Escoffier. You can unsubscribe at any time or request removal of street address, phone number, email address via Escoffier website.

July 11, 2014 2 min read

Is seafood the next chapter in the locavore movement?Maybe you’re a seasoned veteran when it comes to skills in the kitchen, or perhaps you’re just starting culinary school. Either way, if you’ve been paying attention to the emerging trends among food enthusiasts, odds are that you’ve already encountered the locavore craze in one way or another. The benefits of sourcing and eating local food are undeniable: fresher ingredients, less pollution from transit, a heightened knowledge of where one’s food came from. Nonetheless, while the locavore craze all but takes over the more traditional markets, it can’t seem to find its footing when it comes to seafood.

According to Paul Greenberg, an author who has published multiple books on seafood, one of the main causes for a a slowed emergence of locavore culture in this realm is simply American preference for other food. The average American eats over 100 pounds of red meat and poultry annually, as compared with roughly 15 pounds of seafood. In his new book, simply titled “American Catch,” Greenberg extols the value of bringing the locavore mentality to the immense amount of seafood that America produces and then ships off to international markets.

Currently, over 85 percent of American seafood is imported. Further, the majority of that imported seafood comes from fish farms abroad where unsustainable practices are often put into play, harming both the quality of the fish and the impact its growth has on the environment. While he insists that one of the most effective ways to positively impact aquaculture is simply to stratify our taste in fish, he explained in an interview with Grist that Americans can’t discount how far-reaching the sourcing of their seafood has become in the last century.

“100 years ago everybody was eating from their own estuary, or an estuary nearby. And now, everybody is eating from an estuary 8,000 or 10,000 miles away,” said Greenberg.

Whether or not seafood comprises a significant portion of your diet, Greenberg’s book makes a solid read for anyone trying to become more informed regarding the seafood industry as a whole. “American Catch” was released this week by Penguin Press.

Subscribe to the King of Chefs Blog

Subscribe to the King of Chefs Blog

Get the King of Chefs email newsletter delivered to your inbox weekly. You'll get everything you need to know about culinary & pastry careers, food entrepreneurship, financing your culinary education, and more.