A New Way to Seafood in campus dining halls

Aquaculture Stewardship Council Showcases Next Level of Seafood Certification at 22 Colleges and Universities Through April.

Campus dining halls across the nation this spring will be swimming with helpful information and delicious servings of certified farmed seafood.

Presented by Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) in collaboration with High Liner Foods and Chartwells Higher Education, the spring 2022 “Is Your Seafood Certified?” promotion is ASC’s largest ever endeavor to educate and inform U.S. college and university students about the practice of responsible seafood farming, also known as aquaculture.

ASC is the world’s leading certification program for environmentally and socially responsible seafood with more than 1,600 certified farm sites worldwide. High Liner is an ASC-certified seafood supplier, and Chartwells is a recognized leader in contract food service management.

Now through April, 22 colleges and universities will serve up ASC-certified salmon in campus dining halls, while also displaying promotional posters, handouts, signage and other collateral asking students, “Is Your Seafood Certified?”

Dining hall materials will feature a QR code connecting students to educational information and a survey on their seafood attitudes and opinions. Participants can enter into a sweepstakes to win one of 10 prize packs valued at $350.

Among the participating colleges are:

• Northwestern, Evanston, IL
• Texas A&M, College Station, TX
• University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• University of Pittsburgh – Johnstown, Johnstown, PA

Campus chefs will be encouraged to menu their own creative recipe takes featuring the ASC-certified salmon, which ASC will share on its social channels during the promotion and throughout the year.

“Students and faculty alike want to know the story about the food they are eating,” said Graham Schave, Corporate Chef for High Liner Foods. “ASC is my go-to solution for communicating not just quality, but transparency on a menu – we love ASC because their certification also covers the well-being of the environment, workers and surrounding communities. It makes it easy to serve craveable seafood with a conscience.  We’re so happy to be partnering with them on this program.”

In collaboration with Chartwells, ASC will participate in campus pop-ups at Texas A&M, University of Chicago, Northwestern and University of Pittsburgh – Johnstown. These activations will include more interactive signage in dining halls, “Win It Wednesday” Instagram prize contests and tabletops featuring additional ASC-certified seafood recipes, giveaways and insight into responsibly farmed seafood.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with High Liner and Chartwells on this exciting campus program. The goal is to help inform and inspire students – not to mention campus chefs – on the new story of aquaculture that’s emerging worldwide,” said Kathleen McDavitt, U.S. Market Development Manager, ASC. “We’re excited to connect with students who are hungry for information about responsible food production practices, including environmental and social responsibility. We can’t wait to discover and taste the participating chefs’ certified recipes.”

Since 2010, ASC has been creating and enforcing the world’s strictest combination of standards for farmed seafood.  Today, it is transforming the seafood industry with a new level of certification. This “new way to seafood” includes:

• Expanding the dialogue around responsible aquaculture, food systems, and awareness that Americans’ seafood choices make a difference.
• Enforcing the strictest requirements to protect the environment, workers and communities where seafood is raised.
• Improving farmed seafood quality and safety, so shoppers can truly enjoy the flavor of their favorite seafood recipes.