The day that this whole quarter seems to have been leading up to has now come and gone.Weeks of outreach, social media, planning, and preparation finally came to fruition yesterday, and went better than we could have planned. We initially estimated a turnout of 50 to 100 but over 250 people came out to protest genetically engineered salmon and participate in our Cookout!
Being able to connect with local community members, tribal groups, and fisherpeople made every minute of the seemingly endless e-mails worth it. Having genetically engineered salmon at the forefront of the conversation brought an awareness to the event and the amazing speakers and performances were effective in spiking interest and passion among attendees, not to mention the delicious nettle salmon soup, kale salad, and wild coho salmon smoked outside, regardless of the drizzle!
Here is a rundown of the event:
- The cookout began at 10:45 with an honor and welcome song by Justice Bill and Muckleshoot tribal members
- which was followed by a welcome from Community Alliance For Global Justice‘s Heather Day
- After Heather spoke the room listened attentively to the powerful storytelling of Roger Fernandes of the lower Elwha Klallam tribe
- After listening to stories of the salmon people and dancing a salmon dance lead by Roger, we heard from Valerie Segrest of the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty project, who spoke on the importance of access to culturally appropriate foods, education, and community engagement in regards to food systems.
- Pete Knutson, of Loki Fish Co, then addressed the importance of sustainable fisheries
- After Pete, Steve Mashuda of Earthjustice spoke on the FDA approval of the first genetically engineered animal meant for consumption and the potential risks of Aquabounty’s patent of a sacred animal
- After hearing from our speakers, it was time to eat! I spent the bulk of my afternoon ladling out our salmon nettle soup, as tray after tray of the wild salmon was brought out to hungry eaters.
- The event ended with a call to action by Community Alliance For Global Justice’s Simone Alder which was followed by a closing ceremony by PNW canoe families.
I’m honored to have been part of such a successful and inspiring event and I look forward to working with CAGJ in the future to make more important and educational events happen!