Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association is a non-profit dedicated to fostering sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. In partnership with local seafood businesses, it is developing ready-to-serve products featuring local seafood that will be served to Maine students.
Maine Coast Monkfish Stew, developed by Hurricane’s Premium Soup & Chowder in Greene, was the first value-added product to qualify for the Maine Department of Education’s newly expanded Local Foods Fund. The fund provides funds to incentivize K–12 schools to purchase local food.
Following the success of that product, MCFA received funding via a USDA School Food System Innovation Grant administered through Full Plates Full Potential to create additional products that qualify for the Local Food Fund and will provide healthy options for Maine students, while also supporting Maine fishermen and seafood businesses.
Graffam Brothers Seafood in Rockport is developing a local fish cake that combines dab flounder, an undervalued but abundant flatfish, with local potatoes, carrots, herbs, and spices. Hurricane Soups is creating and taste-testing another soup featuring pollock and sweet potatoes. More products that utilize other abundant, but undervalued, Gulf of Maine species will be coming in the next school year.
To learn more about Maine’s Local Foods Procurement Program and how to help Maine’s state-funded institutions achieve farm-to-institution goals, reach out to Brittany Peats, Maine DACF Institutional Market Development Coordinator, at brittany.peats@maine.gov.
