Starting a new tradition

The Chinese wedding tradition of eating shark fin soup has been condemned by ecologically-minded westerners for years. But now, from the huge Chinese immigrant community in Vancouver, Canada, comes a loud challenge to the tradition from within Chinese culture.

Shark Truth is a not-for-profit consumer awareness group that wants to open up a discussion, among Chinese people worldwide, to find alternatives to shark fin soup.

With the slogan “Stop the Soup. One bowl at a time.”, they are recruiting engaged couples through a wedding contest and pledges not to serve the traditional delicacy at banquets:

(The deadline has since been extended to June 8, World Ocean Day)

Here is the contest blurb from their media centre:

Did you know that a wedding banquet serving shark fin soup to 300 guests can kill up to 30 sharks? Through the ‘Happy Hearts Love Sharks’ wedding contest, we will reward couples who submit a video or photo entry of their pledge to Stop the Soup at their wedding banquet and promote shark fin soup alternatives. The couple with the most votes will win one of three amazing prizes:

***Grand Prize Vancouver, Canada: Trip to Mexico to swim with whale sharks – the biggest fish in the world!
**Runner Up Prize Vancouver, Canada: A $500 wedding portrait package.
*International Grand Prize: Waterproof digital camera and an adopt a shark package.

Registration and contest details available at http://sharktruth.com/wedding

Contest closes May 9th, 2010

So far, the contest has gained some attention in Canadian mainstream and Chinese language media, as well as in China.

Shark Truth on CBC TV from Shark Truth on Vimeo.

The idea of having a “culturally sensitive conversation” about a closely-held tradition is an interesting one. More interesting is that it is originating among a younger generation in a new world community. Will it have any impact?

The sharks sure hope so.

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