The Eat Seafood America! (ESA!) initiative received three new leadership grants to support a comprehensive push to improve public health, sustainability efforts, and the seafood workforce. The most recent grants include support from Builders Initiative, H-E-B, and the Rich Family Foundation.
Launched in April 2020 by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP), ESA! is a public health outreach and education program that encourages consumers to eat more seafood for improved health. Additionally, these gifts support public health and to help the seafood industry recover and strengthen its resilience from the economic impacts of COVID-19. To date, SNP has secured more than $2.5 million to help Americans include more seafood in their meals.
The impressive initial results of the ESA! Program, which is used as a model for a potential national seafood public health campaign, have inspired many leading organizations to join in the effort with landmark grants and donations. These most recent grants add to those previously received from National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, NOAA Fisheries and Walton Family Foundation.
“We’re investing in the Eat Seafood America! campaign because we want to support a more sustainable, healthier Texas,” said H-E-B Vice President – Seafood Jason Driskill, who also sits on the SNP Board of Directors. “H-E-B is proud to be the first retailer in the nation to contribute to this campaign. Many of our suppliers benefited from this program, and I hope other retailers jump on board.”
This initiative is timely as the nation continues to struggle with several public health crises including COVID-19, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health. Additionally, seafood leads in sustainability as it is now recognized as the climate friendly protein that has tremendous potential to ensure our future food security.
“Builders Initiative is proud to stand behind innovators and entrepreneurs committed to building a more humane and healthy planet. That’s why we’re thrilled to support SNP on their strategy to help consumers eat more sustainable seafood,” said Peter Bryant, Senior Program Officer at Builders Initiative. “Education and outreach campaigns like this one are effective tools to help build consumer awareness and increase consumption of alternative, healthy and sustainable food options.”
SNP has conducted consumer pilot campaigns for more than 8 years with the mission to encourage more Americans to reach the goal of eating seafood at least twice a week per the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Eat Seafood America! initiative leverages SNP’s experience with consumer education and outreach, its partners’ experiences, along with proven communications strategies utilized by other successful commodity campaigns.
“We have a unique window of opportunity to come together as an industry to help consumers solidify their new habits of including more seafood into their daily meals for better health,” said Jim Motos, Senior Vice President of the Consumer Brands Division of Rich Products Corporation and Chair of SNP’s Board of Directors. “Rich Family Foundation is supporting SNP’s Eat Seafood America! campaign for its focus on sustainability and improving the health of Americans.”
To learn more about how to support the Eat Seafood America! campaign, contact Linda Lai Cornish at lcornish@seafoodnutrition.org.
