Statement from Four Season Foraging Founder Maria Wesserle on the Murder of George Floyd

Content warning: police brutality and racist violence

It has been two weeks since the tragic killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). I would first and foremost like to express my deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones of Mr. Floyd, and to extend that sympathy to the families and loved ones of all victims of police terror and racist violence, including Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Philando Castile.

As a mixed person who benefits from white privilege, I will not stay silent as black* people are terrorized and murdered by the police. I will not stay silent as black communities endure disappearings, murders, and racist violence that is largely ignored by the media and the criminal justice system. It is long past time to acknowledge that the genocide of indigenous populations and enslavement of African peoples marked the bloody birth of white supremacy in this country; and recognize the ways in which that racist legacy is alive and perpetuated still to this day. It is long past time to put an end to systemic racism.

When I founded Four Season Foraging, I did so knowing that healthy food systems are integral to maintaining healthy communities. I believe that a healthy food system must be diverse and include foraging as a way to connect to the wild, nourish each other, and build bonds between people. To help promote foraging on a broad scale, I produce free articles and videos for the public, and work to keep classes accessible by offering sliding scale fees and providing scholarships for people with low income, people of color, and indigenous people. This is my small way of affecting change and creating a world I want to live in.

My work is not limited to foraging; it exists in tandem with the structural changes I wish to see. I stand in solidarity with black communities in the Twin Cities and everywhere. To show my support, I pledge to make a monetary donation each month to a local group that fights for the dignity of black lives, organizes to defund the MPD, and/or works to end the racist and classist system of incarceration in the United States. For the month of June, I will make a donation to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a Minneapolis-based organization that “pays criminal bail and immigration bond for those who cannot afford to as we seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing.” If you have suggestions on groups to fund, please feel free to send me a direct message or email me at info@fourseaonforaging.com. Thank you.

In Solidarity,

Maria

*I am centering the struggles of black people here to affirm my support of the current movement to defend black lives. I recognize that indigenous people, Latinx immigrants, and other people of color also suffer from racist violence and disproportionate police brutality in the US. I stand in solidarity with all black, indigenous, and people of color, but feel the need in this moment to focus specifically on black lives.