Captain Bill Amaru hoists up one of the first catches in the haddock chowder program. Doreen Leggett photo.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it also took a village to create a haddock chowder that will help keep local fishermen on the water and support food banks and pantries feeding friends and neighbors. In these photos you meet some of those villagers, and see some of the steps taken to create our first big batch. With philanthropic support from Catch Together, MIT Sea Grant and others the journey went from Great Eastern Seafood in Boston for processing to the Plenus Group in Lowell for chowder making, both companies family owned and operated. And then on to those on the front lines at food pantries across the state. Of course fishermen are at the heart of the chowder; we will share more of their stories and visit with them in the coming months.
This beautiful, iced haddock was landed at Stage Harbor and was off to Chatham Fish and Lobster for the next step in its haddock journey.
With five to 10 percent more fish than other chowders, the Fishermen’s Alliance chowder needs a lot of haddock.
Since the haddock is a soft fish, some are filleted by hand at Great Eastern Seafood.
Robby Brandano, head of purchasing and sales, checks out the haddock at Great Eastern Seafood, the company started by his father and uncle.
Michael and Joseph Jolly III are steeped in chowder, that’s how Plenus Group, Inc. was launched.
Dozens of bags of chowder bob by Mary Cusack in a heated bath, on their way to be packaged.
A plethora of haddock chowder containers wait for their trip to the Greater Boston Food Bank.
First shipment of haddock chowder arrives at the Family Pantry of Cape Cod in Harwich.
Last week, close to 20,000 18-ounce containers began rolling out to Food Banks across the state, a big goal accompanying those small containers: Feed America’s hungry and keep local fishermen at sea.