A pilot community project to create a new locally sourced fish finger for school lunches is making waves across Plymouth and beyond.
Known as the Plymouth Fish Finger, the project is making use of by-catch fish from the local fleet, taste testing them with school children, and co-designing fish fingers, with a plan to serve them in school meals in the region.
Fish species involved include whiting, pouting and dogfish, and the project ensures under 10m vessels receive a fair price for something that is normally low-value and underutilised, while getting healthy and sustainable food into local schools.
The project is co-led by the University of Plymouth, Sole of Discretion CIC, Plymouth Fishing & seafood Association and CATERed, and is part of the national FoodSEqual programme to explore how to improve access to healthier foods for people all over the UK.
Dr Clare Pettinger is an active food system justice researcher at the University of Plymouth, with a keen interest in understanding – and overcoming – the barriers to healthy sustainable food consumption in the local community. As part of FoodSEqual, she held several workshops with the local community in Whitleigh, Plymouth to see what they knew about fish, and what might encourage them to eat more of it.
Themes emerged such as finding opportunities to try new fish and improving access to fish, so the focus on a local, sustainable fish finger was born.
Clare worked with Caroline Bennett from Sole of Discretion CIC and Ed Baker from Plymouth Fishing & Seafood Association to explore how to bring fishers into the conversation, and when the by-catch species were identified, pupils at Sir John Hunt Community College held a series of taste sessions for the fish and breadcrumbs to design and make the new product.
CATERed, which provides the majority of Plymouth’s school meals, was also brought on board and is fully supportive of bringing the fish finger into circulation.
‘What’s amazing about this project is the collaboration that has formed around it. We have championed a community co-design model which has led to the project’s success. Our amazing local partners have a shared vision for the Plymouth Fish finger because it belongs to the community, promotes Plymouth Seafood brand and provides true pride and identity in the product,’ Clare Pettinger said.
‘Our next challenge is to upscale the process and ensure it’s truly sustainable.’
The next challenge is to mechanise the manufacturing process in order to produce the 36,000 fish fingers needed for school meal cycle in Plymouth schools. In order to do this, the team now needs philanthropic investment. Work is also ongoing to ensure the fish fingers adhere to necessary industry standards to be classified as fully sustainable.
‘We know this project is a positive thing for the city and we’ve got a proof of concept, it’s just a case of upscaling and finding the necessary support to bring it to more people,’ Clare Pettinger added.
‘At the very least, we’ve shown that a community of practice can achieve fantastic things, so we hope other areas of the UK feel inspired. We don’t just have to accept that things won’t change when it comes to accessing healthy food at a reasonable cost – together we can achieve so much.’
