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You Are Invited to ‘The Wild’  National Livestream Event

Aug 4, 2020 | Past Events

You Are Invited to The Wild  National Livestream Event

Eva’s Wild will donate 50% of all proceeds from ticket sales purchased via the links in this e-mail with Slow Food USA, all of which will be reserved for the Slow Fish North America working group.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale.

Slow Fish North America cordially invites you to the North America Livestream Premiere screening event of the award-winning documentary, THE WILD, which will take place virtually Aug. 6th at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. This online gathering serves as an urgent call-to-action for individuals, organizations and communities to tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to veto the permitting of a Canadian mining company seeking to excavate North America’s largest open-pit copper mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska—home to the last fully intact salmon system in the world.

The seesaw legal battle between Pebble Mine and opposition groups spans over two decades, and the apex of this battle is expected to emerge with a decision by Aug. 30 – just weeks away. If Pebble Mine is excavated, its waste could contaminate critical waters that feed the last fully intact wild salmon system on earth and could ruin this fully sustainable food source and economy, forever.

Here’s why this issue has the attention of celebrities, fishermen, educators, chefs, tribes, theaters and lawmakers around the country:

  • This is America’s food security – Bristol Bay’s sustainable salmon fishery is an inexhaustible supply of wild food that makes itself.
  • The U.S. EPA estimates the mine could grow to be nearly as deep as the Grand Canyon, cover an area larger than Manhattan and fill a major football stadium up to 3,900 times with mine waste.
  • This proposed low-grade sulfur mine would be located upstream of Bristol Bay’s two most productive river systems.
  • The location is in a seismically active region, where ground shifting could contribute to the risk of a massive tailings-dam breach.
  • Indigenous people and others stand to lose a millennia-old culture and an organic food supply that could last forever if undisturbed.
  • This threatens the $1.8 BILLION fishing industry, 14,000 American jobs and 46% of the world’s supply of sockeye salmon.

This pioneering livestream of THE WILD is not just a screening, but an experience, and will include live conversations with film director Mark Titus, luminaries from the film and fierce stakeholders in the fight for Bristol Bay; critical calls-to-action for participants; an opportunity to purchase wild Bristol Bay salmon shipped to registrants’ doors with recipes and rubs – and an action kit and virtual reality goggles to explore Bristol Bay from the comfort of participants’ own homes.

“As a fisherman who has witnessed the salmon runs in my home-waters of the Pacific Northwest wither away, I understand Bristol Bay is our last chance to get it right,” said Titus.  “Bristol Bay is the last fully intact wild salmon run on our planet.  We need to save it for the Indigenous people who have relied on wild salmon for 4,000+ years and for every American who benefits from the last wild places on earth. We have to save what we love, together.”

THE WILD features vibrant characters from Bristol Bay and luminaries like Congressional Gold Medal recipient Steve Gleason; Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard; climate-change artist Zaria Forman; celebrity chef Tom Colicchio; Yupik artist Apayu’q Moore; actor Mark Harmon; James Beard Award winning chef, Tom Douglas and actor/activist Adrian Grenier.

The virtual event will provide education on this issue and further elevate the voices across the U.S. and Canada who oppose Pebble Mine, which also include some of the largest financial, environmental and outdoor sporting groups in North America, such as Orvis, Tiffany & Co., The Natural Resource Defense Council and Trout Unlimited.

To follow THE WILD  on social media and help spread the word about the event click HERE

25% of ticket sales from the August 6th event goes to the coalition working to save Bristol Bay. 

Ticket price is valued at $12 but will be sold on a sliding scale so anyone may attend the event.

SFEE Reaches out to Winemaker In Need

Aug 4, 2020 | In The News

Robin Epperson McCarthy of Saltbird Cellars.

What many people miss about the wine business is that it’s year round. There’s a lot going on in between harvest and popping the cork.

“Grapes don’t stop growing because of COVID,” says Robin Epperson-McCarthy, who is the one-woman show behind Saltbird Cellars.

Epperson-McCarthy applied for an SFEE Resilience Grant (you can help fund the grants here) to help her buy screw caps and labels for her 2019 Sauvignon Blanc. “If hadn’t gotten it when I did, I would have put it on a credit card, which many wine growers end up doing.” She adds, “I’m concerned about other people will wind up in debt.”

Sauvignon blanc is Epperson-McCarthy’s specialty and is a grape that grows well on the East End. And winemakers like Epperson-McCarthy have been working to make the wine in the style unique to Long Island that reflects our soil, weather in climate. It’s working with Long Island wine landing in the middle between the two most famous sauvignon blancs: New Zealand and Sancerre.

Like other farmers Epperson-McCarthy had to modify her business model to adjust to the pandemic. She says regular customers are still able to buy the wine at the tasting room she shares with winemaker Alie Shaper, Peconic Cellar Door on Peconic Lane, which sells five different brands through their cooperative Chronicle Wines.

While the tasting room was closed, the wines were set up in the front window so customers can see what’s for sale and pick up curbside. The two have been shipping a lot of wine, she says, and online sales are brisk.

Epperson-McCarthy created tasting kits so customers can have the tasting room experience at home. The boxes include wine notes, tasting mats and five different wines in 50 ml bottles.

Things are getting back to “normal.” Peconic Cellar Door is now open Friday through Monday from 12pm to 5pm with outside seating and masks required.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the grant,” says Epperson-McCarthy. “Slow Food East End reached out in a time of need; we’re a community.”

WATCH: SFEE Featured on News12

Jul 24, 2020 | In The News

We at Slow Food East End are super excited our chair, Dr. Pennie Schwartz, was interviewed on News12 about the grants we’ve given to East End food producers to help them make it through the pandemic. Also featured Noah Schwartz, whose restaurant received our Snail of Approval (and is Pennie’s son) and oyster farmer Meg Strecker of Yennicott Oysters.

Here’s three blog posts about some recipients:

 

TUNE IN TOMORROW: SFEE Featured on News12

Jul 21, 2020 | Past Events

We at Slow Food East End are super excited our chair, Dr. Pennie Schwartz, will be interviewed on News12 about the grants we’ve given to East End food producers to help them make it through the pandemic. Also featured Noah Schwartz, whose restaurant received our Snail of Approval (and is Pennie’s son) and oyster farmer Meg Strecker of Yennicott Oysters. Check us out at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Watch live!

Here’s three blog posts about some recipients:

 

Oyster Farmers Hit Hard by COVID-19; Have to Pivot | Grant from Slow Food East End Helps

Jul 3, 2020 | In The News

All food producers and purveyors on the East End were hit hard by the shut down due to COVID-19, but few were hit so fast as the oyster industry. Most of those farming our waters sold their oysters to restaurants. When they closed, their entire market dried up.
 
“I know of one farmer who had to take oysters back from the wholesaler,” says Karen Rivara, an owner of Aeros Cultured Oyster Company in Southold, which sells seed oysters to many local farmers.
 
So when Slow Food East End offered resilience grants to help the food community, more than half of the applicants were oyster companies. You can donate to help us support all our farmers and food producers.
 
Steven Schnee of Founders Oyster Farm also in Southold said he got clobbered when the restaurants closed. “It’s been getting better in the past two weeks,” he says. “But I’ve found a sweet spot selling at the wineries.” It requires a lot of precautions and sterilizing. “I wear gloves and a mask, the table is six feet away from the customer; I’ve got wipes and spray. And the customer puts the money in a jar.”
 
He used the bulk of his grant for maintenance and to buy seed. “I had to fix the boat and the engine. It really helped to keep the wheels greased and the operation running.”
 
“One hundred percent of my business is direct to restaurants,” says Meg Strecker of Yennicott Oysters. “That turned out to be a lesson. You think you’re preparing for everything but you cannot prepare for everything.”
 
Strecker has taken to selling her oysters at KK’s The Farm’s farm stand in Southold. But the unsold oysters were getting big — restaurants like them four inches and under — and not many people know what to do with a bigger oyster. “They’re not comfortable shucking them, so we came up with the idea to teach customers how to cook them on the grill or in a pan,” she says. “And use ingredients from the farm. One of my favorites, because I have celiac, is the fried oyster po-boy tacos.”
 
Strecker used her grant money to buy biodegradable packaging, create shucking kits and to print postcards with recipes. She adds, “It turns out you have to spend a lot of money to help you make money.”

NO SHUCK…NO FUSS
HOW TO GRILL AN OYSTER

Clean oyster with cold water & place on tray
preheat grill or oven to med heat
place oysters cup side down on grill or in oven proof pan/skillet
when oyster opens pull off top shell and spoon in:

Ira’s Stinging Nettle Pesto from The Farm
compound butter
1”-strip local bacon, chopped shallot & white wine
grated cheese, white wine & chopped greens/herbs.

Close grill lid cook for 3-5 min