One of the world’s leading sustainable seafood experts and educators decided to give back to Freeport by cooking a fish-based school lunch for one of the elementary schools.

Barton Seaver, National Geographic’s renowned chef and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association board member, cooked a baked-pretzel-crust flounder served with roasted broccoli for students at the Morse Street School. The event on Friday, May 30, was part of the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program under the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, highlighting local and seasonal fish bought and processed by Mainers.

Around lunchtime at the Freeport elementary school, the baked-pretzel-crust flounder was passed out to the different classes. As students were served the fresh flounder lunch, Seaver spoke about why fish is important for physical and brain development. Seaver said another goal of the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program is encouraging younger generations to appreciate seafood and its origins in the community.

“We should think of seafood as an ingredient we can use for positive public health, environmental and economic outcomes,” Seaver said, while preparing the flounder the day before the seafood lunch would be passed out.

Seaver completed the finishing touches on the prep work for the fish, taking the skin off and cleaning the rest of the fish before lightly seasoning it with salt and pepper. Then, he rolled the flounder on the baking sheet and baked it slowly in the oven to retain its moisture and flavor with a crushed pretzel crumb mixed with butter, a little onion and garlic powder on top.

“The chicken nugget doesn’t need any champion, but seafood does,” Seaver said.

The flounder was chosen because it was the catch of the day, being the most abundant and the best option for the elementary school students. He emphasized that consumers and chefs must be willing to take what fishermen can provide at a particular time of the year and rationalize fishing economies based on supply rather than demand.

The fresh-caught fish was delivered to the Morse Street School from the Portland Fish Exchange, bought off the auction floor and processed by Browne Trading Company in Portland.

Whenever Seaver serves seafood to someone who hasn’t tried it before, he focuses on serving the dish, not the fish. For the Morse Street School students, Seaver wanted to give them something familiar to latch onto, like a pretzel, and make the fish a little less intimidating because of the known element on the plate.

“It’s core to my mission and what I care about,” Seaver said.

According to Seaver, seafood is a center-of-the-plate protein, and he believes sustainable seafood options are the best choice from an environmental perspective, compared to raising land animals. He hoped to show students how delicious fish from the coastal community can be.

“I work very much in the food space, advocating for an increased consumption of sustainable seafood for all demographics,” Seaver said.

Seaver said seafood is a big and important part of the Maine economy, providing on-the-water jobs and sustaining the state’s fishing heritage. He wanted to adapt to what the ocean offers to Maine when in season.

Seaver used to cook in public schools when he lived in Boston and Washington, D.C., but this was the first time he had volunteered his cooking skills for his community of Freeport, where he has lived for 12 years with his wife and two sons. He is the author of eight cookbooks, with his ninth book scheduled to come out in late October.