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Commodity Chronicles – Seafood

Why Florida Seafood is a Game-Changer for Our Food Banks

When you think of Florida agriculture, your mind probably jumps straight to orange groves or sprawling cattle ranches. But if you head toward the coast and look just beneath the surface of our waters, you’ll find another vital part of our state’s heritage: aquaculture. At Feeding Florida, we know that to truly feed our neighbors, we need to embrace everything our state provides, including the incredible seafood being harvested by local families.

Our Farmers Feeding Florida program is about recovery. Sometimes, the market shifts or a storm hits, it’s not just produce growers that are left with surplus. Florida’s hardworking seafood producers are also left with world-class products and nowhere to send them. That’s where we step in. By creating a reliable “home” for this seafood, we’re able to put high-quality, protein-rich meals on the tables of families facing food insecurity, while keeping our local maritime economy afloat.

The Farmers Behind the Catch

To understand why this matters, you have to meet the people on the water. Take Tim Solano, a 14th-generation Floridian and co-owner of Cedar Key Aquaculture Farms. For Tim, this partnership is a lifeline. He recently shared that when a big retailer shifted their orders, he was left with millions of clams that simply had nowhere to go—and in this business, if you don’t have a “home” for them, they eventually die in the water. Feeding Florida was able to connect this incredible product to our food banks who could use Farmers Feeding Florida funding to recover the clams and get them to the neighbors they serve.

But it’s about more than just the clams. Tim worries about his crew—families with kids and mortgages. Knowing Feeding Florida is there to buy his product means he doesn’t have to cut his team back to 20 hours a week. It keeps the kids in Cedar Key heading to college and helps families repair their homes after back to back hurricanes. As Tim puts it, it’s a “sign of hope” when other markets disappear. While Farmers Feeding Florida supports our food banks, it’s in these recovery efforts that it’s also supporting farmers.

Then there’s Mark Godwin over at Gulf American Shrimp in Wewahitchka. Mark and his son run one of only four commercial shrimp farms in the entire country. In an era where 94% of the shrimp we eat in the U.S. is imported, often raised with antibiotics or processed with heavy preservatives, Mark is doing things differently. He’s raising all-natural, sustainable shrimp in open ponds without a single hormone or preservative. For a small family farm like his, being part of this program means their hard work is actually valued right here at home.

More Than Just a Meal

Adding seafood to our food banks is about more than just variety; it’s about powerhouse nutrition. Seafood is a lean, nutrient-dense protein packed with Omega-3 fats, Vitamin D, and iron, exactly what children need for growth and what everyone needs for a healthy immune system. This high-grade protein helps our neighbors stretch their budgets without sacrificing health.

What We Want You to Know

The next time you think about Florida seafood, remember these three things:

  • It’s World-Class: Many people don’t realize that Florida is #2 in the nation for clam farming, with Cedar Key alone producing nearly 200 million clams a year.
  • It’s “Green”: Florida shellfish, like clams and oysters, are natural filter feeders that actually clean the water and improve our estuaries while they grow.
  • It’s the Real Deal: We aren’t sourcing “seconds.” The clams and shrimp we provide are number one grade quality, the same quality you’d find at a high-end restaurant. The recovery comes from market shifts and making sure we find them a home before they are unusable.

 

When we support our aquaculture farmers, we aren’t just filling a pantry; we’re protecting a way of life that has sustained Florida for generations. It’s a win for the environment, a win for the farmers, and most importantly, a win for the families we serve.

If you want to learn more about our Aquaculture Recovery Program, check our Farmers Feeding Florida page.

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