Our Shared Table and the Future of Food, Seed & Biodiversity
A hands-on workshop designed for communities to explore the global food economy
No matter what passport we carry or heritage we claim, we all depend on food.
Protecting seeds and agricultural diversity remains an enduring global concern with economic and ecological implications for every local community.
For thousands of years and until recent decades all food was produced organically. In landscapes across the globe, farming communities adapted seeds to local ecosystems and generated a wealth of vital agricultural diversity.
In today’s food economy 1.5 billion small-scale farmers rely on farm saved seed and provide 70 % of the world’s food. Since 1960, they have contributed 1.9 million varieties of plants to the world’s seed banks. (In 2007, records attributed 72,5000 plant varieties to industrial agricultural research-40%of these are ornamentals (flowering plants).
Despite their proven leadership as custodians of biodiversity, small- scale farmers are struggling to retain access to land and the right to food and seed sovereignty in a global economy shaped by the organizing principles of the agribusiness’ approach to agriculture. With growing concerns about climate change, small -scale, ecologically sound cultivation remains critical for the future of food.
Our Shared Table is an interactive workshop designed for communities to explore the complex web of factors that shape our food economy. Through the lens of two parallel but distinctly different legacies of agriculture, this workshop reveals the local economic impact of the ecological, cultural, political and legal factors that drive the world’s agricultural economy and the growing movement to protect the rights of farming communities and consumers to determine how food is cultivated and traded in the markets.
With the materials provided, participants will arrange and rearrange ‘landscapes’ to reveal the factors that shape agriculture today and the implications for food, seed and biodiversity and climate change.
The final portion of the workshop offers participants an opportunity to explore the following questions:
- What leadership can our community provide to shape a food economy that is sustainable?
- What partnerships can our community establish to advance local and global food sovereignty?
- Federal policies and investments shape our current global food economy. What actions can our community take to hold the USDA accountable for the choices that impact food, seed and biodiversity?
- What resources are available to help our community organize?
The workshop is family friendly, but best suited for children who need no supervision. There are three parts to the 3 -hour workshop with brief breaks after each hour.
Next workshop offered:
Sunday June 9, 2013
3-6 pm
at St. Frances Cabrini Church
1500 Franklin Ave SE 55414
Light meal served. (Vegetarian option)
To participate contact the facilitator, Marita Bujold at marita.bujold@earthlink.net by June 6, 2013.
Our Shared Table and the Future of Food, Seed and Biodiversity was designed by Marita Bujold in conjunction with a thesis for Augsburg College Master of Arts in Leadership program.
Parking on the street or in the lot at the north end of the church. Freewill offerings accepted.
Interested in hosting the Our Shared Table workshop? We can come to your location. Contact the facilitator. See information above.
If you cannot attend this workshop but would like to be notified of future dates, please contact the facilitator.