About Me

Happy to be holding this beautiful fillet of pollock!

Hello, hello! My name is Amanda Parks and am pleased to introduce you to a project very near and dear to my heart.

I have been immersing myself in the local fisheries of New Hampshire for the past year learning the ins and outs of this 400 year old industry - and am still only just skimming the surface! I am a full time undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire studying Nutrition and EcoGastronomy working on my senior capstone project. I bet you guessed what the project may be focused on! The next blog will focus more on the project but for now I wanted to share a bit about my background. 

I grew up in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire but over the past several years have considered the Seacoast area just as dear to my heart. Ever since I can remember, food has been a love of mine. Growing up watching Emeril Lagasse to entering country fair baking contests - food has played a huge role in my life. When touring universities across New England, UNH was not even under my radar until learning about the EcoGastronomy program. Its combined curriculum of hospitality management, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture tied in all of my passions; I realized that I could learn and understand food in many different lights. Soon after starting college I discovered a student organization that seemed to encompass those same topics: Slow Food. From the very first event onward, I became heavily involved with this campus chapter. The Slow Food UNH group here seeks to "preserve and revitalize food culture on campus and in the community through education, celebration, and outreach" and has grown tremendously over the past 5 years. 

Learning to fillet over at Seaport Fish in Rye!

Over the past several years I have had the privilege of being part of many fun, educational, and inspirational food system related projects...here are a few:

Cooking Matters:

Cooking with Teens/Cooking with Families - instructor for 2, 8-week sessions working through the NH Food Bank to teach low income families how to cook nutritious meals on a budget

Slow Food:

Fillet Workshop – in the new Paul kitchen at UNH; many varieties of local species that Evan Mallet demonstrated how to fillet; developed recipes for each and set up stations guiding students through each 
Disco Soup - gleaning produce to turn into soup for pantries/shelters; worked with other campus Slow Food chapters; ~1000lbs of food into over 100 gallons of soups along with leftover produce donated
Thanksgivvukah 2013 - paired up with UNH Hillel to bring attendees a locally sourced meal tying two important holidays together

Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance:

Fish Locally Collaborative Dinner - coordinating - with the role of head chef - a seafood dinner for a group of 80 fishermen, families, activists, and community members in New Bedford, MA. Prepared seafood from regional and national fishermen with an emphasis on under-utilized species.

Slow Food UNH takes a tour of the facilities at Seaport Fish in Rye