Congregational Church in Cumberland
Course Schedule: Nov 7, 14, 21, Jan 23, 30, Feb 6 from 7:00-8:00pm
Rev Susan Gilpin (retired UCC Minister) has graciously offered to lead this 6-week Northwest Earth Institute course exploring what we choose to eat and the impact of our choices on the health of people and the planet.
Dates/Topics Covered (from Northwest Earth Institute website www.nwei.org):
Nov 7 – The First Bite: The global food web has become increasingly complicated with the industrialization and globalization of our world. Session one explores the interconnectedness of food and our relationship to it, and previews the topics that will be explored in the rest of the course.
Nov 14 – Politics of the Plate: Session two focuses on the global geopolitics of food systems, including hunger, subsidies and externalized costs. What are the connections and what can we do to bring about more equity?
Nov 21 – A Healthy Appetite: This health-focused session examines how our current food system affects the health of our selves and our loved ones. Topics covered include GMOs, lifestyle diseases, soy, organics and pesticides.
Jan 23 – Just Food: Our eating choices often have hidden ethical implications. Session three explores the ethical and justice considerations of what we eat and how it’s produced, including factory farming and humane meat, fair trade vs. free trade, human rights violations in Florida’s tomato farms and food distribution.
Jan 30 – Eating for Earth: Session five discusses how climate change affects food supply and how our current food production system contributes to climate change and environmental degradation.
Feb 6 – Hungry for Change: This solutions-focused session looks at what others are doing and what we can do to affect change. It includes stories on Wes Jackson and the Land Institute’s perennial grains, Will Allen and Growing Power and a really cool fish farm in Spain.
“Food choices are always already political, cultural and ecological choices. The question is whether and how to make these food choices more consciously, coherently and contextually.” – Greta Gaard
To sign up or FMI, contact Church Office office@cumberlanducc.org or 829-3419.
