More than 250 people attended Big Sugar Summit 2 in West Palm Beach Photo by Leonard Durham Bryant, Jr. |
New voices and perspectives shared at this year’s summit sent an undeniable message to Big Sugar, and all those in attendance, that the grassroots movement against Big Sugar’s corruption has broadened and strengthened.
Sierra Club Florida Director Frank Jackalone kicked off the Summit with a talk called “Winners and Losers (for now)” It focused on industry’s owners, its global ambitions, and its influence on Federal and State policy. He contrasted the billionaire winners with the financially-struggling communities around Lake Okeechobee, ravaged coastal cities and a dying Everglades.
Charles Kropke or Tropic Moon Holdings. Photo by Leonard Durham Bryant, Jr. |
Documentary maker and tour operator Charles Kropke of Tropic Moon Holdings, then gave a presentation on the natural history of the Everglades ecosystem and Florida Bay. He compared the old “river of grass” to its current state and how development, lack of fresh water flowing south, and Big Sugar’s industrial farming practices in the EAA threaten the future of the vital Everglades ecosystem.
Captain Mike Connor of Bullsugar.org laid out the devastating economic toll the blue-green algae blooms have had on the fishing and tourism industries on the coasts in the past few years culminating in guacamole-thick algae making international headlines this summer. He described how the once world class fisheries of the St. Lucie Estuary and Florida Bay have been depleted by massive fish kills and a near ecological collapse because of the ongoing water quality crisis. He said business owners like himself, who have relied on the waterways for their livelihoods, are now being forced to either move or shut down while Big Sugar continues to profit and block long term solutions to the continuous discharges.
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South Bay activist Kina Phillips Photo by Wolfram Alderson |
Miccosukee Tribe Water Quality Director Gene Duncan said the tribe used its sovereign authority to become the first region in the Country to set water quality standards for phosphorous, long before similar standards were adopted by Florida. He said action is needed to reduce nutrients throughout the Everglades watershed.
Mary Barley, left, says voters should reject those in the pocket of Big Sugar. Photo by Leonard Durham Bryant, Jr. |
Leslie Fields, director of the Sierra Club’s National Environmental Justice Program, expressed how touched she was by her tour of the Glades communities the previous day. She explained how shocked she was to find out sugar cane burning took place right up to the fences of elementary schools and people’s backyards in South Bay. She tied in similarities of the Stop Sugar Field Burning Campaign to her environmental justice work done elsewhere in the nation with poor minority communities such as in New Orleans. She emphasized the importance of incorporating just transition work into environmental campaigns to ensure economic support for displaced workers coincides with campaign goals. Just transition, as Leslie described, is about solidarity and ensuring no single community bears all the burdens or reaps all the benefits.
Clean water activist Betty Osceola Photo by Leonard Durham Bryant, Jr. |
There was also an "open-mic" session and a "taking it home" session, in which audience members received information and resources to spread the word and build the coalition.
Sierra Club's Frank Jackalone closed the Summit by reflecting upon how much stronger the movement against Big Sugar has grown since last year’s Big Sugar Summit. With the launching of new teams, new petitions, and the inclusion of new perspectives into the movement, the summit ended in an atmosphere of optimism for the future where everyone left knowing the movement is growing stronger and all present had taken a big stand against Big Sugar.
To join our sugar campaign, send an email to cris.costello@sierraclub.org with your phone number, address and area of interest.
-- Patrick Ferguson, Organizing Representative, Sierra Club
Watch: Trying to find a solution to algae problem, WPTV NBC Channel 5, West Palm Beach