Something fishy for Spanish children

The Spanish government through the Fondo de Regulación y Organización del Mercado de los Productos de la Pesca y Cultivos Marinos (FROM) is trying to encourage 8 to 12 year old to eat more fish. This is the message of FROM (www.from.es) at the 23rd edition of the Salón Internacional del Club de Gourmets which opened today at IFEMA, Madrid.

To pass the message on to children, FROM have organise a big stand which includes a lesson about fish using real fish, cocking and the FROM radio (www.fromradio.es). Eating more fish does not only mean helping with the economics of the industry but more important is the government’s objective of reducing child obesity which stands at 27.6% of overweight children today. FROM Radio is another initiative to reach this age group over the internet and teach them about the benefits of eating fish.

In the meantime I spent some time watching two fishmongers dealing with the enthusiasm and excitement of a group of school children. The hands on practical demonstration was to prepare boquerones (anchovies) that are very popular as tapas. Finally, there was a bit of a commotion when one of the fishmongers brought out a box full of what seemed like live crabs.