We Salute You, Auburn Middle School School Nutrition Heroes!

Next up in our series of Seafood Heroes is the nutrition team at Auburn Middle School

Auburn's all in on local seafood

It's week two of National Seafood Month and we're keeping the heroes coming with a feature on the rockstar nutrition staff at Auburn Middle School. Their enthusiasm and passion for local food (and seafood in particular!) knows no bounds and we are HERE for it.

Here's some of the ways Auburn Middle School has set a wicked high bar for bringing seafood into the cafeteria (and classroom):

• Last fall they sampled Graffam Bros fishcakes AND had them on the menu as a fish sandwich. 70% of students liked or loved them, so...

• ...they decided to put the fishcakes on the menu for the entire district. That's over 750 students eating fresh Gulf of Maine flounder in the form of fishcakes made by family-owned Rockland-based Graffam Bros Seafood (the fishcakes also happen to be made with Maine potatoes)

• This fall they sampled our newest Monkfish Corn Chowder made by Hurricane's Soups with 81% positive reviews. Many students came back even 5 or 6 times for more samples.

• Then they menued Gulf of Maine fish tacos, made with fresh hake from our Fishermen Feeding Mainers program - a big hit!

• They partnered with Maine Sea Grant to bring the sea to the classroom and the students out to the sea: a program in which all 8th grade students get to explore Maine’s working waterfront, marine habitats, fisheries, aquaculture, water quality, and more.

• Not to mention the fact that Auburn Public Schools have received 1600# of Gulf of Maine fish since our Fishermen Feeding Mainers program began in 2020. That puts them in the top 10 districts in Maine for requesting and serving FFM fish!

Making local seafood a recurring and familiar menu item — and one that is celebrated with some fanfare — reinforces for students that this is a reliable, delicious, local, and healthy protein they can enjoy. A food source that they've learned about in the classroom, seen in the ocean, and tried in the lunch room. Auburn Middle School nutrition staff have shown Maine seafood to be both versatile and exciting, and for that, we consider them heroes.

The positive influence that school nutrition staff can have on their students is immense. When nutrition staff show up with enthusiasm, willingness, creativity, and passion for local foods, their students will do the same. This has been proven to us time and again when we're lucky enough to tag along to the lunch room on a local seafood day. Students are engaged and excited to try something new and different and they always have overwhelmingly positive reviews for the fish dishes they are served. We salute you, Auburn Middle School heroes! You are absolutely rocking it.

BONUS: here is the fish taco recipe that Auburn used earlier this month. Try making them at home with hake or any other local whitefish!