Seafood Throwdown, a unique cooking competition that highlights the importance of local seafood in restoring a healthy ocean ecosystem, is coming to Boston Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 from noon to 1:30 p.m. In this Iron-Chef inspired program, Chef Tiffani Faison, a Top Chef finalist and owner of Sweet Cheeks in Boston, will face off against Boston Children’s Executive Chefs Jim Boyd and Colin Targett for the title of the Sustainable Seafood Champion. The chefs will use a locally caught seafood and items from the Hospital’s pantry to create dishes that are voted on by the cafeteria customers. National Geographic fellow and author Barton Seaver will emcee the event giving the play-by-play of all the action.

This event is the first Seafood Throwdown being held at a health care institution since their inception in 2008 by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA). It’s a collaboration between NAMA, Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food in Healthcare Program (HCWH), Boston Children’s Hospital, the Center for Health and the Global Environment, Sodexo, and PANG of New England who are working together to shift the health care industry’s seafood buying habits to what’s caught sustainably and locally, and values the social, environmental, and economic importance of our local fishing communities.