Market report correspondent Gillian Ferguson makes a trip to Downey, where she hooks up with a new vendor who will be joining the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Steve Sutton is the founder of TransparentSea Farm, a 300,000 gallon facility, where he cultivates chemical-free shrimp. After moving to Thailand and learning the language to understand the industry, he returns with an underlying mission to farm the crustaceans sustainably.
On average, Americans eat more than four pounds of shrimp per person annually. Most of the shrimp eaten comes from India and is frozen for three to six months and treated with preservatives. At TransparentSea, Sutton is able to produce 80,000 pounds of Pacific whiteleg prawns annually. He's already selling to top chefs in Los Angeles, and is now selling to customers at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market, the Sunday Long Beach Farmers Market, at Gjusta Grocer in Venice and online.