Local fishery and farm serve tacos and lessons to Scituate students

SCITUATE − An aroma of fresh fish and produce filled the kitchen of Scituate's Lester J. Gates Middle School as a busy cafeteria staff prepared locally sourced fish tacos spiced with a salsa made from garlic, tomatillos and cilantro grown on school grounds earlier in the gardening season and then preserved. A similar scene played out at Scituate's high school and four elementary schools, where more than 600 servings fed students.

Early reviews were great.

"It's truly a work of culinary genius," said 8th-grader Beckett Downing. "This is my second one!"

Beckett said today's menu was a welcome change from typical cafeteria fare, such as chicken patties and pizza.

Seventh-grader Mark McGourty said he felt proud to have an all Scituate-made lunch.

“It feels good, and it tastes good,” he said in between large chomps of his taco.

School kids eating locally sourced tacos is just one piece of a bigger story of local food, fishermen, education and partnerships.

The haul of yellowfin sole, which went into the tacos for last week's school lunch, was caught the previous day by the Miss Emily off Scituate's coast. Kevin Norton, who captains the boat, donated the fish for the school program.

The fish was then processed and delivered by Mullaney's Fish Market of Scituate and Cohasset owned by Joby Norton, Kevin Norton's cousin. In 2018, Joby Norton built a new fish processing plant. At that time, he told the Patriot Ledger that the expansion would allow him to be more involved in community partnerships.

Last week, Mullaney's served dinner for a North and South River Watershed Association fundraiser and gave the Scituate Food Pantry fresh fish, an item that food-insecure families don't often have access to. He has also provided meals for the local senior center.

Another of Norton's goals is to make customers more aware of locally caught species that may be unfamiliar and “a little bit smaller in the display case but are good to eat." At the fundraiser, Mullaney's served donated monk fish tikka masala and whiting fishcake.

“There’s more than cod and haddock,” Norton said. By broadening palates and promoting “species local to our waters,” Norton hopes to help local fishermen.

Mullaney's partnered with Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset to make the lunch possible. Both businesses agree that local sourcing promotes healthy bodies, a healthy environment and a healthy economy.

"There's so much good local food in a stone's throw," Norton said. "There's no need to bring it in from all over the world. It's not that difficult.

"Scituate, of all towns, should have fish on its table, at least once a month,” he said.

Also instrumental in the Taco Thursday was Lauren Esker, a Scituate High School senior enrolled in the district's school-to-careers program. Esker interns with Holly Hill Farm, learning about farming, growing and distributing healthy food to communities.

"It's been really fun and really interactive," Esker said. "I get to leave school twice a week. It’s a different, more hands on experience than the classroom."

When Esker enters university next fall, she'll focus on international studies. Though her work as an intern has been hyper-local (for instance, she collects seaweed from Scituate beaches to fertilize soil), she said the experience has taught her lessons that extend beyond Scituate and the South Shore. Huge global issues like nutrition, hunger and environmental sustainability, she said, often have local solutions.

Holly Hill Farm Outreach Director Jon Belber works with students and teachers throughout the South Shore to grow organic produce right on school grounds. In addition to Scituate, Holly Hill works with Cohasset, Hull, Braintree and Weymouth.

Belber said that earlier this week he lugged a barrel of fish guts in his family car from Mullaney's back to the farm for compost. "We're zeroing our footprint," he said. "It's better than hauling it to Seekonk and burning it."

"Just don't tell your wife," Norton quipped.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Scituate fishery and farm serves locally produced food to students