"sustainability" news and stories

Move over Asian carp, you're not the only pesky species to be eyed by the seafood industry as a potential food source. Officials in Virginia have set their sights on the homely cownose ray, whose population has exploded, in part because of a sharp decline in their natural predator, the inland coastal shark. The population boom is bad news for valuable Chesapeake oysters, clams and scallops. Hungry rays have been known to wipe out entire shellfish beds with their powerful crushing jaws.

Mike Hutt, executive director for the Virginia Marine Products Board has been working to develop a market for the red-fleshed cownose ray (renamed a more appealing Chesapeake Ray), but don't expect it to taste like its white-fleshed cousin, skate.

"It's not flaky, and it has a texture and tastes closer to veal or beef," says Hutt.

Two non-profit organizations are the recipients of the 2010 World Food Prize, an award recognizing the achievements of people who have "advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world," VOA News reported.

Jo Luck of Heifer International and Dr. David Beckmann of Bread for the World are the 2010 recipients. They will split the $250,000 prize. It's the first time the award has been given to non-governmental organizations.

Heifer International donates livestock -- from honeybees to cattle -- to poor farmers in 50 countries, helping them become self-sustaining.

Bread for the World is a grassroots organization that attempts to influence food policy through letter writing campaigns and political advocacy.

For most seafood eaters, the connection between healthy coral reefs and what's on their dinner plate is pretty much non-existent. Consider coral, and things like jewelry, souvenirs, or home aquarium tank decorations come to mind first. But scientists warn they're worth significantly more alive and healthy than they are as fancy wall hangings for your guestroom.

Coral reefs make up only one percent of the vast ocean floor, but support 25 to 33 percent of all marine life, and provide important habitat and nursery grounds for many fish, including some favorites like grouper and red snapper. Coral is also used in medicines, it provides income through tourism, and protects fragile fine sand beaches from storm damage. And while coral may look like just a rock or a plant, they are actually formed by tiny colonies of animals called coral polyps, whose skeletons form the coral we recognize.

But serious pressure from the jewelry and home-decorating trade, damage done by unsustainable fishing practices, and climate change (which is contributing to ocean acidification), means their continued survival is in serious question, and has some scientists sounding alarm bells, including dire warnings of severe hunger for coastal populations and political instability should coral reef declines continue.

If cooking is the way to one's heart, Daniel Boulud should be able to attribute much of his success to his understanding of food. "I think that every restaurant is the chef's soul," he says in documentary "A Certain Taste for America."

In an ongoing series entitled "Art de Vivre: The Art of Eating Today," led by the French Institute in New York City on Monday, a screening of the film (very doting on Boulud) was followed by a panel discussion reflecting upon the art of eating and, more specifically, the importance of sustainability and sourcing food.

As a world-renowned chef hailing from a small hamlet outside Lyon, Boulud has achieved his veritable empire -- 10 successful restaurants based in New York, Palm Beach, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Beijing -- by striving to keep a strict culinary focus on seasonal cooking and high-quality ingredients.

More on Boulud's rise to fame, and the panel discussion on sustainable produce, obesity in America, seasonal cooking and its debatable expenses, after the jump.