Although the sun has set on our Festival Afloat 2022 Salish Sea Tour, RAVEN is looking back with excitement and gratitude for the new relationships, friendships and partnerships that we made throughout the festival.

Our touring Festival Afloat could not have happened this year without Scout Canning, North America’s first sustainable craft seafood cannery.

Thanks to Scout, we were able to match all the funds raised at this year’s Festival Afloat Salish Sea Tour, for a total of $50k raised for Heilsuk and Gitxaala Nations’ legal challenges. 

This year, as we toured around on the oldest tall ship in Canada, the Providence, we also invited RAVEN supporters to hop aboard our barefoot cruises. These 3-hour sailing cruises featured delicious platters of vegan charcuterie and Scout’s delicious canned seafood samples. If you’re wondering how you can get your hands on a can of Scout seafood check out their website here, where you can peruse their supply as well as find grocery stores that stock the products.

Thank you to Chef Charlotte and Adam from Scout who are planting seeds of hope through building better relationships with Indigneous communities and helping RAVEN finding creative ways to be in solidarity with Indigenous legal challenges that protect the water and lands we all depend on.

The Chef behind Scout

Chef Charlotte Langley, Scout’s founder, has been on the culinary scene for almost 20 years. Growing up in a small fishing village on Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), Charlotte has always been connected to the ocean and the resources that come from it. Although her culinary journey has taken her down a few different avenues, “I always got myself back into seafood,” she says, feeling the connection to where she grew up. 

“I’m from the Atlantic, which is a bit different than [the Pacific] ocean. The Atlantic is a bit saltier — I find the Pacific Ocean is a bit more sweet. Both are salty, but different for salinity profiles.” Charlotte says. 

This change in flavour depending on the body of water Charlotte calls merroir. It’s the marine equivalent of terroir, which gives food its unique flavour according to the health of the ecosystem where its grown. Charlotte likens her work to that of chefs like Dan Barber and others who are “leading the way with soil health” and sustainability of food. With good quality soil Charlotte says you experience the “real true taste of the food versus it being grown in a hydroponic system, or grown in soil that has been pumped full of chemicals and fungicides.” Like terroir, merroir is how the taste of seafood is impacted by the sea, climate and the marine systems that sustain it. Charlotte’s trained taste buds can detect changes in seafood based on climate, health of the water, and location.

Solidarity & Sustainability

As a chef, long term sustainability of lands and waters is at the heart of Charlotte and Scouts’ goals. And aligning her business with Indigenous sovereignty and stewardship of the land and water is one of the ways Chef Char is making sure Scout is as sustainable as possible. RAVEN is grateful for the growing partnership with Scout for this reason!

Beyond that, Charlotte is a settler on these lands and believes her responsibility to the lands and the first peoples on it goes much further than running a sustainable business. 

“It’s not just one person’s job to help reconcile pain. But I will do anything I can that is supportive of Indigenous communities. So I am here, learning and loving and listening, and then taking action.”

Charlotte Langley, SCOUT

Thank you to Chef Char and Scout for a wonderful Festival Afloat 2022 tour!