THUNDER BAY — More than four tons fish made their way from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay recently.
The Regional Food Distribution Association received seven giant boxes of fish from Harvest Manitoba, weighing in at 4104 kilograms.
This fish will provide around 27,360 meals to families in Thunder Bay and the surrounding region, according to the RFDA's Facebook page.
"Providing fresh meat is kind of the direction that we're going towards at the RFDA," said Tanner Harris, the RFDA's food service manager.
"We want to be able to provide that high protein meat source so that people can rely on something healthier than canned food and stuff like that."
Lake trout and other whitefish were among the different types of fish that the RFDA has received, with the most recent shipment being carp.
"This is huge because it offers volunteer opportunities for people to come in and help out. And then it benefits our food banks so that people can get really healthy food and high-protein food," said Harris.
Harris explained that the RFDA has already headed and gutted the fish to be individually frozen in 1-kilogram packages to be used within its membership network so people can access it and use it at home.
He added that this fish, and the fish from a previous shipment, came from lakes in the Winnipeg area.
"Having locally sourced food is more economical for us. Like it's just a less carbon footprint, so it just makes more sense to source it locally," said Harris.
However, transporting and preparing the fish for meals isn't easy and needs to occur in a tight time frame.
"Part of what warehousing is, is that we have to be prepared. We know that it's coming up and then we're working with the other agencies in other areas, plus the food banks and agencies that we provide with as well," said George Noonan, the RFDA's distribution and logistics manager.
"So, we just have to be prepared, let everyone know what's happening and then we also have to have a good volunteer base, which we're fortunate to have… they work on the production side of getting the fish prepared and getting that out."
Noonan said they were also fortunate to be able to work with other agencies similar to the RFDA.
One of these organizations was the Mississauga Food Bank, which is in the heart of manufacturing.
"They often will have the fortune to pass on some of the truckloads of stuff to other food banks like ours or our distribution agency here. So, we are able to take stuff from there and receive stuff here, (then) send it on to Manitoba," said Noonan.
"Manitoba has access to the other proteins like the fish. They were able to send that back our way and then we were also able to share that with Mississauga Food Bank as well."
He said it's a win-win for everyone when it comes sharing what they have with each other.
"Getting that reaction back from our member agencies, it's always good to hear from them when they're appreciative that they're getting the proteins," said Noonan.
"They're able to help those who need a little bit more access to that kind of stuff because if you're going to try to buy at the grocery store, it's often out of reach for a lot of people. So, if we're able to help and supply that it's wonderful."
