The local food movement has become a palatable force. In Portland alone there are now 40 farmers markets. Raising backyard chickens has become fashionable and growing numbers of people are planting vegetable gardens or joining CSAs. But what about all the people who feel they can’t afford to buy local organic food or lack the time or space to plant a garden? How can the local food movement become a movement for food justice, and work to ensure that everyone has the right to eat healthy, local food?
These questions were addressed last month at the Food Justice Conference, held at the University of Oregon last month. On Friday, March 25, KBOO presents the first installment of recordings made at Food Justice Conference. We'll be airing segments from two conference panels: Local Agriculture/Food Community and Sustainable Agriculture and Emerging Research in Plant Genetics, with speakers Patricia Allen, Director of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Janet Fiskio, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College; and Charles Benbrook, Chief Scientist at The Organic Center.
- KBOO