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THOUSANDS of London schoolchildren are to be taught about the benefits of under-utilised fish thanks to a new initiative involving Billingsgate Seafood School.
The school, based at the famous fish market, has been awarded £70,000 from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) to help teach school children in London and the South East about sustainable alternatives to popular fish products.
It is hoped more than 10,000 primary school children will be given the opportunity to try under-utilised fish species through the new extended education programme, which will run over the next three years in Greater London and the South East region. A series of up to 150 ‘Fish to Food’ events are being planned as part of the programme, which will be offered free to schools. These will see a local fishmonger or retailer working with a chef to prepare dishes for the class to taste and will also raise awareness of the health benefits of eating seafood.
The events will be supported with promotional material, including teaching resources and a DVD which will feature South East fishing fleets and demonstrate each stage of the production and retail process for fish. Family education packs will also be produced, which it is hoped will encourage over 7,500 families to try products such as mussels, coley, crab, sardines, mackerel and squid.
Adam Whittle from Billingsgate Seafood School said: “We have always believed in encouraging young people to eat fabulous seafood. These events will not only open the eyes of young people and families to the wide selection of European farmed and wild fish available, but also how easy it can be to prepare fish dishes. We will raise awareness of the alternatives to common choices such as tuna, salmon, cod, haddock and prawn and show there are other healthy ways to cook it aside from battered and fried.
Catherine Murphy, programme manager for the European Fisheries Fund in England, said:“Billingsgate School has a proven track record in this area and in granting them this money we’ve shown we’re confident that they can help take the sustainable seafood message to tomorrow’s generation of buyers.
“They’ve shown us they’ve carefully considered how this promotional activity will reach a large audience. For example we’re looking forward to seeing the organisation’s accompanying marketing work helping to raise awareness of sustainable fish products more widely in the community and boost sales of these in the local area.”
The EFF and Marine Management Organisation are providing 40 per cent of the funding towards the project, which will cost a total of £175,000.
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