It’s tough enough to get people with modest incomes to eat more seafood in the United States, harder still among the nation’s poor and underprivileged, who often are grateful to have anything to eat at all.
That’s where SeaShare comes in. The charity, started in 1994 with a group of commercial Alaska fishermen giving bycatch to food banks, has been working for the past 20 years with various other groups to help bring fish to the dinner tables of struggling families in the United States.
It’s hard to imagine people can go hungry in what is thought to be one of the richest countries in the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 45.3 million people, or 14.5 percent of the U.S. population, were described as “in poverty” in 2013 alone.
Americans struggling to feed their families often turn to food banks for help, but seafood is not always at the top of the list of wanted food items. It’s hard for the banks, too — dry and canned goods have a much longer shelf life than salmon and halibut fillets, and they don’t need refrigeration either.
Still, SeaShare remains committed to bringing fresh seafood to the nation’s poor. The Seattle-based nonprofit started a month-long campaign, Share The Sea, on 1 December, with the goal of providing 1 million seafood servings to food banks nationwide. The campaign asks for donations, noting that USD 1 will provide eight servings of seafood.
To learn more about the group, and to track the campaign’s progress, visit SeaShare’s new website. The group is also asking for support via social media. Twitter and Facebook users can follow @SeaShare, and post using the campaign’s official hashtag #ShareTheSea.
It’s no accident that this campaign is starting up in the middle of the holiday season, when a lot of well-meaning charity groups are also counting on the nation’s generous spirit, but SeaShare’s campaign is unique. Donating to them does more than feed people — it feeds them with fish, one of the healthiest proteins on the planet.
