Young’s Foodservice and Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) held a student roadshow earlier this month (8th-9th May) as part of their ongoing commitment to the education sector and their communication with schools around the country. The company delivered workshops to groups of 30 children at a school in Derbyshire, interacting with over 300 in total.
The aim of the sessions was to give the students a comprehensive overview of the seafood industry and teach them how fish are caught, filleted and prepared. Working alongside the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Young’s helped to reinforce the importance of sustainably sourced seafood and the health benefits of eating fish at least twice a week.
Development chef, Joel Carr, encouraged the students to create their own fish fingers by coating fillets of Wild Alaska Pollock in a simple batter.
The Young’s Foodservice team were joined by Sarah Johnson, representative of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to demonstrate the company’s dedicated education website to the schools caterers. The site includes useful advice on all things seafood, from ways to add variety to school menus, to tips on the importance of sourcing sustainable fish and highlighting the different species available. The selection of handy, colourful factsheets, ‘fishy facts’ are ideal for use as a fun, educational tool for children. These include visual story boards of the different species of fish and their journey from the sea to our plates.
Speaking of the success of the roadshow, Adrian Greaves, Foodservice Director at Young’s Foodservice said:
“It is our responsibility to help close the knowledge gap between the fish on our plates and its origins. We’re delighted play a significant part in educating the next generation about the journey of our food and inspiring them to eat a healthy diet. The two day roadshow was a huge success it was great to see students engaging and getting involved with making their own fish fingers. We look forward to continuing to build our relationships with the whole school and developing our vision to inspire children to love fish for now and for generations to come!”
Sarah Johnson said:
“It was encouraging to see how many children eat seafood on a regular basis. They were all engaged and love hearing about Alaska and how the fish are wild, natural and sustainable. Young’s have done a great job highlighting the importance of provenance as part of the sustainability story.”
