Seafood Champions

Gourmet Magazine - 2006 Seafood Champion

In 1941, the epicurean magazine was born. Gourmet was perfect for its time; it was a literate magazine for sophisticated people who loved good food and drink. This year marks Gourmet's 65th anniversary, and interest in good food, once an elite preoccupation, has moved into popular culture. At the same time, the once simple considerations of everyday eating have become more complex. Today, just going to the grocery store means being faced with questions about science, politics, and food safety. Gourmet's mission is to redefine what this epicurean magazine can offer to its almost one million readers by taking a much bigger bite of the world.

As a national leader in food media, Gourmet magazine has made the editorial decision to broadly educate its readership on the issues of sustainability. Under the visionary leadership of editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl, the magazine wants to do more than just report about sustainability. The goal is to use sustainable fish in the magazine’s recipes, and to give readers the information they need to choose sustainable seafood when they shop for themselves.

An annual produce issue showcases different facets of what is the most important food story of our time: the revolution that is changing the way America eats. It has included articles about innovative chefs who are not only cooking but also growing what they serve in their restaurants. Well before many of its competitors, Gourmet began discussions of genetic engineering, mad cow disease, and how organic produce is moving into the mainstream. Gourmet also began discussing sustainability of seafood early on, with writer Barry Estabrook tackling the complex and controversial issues of farmed and wild salmon. Barry’s story displayed a new willingness to discuss and compare food items not only in terms of taste and quality, but also in terms of the environmental implications of consumer choices.

One of the recent major sustainability stories was actually a restaurant review. In that piece, Caroline Bates tackled the contentious issue of seafood sustainability by querying chefs on how they address the devastation of the oceans in their own business choices. The piece then went further to provide consumers with tips on which fish to choose when cooking at home.

Gourmet effectively harnesses its power as an opinion leader and trendsetter to drive demand for more sustainable seafood. Gourmet takes risks to try and change the way their readers think about food, and their readers are responding with enthusiasm.