Pittsburg Students Serve Up Science! 

By: Isa Cabrera

Is the fish we catch from the San Francisco Bay-Delta safe to eat? Students from Foothill Elementary in Pittsburg led a cooking show-style Safe Bay-Delta Fishing and Cooking demonstration to teach their family members how to safely prepare fish caught in the San Francisco Bay-Delta. During this special presentation, students cooked rockfish tostadas in their classroom and taught their families how to safely choose, prepare, and eat fish caught from the bay. “When pollution gets into a food chain, it travels up the food chain. The concentration of toxins increases as it goes up the food chain. Since humans are at the top of food chains, it is really important that we are aware of which fish are safe to eat!” said Mia.

After learning more about bay science, and the problems of toxic bioaccumulation in bay-delta food chains in the KIDS for the BAY Watershed Action Program, students were excited to take action to protect the health of their community by leading this special demonstration. 

Student scientists kicked off the presentation by teaching their families how pollution enters local creeks and the San Francisco Bay. “Pollution such as garbage, pesticides, plastic, paint and car oil enter the storm drains in our neighborhoods and travel into our creeks and bay untreated,” explained Maria. “We can protect our health by learning how to cook bay and delta fish safely to reduce the amount of toxins getting into our bodies,” added Erick.

Two especially harmful pollutants found in the bay-delta include PCBs, which are stored in the fat, skin and organs of fish, and mercury, which is stored in the muscles. Students also educated their audience about the types and quantities of bay and delta-caught fish that are safe for consumption, and introduced California’s Guide to Eating Fish and Shellfish from San Francisco Bay. Using the guide’s green, yellow, and red-light system, Arshbir, Jazzy, and Kayden quizzed the audience on which bay-delta fish are safe to eat and how often. “How many servings of California halibut from the bay can a 25 year-old woman safely eat each week?” asked Arshbir. Parents flipped through their guides, conferring with each other before landing on their answer: one serving per week. For many in the room, they were encountering this information for the first time. “I haven’t studied this yet!” joked one parent. 

Then came the moment everyone had waited for. Saniya and Elias stepped into the roles of chef and sous-chef, seasoning rockfish with green onions, fresh ginger and lemon, then steaming it so the fatty oils carrying toxins would drain away. The young chefs then served the clean, white fillet on tortillas and topped each tostada with slaw, lime and hot sauce. “I enjoyed making the fish tostadas and I liked the presentation that we did,” said sous-chef Elias. “The Safe Bay-Delta Cooking Show was the highlight of my entire KIDS for the BAY experience!” agreed Sofia.

This demonstration was especially relevant for students and families in Pittsburg, a community where the bay-delta provides a source of food for many families. “I think the parents liked our presentation a lot. I’m glad we got to teach them what we’ve learned,” said Natalia. “I liked how we got to give fish tostadas to our parents,” said Nikolas. Maxwell summarized, “Through the Watershed Action Program, I learned about the bay-delta, the fish, which fish are safe to eat, and about safe, healthy water.” Our KftB students were excited to take this newfound knowledge home with them to share with their families. 

In a community where the San Francisco Bay-Delta is a source of food for many families, this knowledge is vital to ensure healthy, resilient communities. Our young Environmentalists learned about environmental health and became an informational resource for their families. Through hands-on, community specific action projects that equip students to address the environmental issues impacting their own communities, KftB is growing a network of empowered young Environmentalists, one family, one classroom and one tostada at a time!