Sustainable Seafood Survey
Authors:
Jasmine Arroyo, Gloria RamirezMentor:
Sean Anderson, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Resource Management Program, California State University Channel IslandsCultural preferences and traditions can have marked effects upon access to information and buying decisions. To begin to explore the effects of culture on behaviors related to environmental sustainability, we continued and expanded the 7th annual CSU Channel Islands Sustainable Seafood Survey. This survey explores the sustainability of seafood offerings, the amount of information available to purchasers of that seafood, and whether or not consumers are interested in knowing where their seafood comes from and how it was produced. In addition to our traditional methodology of surveying various seafood-selling establishments in English, we also conducted surveys in Spanish and at primarily Hispanic-serving establishments. This allowed us to compare the information/purchasing options available to English-speaking seafood consumers to Spanish-speaking communities in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties. We specifically sought to test the hypotheses that point-of-sale information about seafood and overall seafood choice is independent of language both language and the establishment classification. Knowledge of seafood origin and sourcing, familiarity with concepts of sustainability, so far has been lower in Spanish-speaking institutions, suggesting a strong cultural bias in both knowledge of and access to seafood.