Jacob Fillmore (right) at the law courts on Jan 26, 2021, joined by Heather Moore (left).
When I first read the headline about Jacob Fillmore’s hunger strike, I didn’t get the dietary connection Jacob was making.
I have had an unsuccessful relationship with the Chronicle Herald over the last couple of years, unable to get an electronic subscription that makes content consistently available and I gave up trying. So I couldn’t read the content of the article.
Then I read a post on the Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Facebook page that explained it all:
Fillmore said he will survive on water, soup broth for nutrients and a homemade electrolyte mix while the moose searches for its approximate daily intake of 25 kilograms of saplings, twigs, leaves and aquatic vegetation.
Wow. That’s a level of understanding, empathy and commitment way above where most of us – with some very notable exceptions – are at in early 2021.
Thank you Jacob Fillmore for reminding us what it is all really about on Planet Earth in 2021.
As an adult well into my later years, I am deeply sorry that you have felt compelled to take this step; that the State of the Earth you have grown up in is a far cry from the one I was so fortunate to grow up in.
We need the right ending to this story, Mr. Premier, for the Mainland Moose, for Jacob Fillmore, for all of our youth, and for all of us and all species. The one you have been telling us about.
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The post on the Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Facebook Page Mar 8, 2021
Clearcutting forested Crown land is leaving the endangered mainland moose scrounging for food, says protester Jacob Fillmore.
Fillmore, who camps out on Lower Water Street and spends his days protesting in front of Province House and One Government Place, launched a personal hunger strike Monday in support of food security for the moose.
“Hopefully, only until they declare a (clearcutting) moratorium,” Fillmore said Monday morning of the length of his food deprivation. “Barring that, as long as I can.”
Fillmore said he will survive on water, soup broth for nutrients and a homemade electrolyte mix while the moose searches for its approximate daily intake of 25 kilograms of saplings, twigs, leaves and aquatic vegetation.
Fillmore, a 25-year-old Haligonian, sports a sign that reads Moose are Starving, So Am I.
“I’m definitely pretty skinny already so it’s going to be a tough go but I am feeling confident right now, still in good spirits.”
Fillmore spent two weeks late last year in moose country, helping out with the Extinction Rebellion-led blockades of WestFor’s access roads to logging operations in Digby County.
He then took his protest to City Hall in Halifax, where he camped out for three weeks and was joined by Heather Moore and her black-and-white dog, Muin.
On Monday, the day before the legislature is to reconvene for the first time in nearly a year, Fillmore moved his escalated hunger strike protest to Province House.
Fillmore explained the need for a temporary moratorium on clearcutting on Crown land and his intentions to refuse food until this demand is met in a letter delivered to Premier Iain Rankin last Wednesday.
“The Liberal government has put off adopting the Lahey report for years,” reads the letter. “Now there is no time for half measures. Implementing a moratorium would immediately benefit the at-risk and endangered species of Nova Scotia. Every acre of forest clearcut increases the risk to the food security of the moose, and other species.”
Click on the image for the CH article. The video can be viewed without a subscription.
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View Media release: Hunger strike adds urgency to action needed for critically endangered NS moose
The Nova Scotia Advocate Mar 8, 2021
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