Bay2Tray brings fresh local seafood to the school cafeteria in Monterey
It may not be the most appetizing fish you’ve ever seen, but Pacific Grenadier is a hit with students in Monterey. Koty Powers, a Junior at Monterey High School, says, “They’re really surprised cause actually it tastes really good.”
It’s part of a program at the district started by local company Real Good Fish called Bay2Tray, and as the name suggests, it brings fish from our Monterey Bay to the school cafeteria. Superintendent of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, P.K. Diffenbaugh says, “What excites me is that we’re doing it in such a way that is also cost effective for the district.” That’s because they’re using bycatch or fish that was caught unintentionally and might otherwise be tossed out. Just like the estimated 10 to 30 percent of U.S. produce that’s wasted because it doesn’t look good enough for supermarkets.
Diffenbaugh says, “We’re trying to set the standard for the state and really the country in what’s possible in terms of school nutrition.” What might be the most difficult part is grabbing the attention of the kids. Powers says, “They’re scared of it because they think it’s from the lunch room and because it’s from the lunch room they think that it’s got to be gross.” Getting young picky eaters to try new things, especially fish, can be tough, but right now the district is watching it work.
Monterey High freshman Abdalla Mohamed Ali says, “It tastes great, honestly I was thinking of choosing something else, but when i saw this I was interested since it’s new on the menu and it looked sort of attractive in a way.” Diffenbaugh says, “You know, for kids, if it didn’t taste good then we would have a lot of stuff either thrown away or staying in the kitchen and that’s not the case.” In fact, it’s the opposite. They regularly run out of the fresh fish meal offered any given week. The day we went to lunch, the rice bowl with fish was gone long before the next bell. Powers says, “Two of my friends tried it and decided they were going to get that instead of going down to Chipotle or something.”
And that excitement, or interest is spreading to other districts all across the state. Forty-two districts have committed to California Thursdays, a farm to school initiative that has schools serving only food grown or raised in California, or caught in its waters, at least one Thursday a month, and Monterey schools and students want to be at the front of that line. Diffenbaugh says, “Obviously we’re focused on academics, but we’re focused on the whole child and that includes what they’re putting into their bodies everyday.” Mohamed Ali says, “It just shows that Monterey Bay has a bunch of amazing stuff that we all have and we all have great access to.”
Bay2Tray was recently selected from thousands of entrepreneurs around the country for the JMK Innovation Prize, along with 175-thousand dollars to help expand its efforts. The award is given to U.S. teams or individuals addressing our country’s most pressing needs through social sector innovation.
