The Ocean-to-Table movement is shaping into a wave

About 15 years ago I fully embraced the Farm-to-Table movement after reading Michael Pollan's seminal book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. Inspired by Joel Salian, a sustainable practice farmer featured in the book, and horrified by the industrial food industry that was producing the food I was feeding my family, I sought out and found a young local farmer in Little Rock, Arkansas where we lived at the time. He was raising animals among other crops in a free-range environment. Immediately I was able to buy chicken and pork that was healthy and much better tasting than anything I was getting from the grocery store. It was a game changer. 

Now we live at the New Jersey shore and I want to eat fish and shellfish that are local, healthy and sustainable. I'm fishing and eating what I catch but have struggled to find ways to buy direct from local commercial fisherman. New Jersey is one of the larger seafood producers in the US but most of what is harvested here is immediately shipped out of state to be processed and delivered elsewhere or, shockingly, even shipped back here after substantial delay.

I finally found a great source nearby at Barnegat's Best Seafood, where Captains Jamie Dopkin and Andrew Cohalan are applying the local-and-fresh is best mindset and leading an Ocean-to-Table movement here. By becoming a certified dealer themselves they are able to bypass the middlemen and offer a wide variety of locally caught seafood direct to consumers.

Along the New Jersey coast others are also offering locally caught fish including well established co-ops like the Belford Fishery and Shore Fresh.

And just up the coast, New York has the same challenge and the same type of entrepreneurs working to meet demand for fresh and local seafood as highlighted a week ago by New York Times writer, Melissa Clark, with Why is it so Hard to Find Local Fish (Even by the Water)?

If you live near the coast, seeking out genuine local seafood may take some effort, but it is well worth it!