[Pil-pc-oceania] LISMORE: Feeding our future seminar Sat 15 March '08

[RussGrayson]

FEEDING OUR FUTURE
creating sustainable local food systems
 
WHEN: Saturday, March 15, 2008 9.00a.m. - 3.00p.m.
WHERE: Southern Cross University, Whitebrook Theatre Y205, Lismore
(a map will be sent upon your registration)
 
COST: $22 registration includes local organic morning tea and lunch
 
TO REGISTER CONTACT:
Jessica Huxley, Environmental Health and Building, Lismore City Council
Jessica.Huxley at lismore.nsw.gov.au
 
OR DOWNLOAD REGISTRATION FORM:
http://www.lismore.nsw.gov.au/cmst/lcc002/lp.asp?cat=276
 
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PROGRAM 
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9.00am  Registration, trade displays, local tea & coffee on arrival
 
10.00am  Dr Leigh Davison, SCU. Welcome and Introduction
 
10.15am Roberto Perez. Cuba¹s Agricultural Response to Peak Oil
 
11.00am  Rebecca Lines-Kelly, NSW DPI. UK Response to Recent Food Crises
 
11.30am  Alan Roberts, TROPO. Food Miles and Energy Costs
 
12.00pm Lunch (local organic food sourced within 160km of Lismore) and Stall
display
 
1.00pm  Russ Grayson, Community Gardens in Australia. Relocalising the Food
Supply 
 
1.30pm Dave Forrest, TROPO. Organic Growing Options
 
2.00pm  Dr Leigh Davison, SCU. Localising Nutrient Cycles
 
2.30pm Jude Fanton, Seed Savers Network. Diversity Underpins Local Food
Markets
 
3.00pm  Close 
 
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FEEDING OUR FUTURE PRESENTERS...
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Roberto Perez  
...is a Cuban permaculturist who featured in the film ŒThe power of
community¹, which outlines what happened to Cuba¹s agriculture after Cuba
lost access to Soviet oil, fertilisers and export trade market in the early
1990s.  The story of the Cuban people's hardship, ingenuity, and triumph
over sudden adversity --through cooperation, conservation, and community--to
create a low energy society is inspirational. Roberto attributes much of the
success of Cuba's urban agriculture and food security to the introduction of
permaculture by a group of Australian permaculture trainers during the early
years of the Cuban crisis, or ŒSpecial Period'. The city of Havana now
produces over 60% of its fruit and vegetables within the city and peri-urban
areas. Roberto Perez is spending 2 months in Australia sharing the Cuban
experience through public presentations, national and regional conferences.
 
Dr Leigh Davison 
After practising as a professional engineer in Sydney Leigh Davison moved to
a multiple occupancy community at The Channon in 1979 with a view to
exploring low impact, self-sufficient lifestyles. Over the past 29 years
Leigh has been active in Landcare and the organic and biodynamic agriculture
movements at local, state and national levels. Leigh is currently a Senior
Lecturer in the School of Environmental Science and Management at Southern
Cross University and is the Director of the Centre for Ecotechnology which
has the motto: "turning wastes into resources by closing cycles locally,
visibly and elegantly".
 
Rebecca Lines-Kelly
...is an environmental communication specialist with NSW
DPI, Wollongbar, who has long been interested in finding ways to reconnect
agriculture with the general community.  Over the past decade she has given
many presentations to urban audiences about the impact of their consumer
choices on agriculture, the environment and the landscape, and ways they can
become more involved in food production. In 2004 she completed her Master of
Arts in ecologically sustainable development with a thesis about Lismore's
Rainbow Region Organic Market and social capital.
 
Alan Roberts 
As a youngster Alan grew up, in the 1950¹s, living and working on wheat and
sheep farms around Murtoa, Vic. before the family established a market
garden on the town¹s outskirts. This pragmatic grounding inspired an
interest in physics which led to Alan¹s completion of a MSc in Solid State
Physics in early 1967. 30 years ago, as part of his interest in sustainable
energy, Alan researched a 6m diameter solar parabolic dish at Qld Uni. He is
now part of a local group developing this technology which can easily make
Australia carbon zero in sustainable energy but there is no effortless way
to make up 30 years of lost time or for the even longer unheeded
environmental warnings.
 
Russ Grayson 
...is the media liaison for the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens
Network. He has advised and trained community gardeners and has liaised with
local government on community gardening. Recently, Russ produced a policy
directions document for Marrickville Council on the development of community
gardens in the local government area, with a focus on the garden's role in
urban food security, healthy recreation and sustainability education. Russ
has been a Landcare Educator at Fairfield City Farm, is a member of the
Sydney Food Fairness Alliance and works with Terra Circle Inc, a development
assistance consultancy operating in the South West Pacific in areas of
village food security, nutritional health and training. The Terra Circle
team recently completed an AusAID funded assessment of Central Malaita
province in the Solomon Islands, exploring the region's food, health and
energy futures in association with local NGO, Kastom Gaden Association.
Russ¹s background is in journalism and community- based training.
 
Dave Forrest 
...has been growing organically since 1972, and graduated
Hawkesbury Ag College in1977. Dave is a grassroots commercial farmer of
native crops, coffee, citrus and occasional vegetables. He also grows a
diverse range of home fruit and vegetables.  Dave has been teaching
sustainable farming and Organic practises with TAFE since 1980.He is current
president of TROPO, v-pres of Soilcare, and a member of Byron Shire
Sustainable Ag. Roundtable. Dave is currently facilitating farmer groups to
develop better soil management practises in conjunction with the Catchment
Management Authority and Landcare.
 
Jude Fanton 
...co-founded in 1986 The Seed Savers' Network, a charitable institution
that has conserved over 8000 varieties of food plants and evolved into
seventy Local Seed Networks around Australia. Jude coordinates The Seed
Savers' Network with a team of interns and volunteers from its base in Byron
Bay, set in one acre of bio-diverse demonstration and trial gardens. She is
the co-author of The Seed Savers' Handbook with a distribution of over
25,000 in fifteen years, and a similar number distributed in other
languages.  Jude has travelled extensively in Third World countries to train
and consult on the establishment and extension of community based seed
saving systems for food plants. She is presently working on a film about the
guardians of traditional varieties of food plants, the key to local food
systems.