Seafood dinner at UNH April 16

UNH Hosts Sustainable Seafood Dinner April 16

The University of New Hampshire will host a Sustainable Seafood Dinner Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in the Holloway Commons dining hall. The dinner, from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., will highlight New England seafood and New England’s fishing community. The dinner is free to anyone with a UNH dining plan and open to the public for a charge ($22.95 for adults; $11.50 for children under the age of 10).

On the menu will be hake, scallops, lobster dishes, and oysters from regional waters. Dishes like skate wing tacos, seafood ceviche, and locally grown kelp will highlight efforts to alleviate pressure on overfished species by introducing diners to underloved but abundant New England seafood.

The dinner is part of a six-week pilot to source more regional seafood at UNH dining halls. UNH Dining is working with Red’s Best, a Boston-based seafood processor to bring more regionally caught seafood to the dining halls. [Red’s Best currently sources much of their seafood from Massachusetts based fishermen.]

“It’s been great working with UNH Dining Services,” says Spencer Montgomery ‘14, a nutritional sciences major at UNH and an organizer of UNH’s Slow Fish campaign, which builds upon the principals of Slow Food. “As one of the largest food purchasers in the state, this commitment from UNH could help revitalize conditions for the local fleet.”

The pilot and dinner represent a collaboration between UNH Dining, Slow Food UNH, the Sustainability Institute, NH Sea Grant, and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance to increase local seafood availability in the dining halls. UNH has a strong commitment to sustainable food system:  UNH Dining signed the international Slow Food Principles in 2006, the student Organic Garden Club grows produce for the dining halls, and on-campus eateries source greens and other vegetables produced as part of the sustainable agriculture curriculum. Learn more at sustainableunh.unh.edu.

Photo courtesy of NH Sea Grant