We feel so lucky to have a community of seaweed-lovin’ people around us here in Oregon. This was the second year putting on the Winter Waters series, and wow, you all really showed up. All our events were well attended or sold out, and thousands of people were introduced to seaweed as a culinary application through the month of February.
Twenty-two events in 29 days is a lot, and now we’re taking a vacation. The Winter Waters social channels will be pretty quiet over the next few weeks, but don’t worry; we’ll follow up as soon as we’re back online. In the meantime, check out some event recaps on our blog.
OREGON KELP ALLIANCE
A HUGE thank you to all of you who have supported this series through your newsletter sign-ups, social media sharing, and ticket plus menu special purchases. Last year, we raised more than $6,000 for our nonprofit partner, Oregon Kelp Alliance. We hope to beat that record this year. We’re tallying results now.
The Oregon Kelp Alliance (ORKA) supports healthy kelp forests by representing diverse interests in its ecosystems, including commercial urchin divers, researchers, managers, conservationists, tribal members, tour guides, sport divers, chefs and other community members
EVENT RECAP: Kickoff Weekend with Central Coast Food Web February 2, 2024, Yaquina Lab, Newport, Oregon
Our first event in the 2024 Winter Waters lineup was a free community event in Newport, Oregon, thanks to the Newport Chamber of Commerce.
Together with around 100 guests, we celebrated Oregon’s delicious seafare and the talented, hard-working people who harvest it sustainably, while exploring the Central Coast Food Web Yaquina Lab facility. Local favorite Sylvia Beach Hotel provided samples of their Candied Salmon, Safe Harbor Seafood presented an Oregon Albacore Tuna Poke and the bar team from Local Ocean Seafoods made their special Low Tide Martini featuring Pacific Dulse from Oregon Seaweed. Additionally, they poured a Seaweed Stout made by Seaside’s Sisu Brewing Co.
What is Central Coast Food Web? CCFW is a nonprofit working to build a more resilient coastal and regional food system. They provide shared space and equipment to producers who grow and land seafood on the Central Coast to use for processing and storing food. Additionally, they build new markets to make it easier for people to find and buy local produce, meat and seafood. All proceeds from this event went to benefit CCFW and its mission.
Local Ocean Seafoods and CCFW Founder Laura Anderson, along with Local Ocean Seafoods Chef Enrique Sanchez- Rodriguez, spoke about the benefits of the Yaquina Lab’s seafood processing area, which is available for community members to rent to process their commercial catch. Shoutout to Waldo for fileting local lingcod, rockfish, albacore tuna and salmon right in front of our eyes.
- Read more: winterwaterspnw.com
