Students taste test locally-caught rockfish, lingcod in Washington schools
A new year-long pilot project is bringing lesser-known, locally caught seafood species like rockfish and lingcod in for students to taste test at several Washington schools.
By the end of this month, nearly one thousand students at the schools, all based on Washington’s North Olympic Peninsula, will have given their thoughts on dishes cooked with the fish – providing new data on the seafood’s “acceptability,” or the students’ willingness to eat it based on appearance, taste and smell. The pilot project will also gather feedback from school food services staff to understand how fish fits into budgeting, preparation, cooking and food service for school menus.
The taste tests are part of Seafood to School, a new collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, Washington State University Extension – Clallam County, and Washington Sea Grant that aims to build off the foundation laid by programs like Harvest of the Season. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and implemented by the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Harvest of the Season helps school food authorities, students, and families learn about, source, cook and serve Washington-grown and caught food to students. Rockfish was recently named a Harvest of the Season local food.
Port Townsend High School and Chimacum School District students were the first to sample lingcod tacos prepared by Stacey Larsen, WSU – Clallam Extension Farm to School consultant. As Larsen dished up, students tried the tacos, garnished with an acidic cabbage slaw and herby sauce, before noting their feedback on a series of message boards.
“I normally don’t like fish, but this is amazing,” said one Port Townsend student.
Another noted, “I loved how the flavors intermingled, and I love getting seafood in our diets. We don’t get a lot of that here at the high school.” Finishing the taco, the student asked Larsen if he could have another.
Rockfish and lingcod are both mild, flaky whitefish that lend well to a variety of student-friendly preparations, like fish tacos. Taste testings like these can be an effective way to introduce students to new food items, and student acceptance of new foods often increases after they taste them for the first time.
Launching with the taste tests, the Seafood to School project is slated to unfold over the next year, with culinary training for school cafeteria staff planned for winter/spring 2027, and a full lunch service rolled out next fall.
“Many schools have a keen interest in serving more culturally relevant and local foods such as seafood, but don’t quite know how to purchase it, in which product form, and from whom,” says Danielle Carson, community health and Farm to School lead at Clallam County WSU Extension.
The pathway from sea to school isn’t straightforward. With frozen seafood’s cold storage needs, “last mile” distribution has been a challenge, and the project’s task is to support the development of a seafood cold chain sourcing from a Tribal seafood enterprise on the Washington coast. Part of this initiative, led by Clallam County WSU Extension’s Farm to School team through a SCALES grant project, is exploring whether local food banks could serve as food hubs and last mile distributors for both local farms and coastal seafood businesses.
“We’re excited to apply many of the traditionally “Farm to School” initiatives to be inclusive and celebratory of PNW seafood,” says Jenna Keeton, WSG fisheries specialist and a co-lead on the project. “By exposing students to fish early in their culinary lives, we encourage lifelong seafood consumers and an appreciation for PNW seafood.”
Fish taco taste tests are occuring at Port Townsend High School, Chimacum School District, Crescent School, Salish Coast Elementary, Brinnon School District, and Quilcene School District this October, and more area schools may be added.
As the project partners see it, building out seafood-to-school pathways could have a variety of benefits. Through understanding student acceptability, preferred product forms, price, and supply chain logistics, seafood businesses can more meaningfully engage with schools and other institutions. Coastal Washington’s seafood economies will benefit from stronger local supply chains for their products. Rockfish and lingcod are part of well-managed fisheries that offer students a mild, flaky, flavorful, and healthy protein. And with its nutritional value, local sourcing, and incentivized pricing, schools are interested in serving more fish to their students
At the first two tastings in Port Townsend and Chimacum, many more students voted that they liked the tacos than not. They rated the slaw and sauce highly as well. “I’ve heard multiple students say they don’t like fish, but they liked these,” Keeton says.
As the effort to get more Washington seafood in schools unfolds, perhaps the most important question remains: will students eat it?
With initial feedback rolling in, the answer seems bright.
