A Balanced Diet

The plucky Wakefield nonprofit helping to build more diverse and resilient marine ecosystems

From tiny planktonic animals and filter feeders to the big fish in the sea – and everything in between – a healthy marine ecosystem is all about balance and diversity. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that what we harvest from our local waters to eat factors into that equation, too.

“When you eat a diversity of local seafood species, particularly species that are really abundant in our ecosystems but haven’t received as much attention on menus, we’re allowing the ecosystems to maintain a more natural balance,” says Kate Masury, executive director of the aptly named Eating with the Ecosystem. Working with scientists, fishermen, and chefs across New England, the Wakefield-based nonprofit devises creative ways to sustain not only our wild seafood system, but also the people who depend on it. This work takes the form of, for instance, a climate change initiative partnering with scientists to investigate the species moving into our region, and then taking that data to local seafood businesses to brainstorm ways of incorporating these shifts in species into their business models. It’s also cooking demonstrations highlighting local species, and citizen science projects sending seafood enthusiasts on the hunt for local species popping up in markets.

“We’re a pretty small organization, but we try to have a big impact,” says Masury, and the need has never been greater. “We’re seeing a lot of shifts in what our New England ecosystems look like over the years due to climate change and other