Hope in the Water

(all laughing and chatting) - Okay, so, the announcements are, this week is Sea Dragon Week, so that means we will be distributing on Wednesday.

The fish that we will have this week is dogfish.

(gentle music) - Fishadelphia is a community-supported fishery program.

That's like a community-supported agriculture, like a CSA box, in which people pay in advance and they get a bag of fish every week.

(gentle music continues) (seagulls calling) We are based at two high schools in Philadelphia.

And we run afterschool programming at both of those schools.

And those students help run many of the day-to-day operations.

- So, yeah, we need to start working on things.

So, Aaliyah, you're working with me.

So, it's a lot of like marketing whatever species we have that day, where students are working on informational graphics, jokes or fish puns, and using social media as a marketing tool.

- Hey guys, today we're cooking golden tilefish.

Let's get started.

(upbeat music) So, first, we're gonna use some Sriracha, right here.

And dump some oyster sauce right here.

And then, we can add some chicken bouillon.

And I like to dump in the cap and then put it in.

That looks good enough.

And we are gonna use this special Chinese cooking wine.

It's called shaoxing.

We're just gonna put a little bit.

Then mix it up.

So now, it's ready for the oil, y'all.

And while we're waiting for the oil to heat up, we can coat the potato starch.

So, just gonna dump in a little.

We're just gonna stir it.

And I'm gonna slowly put the fish in.

(oil sizzling) Now, I'm gonna start making the sauce while it's frying.

Take the shaoxing again, put it into the bowl.

And I'm gonna take the vinegar.

The sauce ratio is like one to one.

So, basically everything is like one scoop.

And this is the soy sauce.

I'm gonna add some chicken bouillon.

I'm gonna check on my fish.

Since it's all fried, we're gonna take it out.

And then we're gonna let it rest for a little bit.

(upbeat music continues) Now, we're gonna add in the sugar.

Now, we're gonna add some sesame oil, just a little bit.

Here's some minced garlic.

And this sauce is known as a traditional sauce.

I don't know what is it called, but it's sweet and sour.

(chopsticks tapping) Whoa, it looks so good.

Mm.

Mm.

Crispy.

(laughs) Mm, so good.

Yeah, it's fresh.

- Okay, so we can take the fish coolers over to the tent.

Let's do it.

The students are in charge of distributing the fish.

- Okay, so y'all two are on greeting customers.

And comp means dogfish, okay.

That means that they're getting it for free.

- We have a sliding scale payment system, where people can pay market rate, or people can pay higher than market rate, or people can pay less than market rate, in order to increase access.

- Hey, how are you?

- Good, how are you?

- Good, thank you.

Fish stand, I feel like is a place where students and customers get to connect in real life.

- We met last time.

- Oh yeah.

- You were on that side.

- You just learn about a sense of community and you get to learn about business.

- Awesome, thank you.

- So, there are two kinds of people who pick up, members who are picking up directly.

- Yay, thank you.

- Thank you.

- [Talia] But then they're also the cooler hosts.

- Have a great one, enjoy.

This one is also going in the blue-grey car.

- You know, can you host a cooler at your house, your neighbors can pick it up.

We'll comp you a share.

Thank you so much, have an awesome time.

I wish I could eat your sancocho.

- I heard someone getting fish out of a porch, and I thought that was exciting.

(truck beeping) (bright music) We moved here five years ago.

And it has been a great way to know people I will never meet somehow in my path.

- Which is your favorite fish that we've had, Eli?

- Swordfish?

- Swordfish?

- Swordfish.

I'm from Columbia.

I'm gonna make sancocho de pescado, which is one of my grandfather's favorite.

I'm gonna put onions, and peppers, and tomatoes to cook for a little bit.

And I'm gonna add potatoes, plantains.

Once those are cooked, I'm gonna add the fish on top.

Dogfish is especially good for it because it's thick enough to stay in the soup.

(bright music continues) Mm, mm, mm.

- Yum.

- I'm interested in using fish as a vehicle for justice.

And if I need to leave fish behind to get to justice, I will do it.

But I do love fish.

I wanna be working to support other projects that are doing similar things, and sharing things that have worked for us.

That feels like the best thing to do.