A grant to provide an infusion of cash for a pilot program is helping Philadelphia-area students distribute seafood to low-income residents who otherwise would not be able to afford the products.
Fishadelphia, a pilot community seafood program, was awarded a Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant in 2020 to link low-income consumers on Philadelphia's north side with fishermen in nearby New Jersey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a news release.
“This is a cool project and one that I'm happy to highlight because it supports community participation that contributes to the promotion of U.S. seafood,” Nicole MacDonald, the regional S-K Grant manager at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, said in the NOAA release. “This provides fresh seafood to underserved communities and increases the customer base for our working waterfronts, which aligns with the goals of the S-K grant program.”
Grants are a vital lifeline for the fishing industry, with funding tough to secure for smaller seafood projects, the NOAA release said. Grants like the Saltonstall-Kennedy can help make up for shortfalls and provide a boost to projects that otherwise may not receive funding.
Fishadelphia works like a fish market, according to NOAA, with students providing the manpower and connecting with lower-income consumers to promote and market local seafood. Students in the program, ranging from middle school to college, can serve as a model for communities looking for ways to infuse seafood into their diets, the release said.
Twice a week, after school, students work at the Mastery Charter Gratz Campus in North Philadelphia to operate a retail fish market operation, the release said. Their efforts are credited with breaking down racial and language barriers as they offer consumers printed materials in multiple languages. While they initially had hoped to target restaurants, COVID-19 forced them to pivot to an outdoor market that would be safer during the pandemic.
