Local Chef and Food & Water Watch Staff to Judge; Winning Recipes to be Published

Washington, DC - Today, consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch launches its Get Cookin’! recipe contest, calling for the tastiest, healthiest and most sustainable seafood recipes around. Next month, the group will be releasing its new “Smart Seafood Guide” to help consumers make better seafood choices. The Guide recommends cleaner, greener, safer substitutes for popular, but often less sustainable and healthy, seafood items. With a preview version of the card available online, cooks – from creative kids to sophisticated chefs, busy moms to bachelors – are encouraged to submit their original recipes using any of the fish selections recommended on the card.

The contest will be judged by Washington, DC-based chef Joseph “Rocky” Barnette and Food & Water Watch staff. Winners will be published in a Food & Water Watch recipe booklet this fall.
“I’m always on the lookout for new recipe ideas, and I’m really excited to see what people come up with,” stated Barnette. “This contest is a great opportunity for people to prove that sustainable and healthy seafood is delicious, too.”

In addition to being published, winners will receive a Food & Water Watch apron, and one grand-prize winner will take home $250. Criteria for winning entries include the use of a recommended seafood from the Smart Seafood Guide; healthfulness; tastiness; simplicity; and use of sustainable and local (to the submitter’s home) ingredients. The contest will run September 2nd to noon on October 6th.

The contest aims to celebrate healthy and sustainable seafood, and to get a wider audience involved in choosing and cooking foods that are both healthful and eco-friendly. Also, the card and contest are intended to raise consumer awareness about what their seafood choices mean for their own health, their environment, and the economy.

Full rules and submission guidelines can be found online at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/getcookin.


* These recommendations are intended as a general reference. They are not intended to provide specific medical advice, supplant any government warnings or otherwise prevent exposure to any health hazards associated with seafood. People should always follow proper acquisition, handling and cooking procedures of any seafood they prepare or consume.