January 2006
Special Lecture Series for Winter Quarter 2006 "Agriculture, Food and Community"
Food insecurity among farmworkers is the topic of the Feb. 7 seminar. (photo by Bill Gillette, courtesy of California Institute for Rural Studies)
Ag, food, community links are focus of winter lecture series
DAVIS--A public lecture series at UC Davis exploring the links among agriculture, food and community begins January 10 and continues with nationally recognized speakers and local experts through March 14. A special appearance by internationally known social worker Catherine Sneed is scheduled Feb. 28. Sneed initiated and continues to run one of the world's most comprehensive prison garden programs at the San Francisco County Jail in San Bruno.
Mark Van Horn, director of the UC Davis Student Farm, will open the series with a talk entitled "Agriculture, Food and Community--the Connections."
"The links among agriculture, food and community have stimulated public debate about where food comes from, the well-being of the farmers and farmworkers who produce it and access to food," said Van Horn. "We are very happy to have this group of farmers, garden organizers, students, educators and researchers address key issues relevant to food, community and agriculture."
The series continues every Tuesday winter quarter.
In addition to Sneed's talk on building communities and prison gardens, speakers will address the global context of the U.S. farm bill and the impact of agricultural subsidies on family farmers worldwide, food insecurity among California farmworkers, grassroots efforts by Native American communities, high school and university school student groups efforts to make their food systems more sustainable, and the importance of community and agriculture in sustaining farmers, farmland and food security.
Rick Roush, interim director of the UC Davis-based statewide Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), and one of the series funders, said the discussions would help make the connections among hunger, agriculture and communities.
"University research and education play a key role in assessing and increasing the sustainability of the food and agricultural systems and local farming," he said.
Lectures are scheduled for Tuesdays from 4:10 to 5:00 p.m. on the UC Davis campus. All lectures except Sneed's will take place in Room 101 Bowley (see map). Sneed's Feb. 28 talk will be in Wyatt Pavilion.
Winter 2006 series schedule:
| January 10 | Agriculture, Food and Community -- The Connections, Mark Van Horn, UC Davis Student Farm |
| January 17 | The 2007 Farm Bill in a Global Context, Dan Sumner, Agricultural & Resource Economics; The Agricultural Issues Center, UC Davis |
| January 24 | U.S. Agricultural Subsidies: The Impact on Family Farmers Here and Abroad, Victoria Mesa, Oxfam America, Los Angeles |
| January 31 | Student Action for a Sustainable Campus Food System at UC Davis, Navina Khanna, Jason Pentzer & Rainbow Vogt, graduate students, UC Davis |
| February 7 | Hunger in the Fields: Food Insecurity Among California Farmworkers, Cathy Wirth, graduate student, International Agriculture & Development, UC Davis |
| February 14 | California's Immigrant Farmworkers: The Perspective from the Field, Luis Magana, Project Voice for Immigrants, American Friends Service Committee, Stockton |
| February 21 | A Village Coming Home, Ed Mata & Eddie Tanner, Potawot Health Village, United Indian Health Services, Arcata |
| February 28 | Building Communities, Catherine Sneed, The Garden Project, San Francisco |
| March 7 | Grant's Environmental Organization: Growing Minds, One Seed at a Time, Ann Marie Kennedy & students, Grant High School, Sacramento |
| March 14 | Communities & Agriculture: Working Together to Sustain Farmers, Farmland & Food Security, Annie & Jeff Main, Good Humus Produce, Capay |
Contact Mark Van Horn for more information at 530-752-7645 or mxvanhorn@ucdavis.edu.
Support for the lecture series is provided by the UCD plant sciences department, UC SAREP, UCD Student Farm, UCD Graduate Student Association, UCD International Agricultural Development Graduate Group, UC Small Farm Center, UCD Women's Resources and Research Center, UCD Domes (Baggin's End), UCD African and African American studies department, UCD human and community development department, UCD Community Development Graduate Group, UCD Students for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Davis Food Co-op.
Media Contacts:
David Chaney, SAREP, (530) 754-8551, dechaney@ucdavis.edu
Lyra Halprin, SAREP, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
