How We Did This: School of Fish? COVID-19 created a new—and surprising—option for groceries in Acton
I was yearning for some fish. It had been two full weeks since my last trip to the grocery store and my refrigerator (and freezer) showed it. It’s the simple, unexpected pleasures that separate each day from the next in this strange time, so when I learned that Acton-Boxborough Regional School District was selling contactless sustainable fish from Red’s Best to the public, I was intrigued.
I checked out the online offerings: salmon, scallops or haddock, all at near-wholesale prices, a box of fruit and vegetables plus items you might expect from a school cafeteria—frozen pizza, meatballs and chicken patties, Pop-Tarts, Doritos and other munchies.
With thoughts of salmon on the grill and fish tacos, I immediately placed an order. We’d already ordered meat from a local farm and vegetables from a CSA. But fish—that’s what I’d been craving and missing from my diet.
Three days later, I found myself sixth in a line of cars behind R.J. Grey Junior High School in Acton waiting to collect my fish. I watched as each car approached the loading dock. When it was my turn, I rolled down the passenger window and shouted my name to the man in the blue gloves. A minute or so later, he set my box down on the loading dock. I got out, picked up my box and placed it in my car. Once home, I opened the box, took out my packages of fish and placed them in my fridge to thaw, readying them for dinner over the next couple of nights.
The district plans to offer curbside pickup of food through the end of the school year, says Acton-Boxborough Regional School District Food Services Director Kirsten Nelson, adding that fish and fresh produce will be standard orders but that the dry goods offered will change weekly as the school district sells through its inventory.
Each box from Costa Fruit and Produce includes both fruit and vegetables, like lettuce, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, red and green peppers, cucumbers, apples, oranges, pineapple or melon, grapes and strawberries. The Red’s Best fish options will always be salmon, scallops and haddock.
Starting next week, people will be able to buy a premium meat box with meat from Savenor’s, including New York strip steaks, bacon, ground beef and chicken.
Why is this school district selling Red’s Best fish? “We serve their fish in our schools,” Nelson says. Now the school can offer the public another way to pick up food without having to go to the grocery store.
“It was like Christmas opening the box,” Nelson says one person emailed her after the first week’s pickup. Curbside pickup is on Wednesday afternoons with pre-ordering required by noon the previous Monday for the fish and produce. Acton-Boxborough residency is not required to place orders.
For families in need, Acton-Boxborough Food Services is also on the front lines, giving out meals five days a week. Each “Grab-and-Go” bag contains breakfast and lunch, free of charge. The meals are available to Acton and Boxborough residents for curbside pickup (or home delivery by volunteers from Neighborhood Brigade, if needed).
“Since we started, we have provided 2,588 breakfasts and 2,588 lunches,” Nelson told me last week, adding that on average they’ve been giving out 125 bags daily, each containing breakfast and lunch. A second bag of breakfast and lunch is now offered on Fridays for families who need meals on Saturdays.
“We are so happy we can do this for our community,” Nelson says. “If you know of anyone [in the district] in need of meals please let them know about our services.”
According to the district’s Facebook page, all meals are offered in compliance with USDA standards. Meals are for anyone in need, of any age—you do not need to be eligible for free or reduced-price meals and no identification is required. Pickup is in the front of the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Monday through Friday from 11:30 am—1:00 pm.
For questions on either service, email lunchonline@abschools.org or for more information on online ordering, click here. If you would like a bag lunch delivered to you, email abqualifiedlunch@neighborbrigade.org or call 866.896.3599 to reach a voicemail where you can leave your information.
To go behind the scenes in the AB cafeteria with food service staff and volunteers, watch the video below (provided by Kirsten Nelson).
