For Immediate Release: January 14, 2016
Contact:
Lauren Ketcham, Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 203,
lauren@oeffa.org .
To achieve a truly sustainable food system, we must significantly change our thinking about how we feed ourselves, according to author and passionate small farm advocate John Ikerd, featured speaker at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) 37th annual conference,
Growing Right by Nature, in Granville, Ohio (Licking County).
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In his Sunday, February 14 keynote address, “Sustainable Agriculture is Growing, Right and by Nature,” Ikerd will explore how growing consumer demand and concerns about the ecological and social integrity of the industrial food system are creating opportunities for the organic and local food movements to create lasting, fundamental change.
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“Any society that can’t meet at least the basic human needs of everyone without leaving equal or better opportunities for those of future generations is simply not sustainable over time. Continual investments in the renewal and regeneration of nature and society are essential for ecological, social, and economic sustainability,” Ikerd
writes.
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Ikerd received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri and spent 30 years in various professorial positions at North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Missouri. From 1989 to 2000, under a cooperative agreement with the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, he provided state and national leadership for research and education programs related to sustainable agriculture.
Ikerd has authored six books on sustainable agriculture and sustainable economics, along with book chapters, journal articles, and other publications. In 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations asked Ikerd to develop the North American report for the International Year of the Family Farm.
“Everywhere we look, we can see the failure of the grand experiment of industrial agriculture. It’s time for fundamental change,” Ikerd writes.
Ikerd will also lead two workshops during the conference: “Deep Sustainability: Deeper than Reducing, Reusing, Recycling, and Renewing,” on Saturday afternoon and “Practical, Radical Ideas for Restructuring Farming and Food Production Systems” on Sunday morning.“
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John Ikerd challenges us to think more deeply about sustainability and sustainable agriculture,” said OEFFA Program Director Renee Hunt. “His vision for the future, deeply rooted in more than 30 years of experience in agricultural science and economics, is inspiring.”
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Ikerd will speak as part of the state’s largest sustainable food and farm conference, an event which draws more than 1,200 attendees from across Ohio and the country.
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In addition to Ikerd, this year’s conference will feature keynote speaker Lindsey Lusher Shute on Saturday, February 13; more than 90 educational workshops; three in-depth pre-conference workshops on Friday, February 12; a trade show; activities for children and teens; locally-sourced and from-scratch meals, a raffle, book sales and signings, a seed swap, and Saturday evening entertainment.
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For more information about the conference, or to register, click here.
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