A guide on where to start looking to buy local seafood in the Worcester, MA. area.
While in college, it can be very difficult to eat locally and sustainably on a student's budget. As a student myself, I have struggled finding local options both on and off campus.
Currently I am a senior at the College of the Holy Cross majoring in environmental studies. The College of Holy Cross is located on Mt. Saint James, right in the heart of New England's second largest city; Worcester. As an environmental studies major, sustainability is a priority of mine, but as a college student living in essentially a food desert while on campus, it can be difficult to eat sustainably. So, I did some digging (or should I say fishing)!
I sought out to find three different options for buying locally sourced fish in the Worcester area that hopefully will cater to any lifestyle, on or off campus. From my research and traveling around Worcester to find the best options, I have compiled an online source, a small seafood business, and a large supermarket chain that all have some locally sourced seafood. Hopefully other college students around Worcester can use this as a guide on where and how to buy local seafood in the area.
Shopping Online
Shopping online for seafood has an abundance of benefits, especially for a college student. The first is that it is an easily accessed method of purchasing local and fresh seafood. For some students, transportation to and from a grocery store or fish market can be difficult. By using an online fish market to buy seafood, it takes out the transportation aspect and delivers it right to the student's door (...or campus mailbox?).
There are over 100 different species caught in the New England waters and shopping online is one way to gain access to this diversity of species!
While searching the internet for some online options, one of the first places I came across was Fulton's Fish Market. This website had an abundance of fresh seafood options, including species that are sourced from the New England region, making it convenient for any college student in central Massachusetts who wants to eat locally.
As the internet is the one place that someone can buy anything they can think of, this makes online fish markets ideal for purchasing local seafood. One can take this type of option anywhere you go! Live in one state but go to another for school? You can change up what you buy based on what is local to your new environment! It is very easy to obtain local seafood via a search engine as a college student.
As an online option, Fulton's Fish Market doesn't only have seafood, but also has products to accompany it, making it easier to cook. On their website, they sell kitchen tools, spices, garnishes, and even side dishes that would go well with seafood. This option completely eliminates the need for any grocery store run when making seafood!
Another online option that I found when searching for seafood online is Red’s Best, a Massachusetts based company. Red’s Best’s mission focuses on being able to track the seafood from the ocean to your dinner plate, while prioritizing the community ties to the individual fisherman. Like, Fulton Fish Market, Red’s Best has an abundance of options for fresh, frozen, and local seafood that can be delivered right to your door, but buys directly from fisherman, putting emphasis on the importance of the fisherman-consumer relationship and community values. I really enjoyed the navigability of Red’s Best website. It seems very easy to use and convenient for someone in college to use begin their journey to eating local seafood.
Similarly, another fisherman-first company that sells seafood for purchase online is True Fin Seafood. True Fin is primarily focused in the Gulf of Maine, making it very suitable for those who want to eat locally while based in New England. Like Red’s Best, True Fin works towards fresh and local seafood, while prioritizing seafood straight from the fisherman. Like other online platforms, True Fin and Red’s Best have an abundance of options to chose from, that can be delivered right to your door. I truly enjoyed navigating through these two companies’ websites, and really appreciated their emphasis on buying directly from fishermen, as it truly improves the relationship between fishermen and the community of consumers.
There can also be some drawbacks by purchasing seafood online. One would be the packaging required for transportation and shipping. Shipping seafood to your home requires more packaging to ensure that the seafood is preserved and remains fresh which can mean more plastic or other non-reusable materials.
Another con to this method of obtaining locally sourced seafood online is that it can be overwhelming. Sometimes, not having the fish right in front of you to look at the size or amount can be very difficult to put into perspective, which can make it more daunting to buy it online.
Overall, utilizing an online seafood market can be very beneficial to someone just getting started with seafood. It is a great way to find locally sourced seafood, and very convenient if traveling to and from the grocery store is difficult as a college student.
“For nearly 200 years this bounty was only available to the world's best restaurants and the brave few willing to shop the market at 3am. Now our customers nationwide can access the world's best seafood - hand-selected by the most trusted experts in the business - all from the comfort of their own home” -Fulton Fish Market
Check these out!
Fulton Fish Market
Red's Best!
True Fin Seafood
Large Chain Grocer: Shaw’s Market (Shrewsbury, MA)
Shaw’s Market Seafood Counter
50 Boston Turnpike. Shrewsbury, MA. 01545
Another option to buying local seafood is through chain grocery stores near you. For the purposes of this article, I looked at one close to my campus of Holy Cross, which happened to be Shaw's supermarket. Here there are lots of options at the seafood counter, as well as easy access to items to accompany the seafood, such as spices and side dishes.
Buying seafood at a grocery store may require some communication and socialization. Sometimes the labels are not very descriptive on where the fish is sourced from, or sometimes they may not have everything that you are looking for on display. That's okay, because all you have to do is ask! The people working behind the counter are there to help you get what you are looking for.
For the purpose of this post, I went to Shaw's to experience buying seafood so I could document my experience.
Just from walking into the store, I knew that it was going to be very easy to purchase other things to go along with the seafood, but maybe not the seafood itself.
I headed towards the extravagant sign labeled "SEAFOOD" to start this process. I took one glance at the seafood, and was a bit overwhelmed. There was shrimp, and clams; salmon and crab legs, all the way over to the live lobster tank with dozens of lobsters crawling on top of each other.
With my list in hand of the species I was looking for, I was ready to get started. There was only one issue; nothing was labeled with where it was sourced from. There were signs to let the customer know the species and the price, but nothing about where it came from, or whether or not it was locally caught.
I decided my next move would be to ask the person behind the counter. I stepped up when it was my turn in line, and I noticed they had Atlantic cod, which could be a local species, and asked him where it was from. He proceeded to tell me that it was the North Atlantic region, which he mentioned could be around here, or all the way up to Iceland.
Cod is a very popular choice among New England supermarkets due to its flaky white texture. There are, however other species local to the area that are similar and also very tasty such as haddock, pollock, or hake.
The conversation overall, was not very helpful. The worker did not seem very invested, or knowledgeable about the location at which the fish was sourced from. Although this may not be the same at every large chain you go to, this may be a frequent issue you face. Because of this, as a college student who wants to start buying local seafood, the grocery store can be overwhelming and challenging during your journey, so it may not be the ideal place to begin.
As for price, however, the grocery store was affordable. In comparison to the online markets, Shaws definitely had less variety and could be very ambiguous with its labeling, but was less expensive in comparison. If price is something that is the top priority when shopping for seafood, the chain grocery stores may be the way to go, but they may not always be the best option when attempting to obtain local seafood easily.
Small Business: A.P Seafood Co. Worcester, MA.
My last stop was a local seafood market right here in Worcester. My experience here was interesting to say the least.
First, the fish market is in a very convenient area of Worcester. The area is very drivable, and there is an abundance of parking.
I then went in to be welcomed by cases and cases of fish. There were live lobsters, little neck clams, shrimp, cod, and more! There were also various signs about the locality of most of their seafood that they offered. The people behind the counter were very friendly and very fast paced but were still willing to help out a beginner in the world of seafood, like myself.
I had asked the man behind the counter if he could point me in the direction of the most local seafood he had. He mentioned that everything in the case was pretty much local and from the coast of Maine through Rhode Island, which was exciting to hear! He did however mention that the Atlantic Cod would probably be the closest catch he had. Sold! I then bought a filet to cook up later for dinner (stay tuned for a post about that!).
Overall, my experience here was pretty simple. I was able to sustainably purchase locally sourced seafood at a reasonable price, while also supporting a small business. It checked all my boxes!
I unfortunately was not able to take my own photos while in the seafood market, but here’s a photo from the market's website!
Inside A.P Seafood Market sourced from Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Again, as a college student, one challenge of shopping at a local seafood market is transportation. I am fortunate enough to have my car with me, and have had it on campus for all four years of undergrad. I have been able to go anywhere whenever I wanted to. This unfortunately is not the case for a lot of college students.
Transportation can be a big halt in the road for students to be able to purchase local seafood. Although the prices at the small local seafood market were the best, it may not always be the easiest option.
Check out A. P Seafood at 1059 Grafton St. Worcester, MA. 01604
For another small seafood market in the Worcester area, check out West Boylston Seafood located at 321 W. Boylston St. West Boylston, MA. 01583
I think the big takeaway from my shopping experience is that shopping for local seafood is an individual experience and is based on what best fits the needs of your lifestyle. For me, I found the best option to be the small seafood market, as it checked all of my boxes. It had reasonable prices, was easily accessible, and was a small business.
Although these may be my boxes to check, they may not be yours. As a college student, you have to establish your priorities when you shop, especially for seafood. If the monetary aspect is the top priority, maybe finding the most inexpensive option is key. If transportation is a worry when shopping for seafood, then maybe purchasing online and having it delivered would be best. It is very much an individual decision and should be based on your priorities.
Overall, being a beginner when it comes to buying local seafood can be tricky. I found through my experience that purchasing small scale was the best fit for me, but honestly, whatever the method of purchasing the seafood is (small business, grocery chain, or online), as long as it is local, it is a great start to sustainable, place-based eating!
Check out ETWE’s species list that is local to the New England region to help you get started!