Salem Pantry Delivers 18K Pounds Of Rescued Seafood To North Shore

SALEM, MA — Four Salem Pantry employees and eight volunteers spent more than six hours at the Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center rescuing more than 18,000 pounds of fresh seafood for redistribution to North Shore families in need.

The seafood came from the recent Seafood Expo North America, the largest seafood trade expo in North America, featuring suppliers from more than 50 countries.

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The Salem Pantry team collected surplus product from vendors at the conclusion of the event and delivered two fully loaded trucks to the North Shore.

The Salem Pantry team collected surplus product from vendors at the conclusion of the event and delivered two fully loaded trucks to the North Shore.

Protein is one of the most difficult food categories for pantries to source and provide. The seafood rescued from this year's Expo, including frozen fish filets, prepared seafood meals, whole fish, shellfish, and specialty items such as sushi-grade tuna and octopus, represents food that would not otherwise be available to guests of The Salem Pantry or its partner agencies.

Without this rescue, all of this food would have gone to waste. Instead, it reached neighbors across the North Shore for whom seafood may not be affordable.

"This kind of food rescue is an example of how waste reduction doesn't just mean last-minute salvage, but instead can mean an incredible increase in quality for our guests and fellow agencies," said Fred Norton, Director of Warehouse and Logistics at The Salem Pantry.

The rescued seafood was distributed through The Salem Pantry's programs, including The Market and the mobile pantry program, as well as through the organization’s food distribution hub serving partner agencies across the region.

The Salem Pantry was joined at the Expo by Food for Free, another agency of The Greater Boston Food Bank, as part of a shared commitment to recovering surplus food and redirecting it to communities in need.

The Salem Pantry said karge-scale rescues like this, and the ability to redistribute to partner agencies, are a key part of its work to strengthen the regional food safety net and ensure neighbors across the North Shore have access to food.

Recently, it also distributed 5,200 prepared meals donated by HelloFresh and Factor.

To learn more or to support The Salem Pantry's mission, visit here or call 978-552-3954