It’s fish fry season once again in Northern Kentucky. The Catholic holiday of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which was on March 2. Catholic churches in the area host annual fish fries because the regulations of Lent require abstinence from the consumption of meat.
However, due to rising food prices, some churches in the area have canceled their fish fry due to increased demand for the products. St. Joseph’s Academy in Walton canceled their annual Lenten’s Fish Fry for 2022.
In a Facebook post on March 2, St. Joseph’s said a case of cod fish loins in 2021 was $42 each. The price has increased to $75 a case in 2022. A jug of fryer oil that cost $18 last year increased to $42 this year. For context, St. Joseph’s said it used 35 bottles of fryer oil in 2021. If they used 35 bottles again this year, the total cost for just fryer oil would’ve increased from $630 to $1,470 total in only a year.
“In calculating these figures alone for 6 weeks, we would have paid out more money than we would receive, even if we raised the cost of the dinners,” the church said in the Facebook post. And there is no guarantee that we would recoup the cost enough to show a profit—which is the point of having the Fish Fry fundraiser for our school.”
Overall, there are over 20 fish fry events in 2022 held by various Christian religious organizations across Northern Kentucky.
