Does Friday fish promote well-being?
Finding well-being in a Friday fish fry might seem like a stretch. Indeed, the nutritional make-up of the classic “Friday fish” — fried whitefish, rye bread, coleslaw and French fries — is a tough fit for any trendy diet plan. That said, we’d like to argue that the occasional enjoyment of a piece of golden brown lake fish and a slice of rye bread illustrates how tradition and connectedness can make how we eat equally as important as what we eat.
RELATED: Map: Find a Friday night fish fry
In many parts of the country, “Friday fish” plays a seasonal role, popping up on restaurant menus between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday to cater to the Lenten crowd. In Wisconsin, however, the fish fry is a 52-Fridays-a-year tradition. A deeper dive into Friday fish reveals essential elements of our shared Wisconsin culture: love of the water that surrounds us, deep social and faith bonds, and a strong work ethic.
Thank heaven for fish fry?
Wisconsin’s first Friday fish dinners took place in the 19th century at local churches whose congregations consisted of immigrants from Catholic countries such as Poland, Germany, Croatia and Czechoslovakia. Lake Michigan and abundant inland lakes provided the inexpensive protein, and churches created the community. Friday fish dinners helped families keep the Lenten observance of meatless Fridays while simultaneously bringing together parishioners that in many cases did not share a common language. Economic factors also helped make fish fry a year-round staple in Wisconsin. When Prohibition first shut down beer taps, local taverns tempted patrons with fish dinners instead of beer. Later, this filling meal, stretched by bread and potatoes, became a Depression-era staple. Paid in cash at the end of the five-day work week, laborers had some change in their pockets on Friday evenings to treat their families to an inexpensive but festive meal. By the time better days arrived, this habit of coming together at the end of the work week had simply become part of life in most Wisconsin towns.
It’s not really about the fish
Unlike a fast-food fish sandwich, ordered at the drive-thru and inhaled while waiting in traffic, Friday fish fries are special occasions where people gather together at local institutions to talk, laugh, eat and connect. The Friday fish dinner also provides us with a sense of place. Ask any Wisconsin native and they’ll tell you that fish fry is about familiarity and tradition. Formica tables or checkered table cloths, thick slices of white onion, fish served with the bones or without — these are the unique qualities that define regional differences but also bolster our sense of belonging.
In fact, research shows that eating at a communal table, whether with family or friends, leads to better emotional and physical health in individuals and communities. When we reflect on the tradition of Friday fish, we see it’s about community and belonging, not necessarily eating fish. In German, the word gemuetlikeit is used to describe the sense of warmth, friendliness, good cheer and social connection that comes when people gather together in a public space to share a meal. The Danish use the word hygge (rhymes with sugar) to describe a coziness that increases our sense of well-being. Our Green Bay community has grown beyond our Germanic, Slavic and Scandinavian roots to welcome newcomers from other areas of the globe with equally strong traditions of community and hard work. Remembering the things that make our community strong, including our traditions of coming together and creating community, are the most useful tools we have for building well-being, prosperity and equity.
That’s a fine kettle of fish!
Beth Heller is the community initiatives lead for Live54218. Share your thoughts, questions and topic suggestions by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.