Author: Kenny & Brenna Aschbacher

When a major food distributor like UNFI is hit by a cyberattack, the ripple effect is immediate and far-reaching. In this case, it caused major disruptions to deliveries for Whole Foods and many other retailers who rely on UNFI for everything from packaged goods to organic produce. While headlines tend to focus on the technology or the downtime, the more troubling reality is what happens to the food. If deliveries are delayed, refrigeration fails, or products are simply rerouted or discarded due to logistics chaos, a massive amount of food is wasted—without ever reaching a consumer.

Events like this are a clear reminder of the fragility of large-scale food systems. It doesn’t take much to throw everything off track. That’s why we continue to champion decentralized, regional food networks and home-scale resilience. When you shop at your local growers market, you’re participating in a more direct, transparent, and trustworthy supply chain—one that’s harder to hack and more rooted in real people and places.

This is also a nudge to become your own food source in any way possible. Whether it’s a few pots of herbs and edible flowers on your patio or a raised bed of greens, homegrown food is deeply satisfying and immensely practical. The same goes for stocking up. Canning, freezing, drying, fermenting—these aren’t just old-fashioned skills, they’re tools of modern resilience. A pantry or freezer filled with food you trust means you’re ready for whatever delays or disruptions might come.

If you’re ready to build your food reserves with nutrient-dense staples, now’s the time. We have wild salmon bundles, quarter beef, sides of pork, cases of raw honey, and extra virgin olive oil—all ideal for home preservation or everyday use. These products are available in limited quantity and can sell quickly, so please reach out if you’d like to place an order or learn more. We encourage you review our Price List prior to placing an order. Need a freezer? We’re happy to deliver a Kelvinator commercial chest freezer full of food directly to you!

See you at the market!

Brenna & Kenny

We just received a fresh shipment of wild Alaska black cod—also known as sablefish—and it’s a showstopper. With its silky texture and rich, buttery flavor, black cod is prized by chefs around the world. It’s especially high in omega-3 fats, making it both indulgent and incredibly nutritious.

This deep-dwelling fish is harvested from cold, pristine waters off Kodiak Island, where its slow growth and natural fat content result in a melt-in-your-mouth delicacy. If you’re new to black cod, now’s the time to try it. We have whole filets and portioned cuts, ready for your kitchen.

Not sure how to cook it? You’re in luck—it’s nearly impossible to mess up. Its high oil content means it stays moist and tender, even if slightly overcooked.

Everyday Miso Black Cod

• 1 black cod filet OR 2 black cod portions
• 3 Tbsp white miso paste
• 2 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp sake
• 1 tsp sugar

Whisk marinade ingredients until smooth. Coat the fish and marinate in the fridge for 24–48 hours. When ready, broil or bake at 400°F for 10–12 minutes, until golden and caramelized. That’s it. Serve with rice or a simple salad and taste what all the fuss is about.

Limited supply, unforgettable flavor. Find us at the market!

Eat Well,

Kenny & Brenna

Today, May 20th, we’re celebrating the tiny heroes behind every jar of honey—bees! World Bee Day honors the pollinators that support our ecosystems, our food supply, and the delicious sweetness we love to share with you.

The particular blooms where naturalized honeybees forage shapes the flavor of each honey harvest. Supporting local honey producers helps protect pollinator habitats and encourages a more diverse and sustainable landscape.

You can help too! Planting flowers that support and encourage our favorite pollinators makes a real difference. Bees see blues, purples, and yellows best, and in the southwest, they particularly enjoy sunflowers, lavender, and desert marigold. Even a few blooms in a pot or patch can offer valuable forage, and bee hotels are a simple way to support solitary species like mason bees.

This weekend, stop by and sample our raw, unfiltered New Mexico honeys:
🌼 Wildflower – rich, robust, and full of desert pollen
🍯 Clover – classic, crystallized, and mild cinnamon finish
💛 Cotton Blossom – light and sweet with a clean finish

Buying local honey supports healthy bees and thriving habitats. Come taste the difference at the market!

Bee seeing you,

Brenna & Kenny

We’ve landed in New Mexico and can’t wait to see your familiar faces again! We’re looking forward to a delicious summer filled with your favorite wild salmon, dry-aged grassfed beef (raised right here in New Mexico), green chile pork sausage, and raw local honey.

The cool mornings, evening breezes, and bustling growers markets make this a favorite time of year for us. We love reconnecting with our longtime customers and introducing new folks to the flavor and integrity of real food. Whether you’ve been with us for years or just found us last season, we’re glad you’re part of the FishHugger family.

We’ll be kicking things off this Saturday, May 17 at the Los Ranchos Growers Marketand we’ll have plenty of good stuff to share. Stock up while selections are strong—our inventory is seasonal and always limited to what we harvest.

We’re grateful to be here and excited to spend another season with our New Mexico community. See you at the market!

Nourishing the neighborhood,

Brenna & Kenny

Our website has a recipe section, but we’ll admit—it’s not exactly up to date. Despite a generous video tutorial from our patient and skilled web wizard, our tech skills haven’t quite caught up to our enthusiasm for wild seafood. Thankfully, we’re never short on great fish recipes to share.

When we need reliable seafood cooking tips, we turn to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). Their website—alaskaseafood.org—lets you search for recipes by fish type, meal type, cook time, techniques and more. You can even cook it frozen!

ASMI is a partnership between the State of Alaska and the seafood industry that promotes the benefits of wild, sustainable Alaska seafood. Nearly 60% of all wild seafood and almost all wild salmon harvested in the U.S. comes from Alaska. From salmon and halibut to black cod and rockfish, Alaska’s fisheries are carefully managed to support healthy ecosystems and future harvests.

If you’re wondering what to do with that coho or halibut portion in your freezer, ASMI offers a collection of simple, flavorful recipes crafted specifically for high-quality wild Alaska seafood—easy to cook, great to eat, and worth coming back to.

We just stocked up on a variety of ASMI’s handy fish recipe cards and we’re happy to share—swing by the farmers market and grab a few while you’re picking up your favorite fish.

Just keep cooking,

Brenna & Kenny

This time of year, sweet treats are everywhere—but not all sweets are created equal. Skip the hollow chocolate bunny packed with mystery ingredients and reach for something real: RAW HONEY!

Our honey is unfiltered, unheated, and harvested with care. It’s as close to straight-from-the-hive as it gets. Packed with flavor and naturally shelf-stable, it’s useful year-round: swirl it into tea or coffee, drizzle it over yogurt, stir it into dressings or marinades, make a simple syrup, or take it by the spoonful to soothe seasonal allergies.

If you know, you know—raw honey isn’t just a sweetener. It’s food.

As our spring farmers market season winds down in Phoenix, now is the time to stock your pantry. We offer both regular (14oz) and quart (46oz) jars, and you’ll save more when you buy two or more. The best value comes in sets of five, and they won’t go to waste. Honey never spoils.

We currently have a beautiful selection: Desert Wildflower, Mesquite, Cat’s Claw Acacia, Cactus Blossom, Ambrosia Dumosa, Cotton Blossom, and Clover. You can mix and match however you like.

With pollen counts in the high range, be sure to grab some Bee Pollen too! It may help with seasonal allergy relief, support energy levels, aid digestion, and contribute to overall immune function. You can microdose it straight, sprinkle it into smoothies or yogurt, blend it into honey, or whisk it into a bright vinaigrette. There’s no standard dose, and a few folks may have a mild allergic reaction, so start small and adjust as needed.

Catch us at the market this weekend—we’ll have the good stuff ready for you!

Happy Feasting,

Kenny & Brenna

We don’t like to disappoint our fellow FishHuggers, so here’s your friendly reminder: our time in Phoenix is winding down. We’ll be here through the end of April, then we head back to New Mexico for a cooler summer and another season of harvesting beef and pork.

Meanwhile, our fishing crews in Kodiak, Alaska are gearing up for what’s expected to be an abundant salmon season. The early July kickoff will focus on sockeye, then transition into a large return of pink salmon—common in odd-numbered years. We’ll keep you posted on what’s coming ashore.

Right now, we’ve still got a selection of wild Alaska sockeye and coho salmon, as well as beautiful halibut portions. On the meat side, we still have some delicious ground beef, a variety of beef steaks, and green chile pork sausage. If you’ve been meaning to refill your freezer, this is the last call. Aside from one quick mid-summer trip with beef and pork, we won’t be back in Phoenix until October with the next round of FishHugger fine foods.

We’re always glad to see familiar faces at the market—and just as happy to help you load up for the off-season. If you know you want something specific, send us an email to reserve it for weekend pickup, or schedule a time to pick up directly from us before we go. We’re grateful for your support—it truly makes a difference. Thanks for being part of what we do.

As a reminder, Ahwatukee Farmers Market will be closed for Easter this Sunday, April 20.

Happy Feasting,

Brenna & Kenny

I get most of my ideas for these notes from conversations at the farmers market. The questions, the observations, the quick remarks in passing—they’re always telling.

Recently, a young man approached with a hard-hitting question: “Why doesn’t FishHugger fish smell fishy?” Like any good salesperson, I asked a few questions in return to get some background. It’s easy to forget how different the average eater’s experience is from those we might call elite eaters—sometimes labeled picky or fussy, but in reality, just particular about quality.

People who genuinely enjoy fish are often more tolerant of what others might consider off-putting—mildly oxidized fish oils, temperature-abused filets, or shelf life that’s been stretched too far. So when someone tastes sashimi-grade wild fish for the first time—harvested with care, handled minimally, and frozen quickly to preserve freshness—it’s not just a better bite. It’s a shift in perspective.

Suddenly, the questions start rolling:
What should fish actually smell like?
Why is the texture so different?
How long ago was this caught, and why does it still taste clean?
Do I even like fish, or have I just never had the good stuff?

Once you experience seafood that hasn’t been over-handled, frozen too long, or compromised by poor storage, it’s hard to go back. And that alone raises even more questions—about sourcing, preparation, and maybe even our own expectations around food.

Come see us at the farmers markets this weekend and ask your own questions—we’re always up for a good conversation.

Our Phoenix farmers market season is winding down…3 more weekends at most! Check out our calendar page for details.

Taste the difference,

Kenny

Wild seafood makes mealtime simple—especially when it’s perfectly portioned. Our 8-ounce cuts are easy to thaw, quick to cook, and packed with flavor. Whether you’re planning a weeknight dinner or stocking up for summer, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s what’s available now:

• Miso-Marinated Black Cod – Buttery and rich, ready to broil or bake.
• Halibut – Mild, flaky, and versatile.
• Coho Salmon – Lean and delicate, great for any recipe.
• Sockeye Salmon – Bold flavor, firm texture, and full of omega-3s.

Easy Poached Coho Salmon

1. Simmer 2 cups of water (or broth) with a lemon slice, a few peppercorns, and a pinch of salt.

2. Add a coho portion, cover, and cook gently for 8-10 minutes.

3. Serve warm or chilled with a drizzle of Bariani Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Please order in advance to ensure availability. Place your order by 6:00 PM on Fridays for weekend market pickup. You are also welcome to shop at our home by appointment. We have a variety of salmon, beef, pork and honey stock up options here. For exclusive bundles and discounts, please join our mailing list.

As you may know, we typically wrap up our spring farmers market season in Phoenix by mid-to-late April before heading back to New Mexico for the summer. This year, we’re keeping an eye on the weather—maintaining product quality in 100+ degree heat is no small task—and adjusting our plans accordingly. Right now, we intend to extend our season through the weekend of May 17–18, 2025, but flexibility is key. Keep an eye on our market calendar for updates, and consider stocking your freezer sooner rather than later for the best selection.

Happy feasting,

Brenna & Kenny

Friendly reminder: The Ahwatukee Farmers Market will be closed this Sunday, March 9, 2025, for a longstanding community event. We’ll be back next Sunday, March 16!

You can still find us at Roadrunner Park tomorrow, Saturday, March 8.

With just eight scheduled weekends left in our spring market season, now is the time to stock your freezer and pantry. We have a great selection, but as the season winds down, availability will taper off.

Enjoy the rains! This might be just what we need for a strong late spring and early summer honey flow.

Brenna & Kenny