what? yes you read correctly. Over the summer, May and i attended Scadding Court's Gone Fishing project. In its 9th year (yes! can you believe it?) the community centre transforms its indoor pool to house 2000 trout from a local fish farm.
Why you ask? Because we have underutilized indoor pools that are not being used in the summer, since everyone would rather be outside. The program exists because we have inner city children that have never gone fishing, and perhaps don't even know where fish come from. This is a fantastic program that gives less fortunate school groups the opportunity to experience a recreational activity that perhaps some of us luckier kids get, while also connecting them to the food they eat. Its amazing how meaningful a simple experience like this can affect a child or even an adult.
After a week of visits from local schools, the pool is open up to the public with an entrance fee of $3, including the chance to take home the fish you've caught. Lets just say, the smartest fish were left in the pool for us to catch. And when you've caught your fish, volunteers gut and clean it for you for 75cents, provide you with free recipes to take home, or you could even have the cafe upstairs cook the fish right away!
We love city programs like these, because they help engage and educate our public with the food we eat. We spoke with Kevin Lee, the community centre executive director, who was right there helping everyone with their fishing. What an amazing person making a great difference along with all the volunteers and workers.
That night we pan seared the trout, and accompanied it with a lemon butter caper sauce. It was super yummy and fresh. Guess who caught the bigger fish?!
Why you ask? Because we have underutilized indoor pools that are not being used in the summer, since everyone would rather be outside. The program exists because we have inner city children that have never gone fishing, and perhaps don't even know where fish come from. This is a fantastic program that gives less fortunate school groups the opportunity to experience a recreational activity that perhaps some of us luckier kids get, while also connecting them to the food they eat. Its amazing how meaningful a simple experience like this can affect a child or even an adult.
After a week of visits from local schools, the pool is open up to the public with an entrance fee of $3, including the chance to take home the fish you've caught. Lets just say, the smartest fish were left in the pool for us to catch. And when you've caught your fish, volunteers gut and clean it for you for 75cents, provide you with free recipes to take home, or you could even have the cafe upstairs cook the fish right away!
We love city programs like these, because they help engage and educate our public with the food we eat. We spoke with Kevin Lee, the community centre executive director, who was right there helping everyone with their fishing. What an amazing person making a great difference along with all the volunteers and workers.
That night we pan seared the trout, and accompanied it with a lemon butter caper sauce. It was super yummy and fresh. Guess who caught the bigger fish?!
