Chef Ed Kenney recently joined a handful of renowned chefs from across North America who all share a dedication for the health of our planet through environmentally sustainable food choices at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's "Cooking for Solutions 2011" in Monterey, California.
"As one of only 16 chefs across the nation honored for our commitment to serving and educating the dining public about sustainable seafood, this invitation was truly an honor," said Kenney. "Hawai'i is one of the world's most isolated population centers and offers a unique position to be a model in the world's sustainability movement."
Now in its 10th year, the 3-day celebration of sustainable cuisine offered many opportunities to savor sustainability. The celebration included Rick Moonen of RM Seafood in Las Vegas as Chef of the Year and public radio's Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table. All 16 honored chefs were selected and recognized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium as "Seafood Watch Ambassadors" for their leadership in promoting food practices that protect the health of the ocean and the soil. With this recognition, Chef Kenney's restaurants are the only Hawai'i restaurants that are eligible to be certified by the Seafood Watch Restaurant Program.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers The Seafood Watch pocket guide and more recently an iPhone and Android app that lists seafood in three categories of best choice, good alternative, and avoid. For years, Kenney has personally consulted this guide when making purchasing decisions and now requires all of his chefs to do the same. To date, more than 36 million of the pocket guides have been distributed and over 325,000 apps have been downloaded. All proceeds support the Seafood Watch program, which has helped to transform the seafood market in ways that preserve healthy ecosystems and sustain ocean wildlife.