Once offered an average of 1.5 times per week in Dewick, swordfish will soon be eliminated from Tufts' dining halls. Earlier this month, Tufts Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA) successfully lobbied Dining Services to take the overfished entr?©e off the menu.
Several SETA members sent e-mails to Dining Services Director Patti Lee Klos to ask Tufts to combat overfishing by not serving overfished species, including swordfish. Lee Klos honored the request hook, line, and sinker, discontinuing the swordfish entr?©e on the same day the e-mails were sent.
"I have to say that the swordfish campaign is probably the shortest animal rights campaign in history," said SETA member Shari Leskowitz, one of the campaign organizers.
While some students complain only that Tufts' swordfish can be rubbery and overcooked, others have questioned the ethics of consuming overfished species at an environmentally minded institution.
The issue spurred freshman Jennifer Ko to submit a Daily Viewpoint last month to promote awareness on the issue. After its publication, SETA orchestrated the e-mail campaign. If Lee Klos had not then taken action, group organizers say, SETA planned to "escalate tactics."
SETA and Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) both worked on the swordfish campaign, with SETA leading the efforts and ECO members, including Zoe Hastings, collaborating. "[Lee] Klos always gets bombarded by activists on campus," Hastings said. "We go about it in the nicest way possible."
ECO voiced similar concerns about swordfish last year, but Dining Services did not address its concerns. Lee Klos viewed this year's conversation as a continuation of last year's talks.
Lee Klos said that Dining Services had several other issues to contend with last year and did not have time to resolve the swordfish controversy.
Dining Services cooperated with SETA on the campaign this year because of Tufts commitment to conserving and protecting the environment, Lee Klos said. "We recognize that we are a large service provider.... We are finding ways to minimize the environmental impact of the Tufts community," Lee Klos said.
"In keeping with our commitment, it made sense to make the decision to stop serving swordfish in the dining halls," she said.
Lee Klos compared the swordfish campaign to issues regarding styrofoam use that arose in the 1980s. Tufts stopped using styrofoam products because of concerns that it contained chemicals harmful to the ozone layer. Dining Services has since resumed styrofoam usage, saying the material is no longer manufactured with the harmful chemicals.
Although Dining Services agreed to stop serving swordfish, the entr?©e will remain on the menu for a few more weeks, since Lee Klos does not want to waste the swordfish supplies she has already purchased. Dining Services has not yet decided on a substitute dish. "We will have to look for a more acceptable popular entr?©e for the menu," she said.
But Lee Klos has not forever ruled out serving swordfish. "If the species rebounds and is available in a reasonable way, it would certainly be thought upon to serve it in the dining halls again," she said. "Swordfish has a flavor profile that people seem to like. It is a popular menu item in the dining halls."
SETA and ECO members are pleased with Dining Services' cooperation. "I get a good feeling about the dining halls in general," said Cindy Chang, ECO co-chair and a SETA member. "They are open to our suggestions as students."
Campaign organizers see the elimination of swordfish as a victory for environmentalism at Tufts. "Small changes like this one make frustrated animal rights and environmental activists feel reinvigorated, knowing that we can affect change in our communities," Leskowitz said.
