By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
In its fall series, Northumberland Learning Connection offers something to chew on with Feeding A Changing World – a look at the modern food chain and the complex forces reshaping the food we eat.
“We’ll delve into the global networks that move food and the urgent challenges of producing enough to feed the world in an era of climate disruption and trade wars,” the announcement said.
“We’ll examine the impact of consumer-driven trends like organic foods and the ‘Made in Canada’ movement, and take a look at how what we eat has evolved from sustenance to entertainment.”
And because the series takes place in Northumberland – where it is the top industry, employing 11% of the local workforce on more than 950 farms – there is the opportunity for a good look at some cutting-edge farming techniques with a tour of a successful local farm.
The speakers will cover a wide range of topics in 7:30 p.m. presentations throughout October and November at the Columbus Community Centre (232 Spencer St. E., Cobourg).
Oct. 16 – How The World Eats and Why It’s Changing – David Donnan teaches a graduate course on the Future of Sustainable Food and Agriculture at Northwestern University. A proud Canadian who holds both an engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Toronto, he has been in the food industry for more than 40 years, running food plants, managing companies and consulting to many of the largest food and agricultural companies in the world. His talk will explore how politics, demographics, culture, technology and the environment are changing the industry and how we eat. It’s a highly vulnerable system, with 75% of the world’s food generated from only 12 plant and five animal species, but breakthrough technologies, innovations in sustainability and novel food-processing techniques provide some good news.
Oct. 23 – Geopolitics and the Global Food System – Jennifer Clapp is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Clapp will outline the key dynamics in the global politics of food, including the global hunger situation and key drivers of food insecurity (including conflict, trade practices, corporate concentration and climate change). She will examine the impacts of recent geopolitical shifts in the global order and their implications for food-security outcomes around the world.
The talk will also consider the kinds of policy shifts required to transform food systems to make them more equitable and sustainable.
Oct. 30 – Close To Home: Food Insecurity In Canada – Sara Edge is the Arrell Chair in Food, Policy and Society and Associate Professor at the University of Guelph. Dr. Edge’s presentation will explore the social and environmental drivers of food insecurity and related inequities and injustices across Canada’s increasingly diverse society. She will also discuss emerging innovations, including the vital importance of community in strengthening food access. For this particular session, a portion of ticket sales will be donated by NLC to Northumberland Fare Share Food Bank, and Fare Share representatives will be on hand to collect nonperishable food and monetary donations from attendees who wish to give their support.
Nov. 13 – Are We All “Foodies” Now? – Josee Johnston and Shyon Bauman are both sociology professors at the University of Toronto, known for their research and writing on food and consumer culture. They will explore how ideas like authenticity and exoticism continue to serve as key criteria in defining “good food,” but also how our tastes are increasingly shaped by algorithms, digital aesthetics and powerful social messages. They also look at how food culture might become more inclusive, community-building, depolarizing and sustainable, allowing more people in today’s world to “eat well.”
Nov. 20 – The Marketing of Food – Saaf Mollaei is the Arrell Chair in the Business of Food and Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph. Dr. Mollaei is interested in studying the promotion of sustainability through interventions and sustainable marketing, especially among such critical subgroup populations as young adults and children. Her talk will explore the evolving consumer experience at the retail level, examining how trends in health, ingredients and sustainability shape what shoppers find on store shelves, from product labelling and assortment to marketing strategies. She will also discuss how consumers can navigate complexities to make informed food choices amidst an abundance of options.
Nov. 27 – Futuristic Farming – Thomas Graham draws on his expertise in Controlled Environment Agriculture and bioregenerative life-support for systems for long-duration human space exploration to show how cutting-edge research is transforming food production both in Ontario and across Canada, to end the series on a hopeful vision for the future. From tackling food insecurity in remote (and not-so-remote) communities to applying space science here on Earth, Dr. Graham will explore how advancing and emerging technologies are helping farmers grow more with less through biological tools, big data, automation and resource-efficient methods.
The farm tour takes place Oct. 25 at 3 p.m., hosted by Paul Burnham. For six generations, his family has operated a farm on County Road 2 between Cobourg and Port Hope. During the tour (lasting 60 to 90 minutes), guest will view the fields, buildings and machinery while Burnham shares the challenges of small-scale farming, educates them on the importance of soil management and discusses the future of family farms in Canada.
Tickets are $25 each for speakers, and registration for the farm tour is $15 (space is limited, so get your tickets soon). A package that includes the six speaker events and recordings is also available for $150.
Purchase your tickets by visiting connectnlc.ca
A limited number of free tickets to speaker events are available for Northumberland County secondary-school students – contact Joanne O’Sullivan at mjoanne.osullivan@gmail.com for information on NLC’s Education Program.
