From jcrosby@desktop.org Tue Oct 28 19:53:18 1997 Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 15:33:16 -0700 From: Jonda Crosby To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Soul of Agriculture Conference [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] THE SOUL OF AGRICULTURE: A NEW PRODUCTION ETHIC FOR THE 21st CENTURY A National Conference November 14-16, 1997 Minneapolis, Minnesota This national conference is sponsored by the Center for Respect for Life and Environment. It is an activity of the Soul of Agriculture Project, a two-year effort established by the Center in late 1995 to develop a new agriculture production ethic and to mobilize broad public support for its adoption. This effort was inspired by ^ÓThe Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics,^Ô a book by Paul B. Thompson, Professor of Applied Ethics in the Department of Philosophy at Purdue University. The book examines environmental problems in industrial agriculture and challenges environmentalists to think more deeply and creatively about the ethical dimensions of agriculture^Òs impact on the environment. The conference is a national public response to Thompson^Òs call for ^Óan ethic of farming, a philosophy of agriculture, which particular attention to agriculture^Òs impact upon and integration with the wider natural world . . .a philosophy needed as much by those who eat as by those who farm . . . nearly gone is the spirit of raising food and eating it as an act of communion with some larger whole.^Ô Fred Kirschenmann, Medina, N.D., farmer and sustainable agriculture leader, proposed the production ethics project and chairs the conference planning committee. Thompson and Kirschenmann were among more than 20 environmentalists, farmers, faith community networkers, ethicists, and others brought together last March to draft a vision statement/call to action document. The draft, now available for public review and comment, calls for development and implementation of a new production ethic. This document will be refined in conference breakout sessions and published early next year. The Center for Respect for Life and Environment, established in 1986 in response to the growing environmental crisis, sponsors economic and social development programs that recognize the links between ecology, spirituality, and sustainability. Conference Program Summary Friday, November 14 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Opening Plenary. Keynote by Paul B. Thompson, Professor of Applied Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Purdue University. 10:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Plenary Session with speakers presenting five perspectives (agricultural, environmental, consumer, faith community, and rural community) on an agricultural ethic. 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch on your own. 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. Plenary Session featuring presentations from farmers discussing what they do to apply an agricultural ethic to their farming operation. 3 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Plenary Session featuring presentations by environmentalists discussing how they view agriculture^Òs impact on the environment. 4:15 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Breakout sessions to identify and discuss the shared values of environmentalists and farmers. Saturday, November 15 9 a.m.-9:45 a.m. Plenary Session. Keynote by Paul Johnson, Administrator, USDA^Òs Natural Resources Conservation Services (invited). 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Plenary Session featuring case studies of successful national initiatives that featured compromise between farm, environmental, and consumer organizations. 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Plenary Session featuring presentations by three ethicists on what is involved in developing and implementing an agricultural production ethic. 12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Lunch on your own. 1:45 p.m.-3 p.m. Breakout sessions for input from selected panelist and conference participants on the vision statement/call to action draft. 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Breakout sessions resume discussion by participants of draft document with the primary focus on actions needed for implementation. 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Fall Harvest theme reception featuring organically-grown food and presented by the Midwest Organic Alliance. Sunday, November 16 9 a.m.-9:45 a.m. Plenary Session featuring keynote address by Winona LaDuke of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota (invited). 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Plenary session featuring six presentations on models that can be used to take an agricultural production ethic to the grassroots. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch on your own. 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Breakout sessions to discuss models and recommend ways the Soul of Agriculture Project can facilitate work on a farming ethic at the grassroots. 2 p.m.-2:45 p.m. Closing Plenary Session with reports back from breakout sessions, a response from the Soul of Agriculture Project, and any final comments. Vision Statement/Call to Action Drafting Committee The committee that drafted the document that will be refined in conference breakout sessions spent three days last March working together with the guidance of a professional facilitator and the assistance of an experienced writer. A copy of this draft can be mailed to you upon request (if you cannot attend the conference) or sent to you as part of your registration packet. Contact Roger Blobaum, Conference Coordinator, at 202-537-0191 (phone) or 202-537-0192 (fax). The drafting committee members are John Bobbe, Sr. Pegge Boehm, Kate Clancy, Peter deFur, Michael W. Fox, Cornelia Butler Flora, Dean Freudenberger, Judith Heffernan, Derrick Jensen, Loni Kemp, Fred Kirschenmann, Ron Kroese, Betsy Lydon, Mardi Mellon, Michelle Miller, Neill Schaller, Shirley Scherrod, Kathy Sikorski, Paul Smith, Paul B. Thompson, Bob Welborn, and David C. Williams. Registration Form To register, please complete this registration form (one per person; make copies as needed) and mail it with a check to the Soul of Agriculture Project at 3124 Patterson Pl., N.W., Washington, DC 20015 or fax it with the needed credit card information to 202-537-0192. Name __________________________________________________________________________ Affiliation (if applicable) _________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Phone: _________________________________________________________________________ Registration Information (check one) Registration before November 1 $ 80.00 _____ Registration starting November 1 100.00 _____ Student Registration 40.00 _____ Make checks payable to: Center for Respect for Life and Environment Charge Card Information: _____VISA _____ M/C Expiration Date: __________ Number: ___________________________ Signature: ___________________________ Name on Card (Please print) _______________________________________________ Conference registration includes reception but does not include meals. Please register early. Conference space is limited; confirmation on a first-come, first-served basis. There are no partial reservations. No refunds can be made after November 1. For registration or conference information please contact Roger Blobaum, Conference Coordinator, at 202-537-0191 (phone) or 202-537-0192 (fax). Conference Site The conference will be held at the Humphrey Institute Conference Center, which is located on the edge of the West Bank of the Minneapolis Campus of the University of Minnesota. It is approximately 10 minutes from both downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and about 30 minutes from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. The conference center is managed by the Citizen Education Program, an outreach arm of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. It serves the University of Minnesota community and the nonprofit, business, and public sectors by providing meeting and conference facilities. All conference events, including the Saturday evening reception, will be held at the Center. Hotel Information A block of rooms has been reserved for conference participants at the Holiday Inn-Metrodome, which is located two blocks from the Humphrey Institute Conference Center. We suggest you make your room reservations as soon as possible to take advantage of the special Conference rate of $77.50 single/double per night. You must request rooms in the Center for Respect for Life and Environment block to receive the conference rate. For hotel reservations call Holiday Inn-Metrodome reservations at 800-448-3663 during normal office hours or Holiday Inn Worldwide Reservations at 800-465-4329 after 6 p.m. and on weekends. The conference rate is available through October 22. Other Information If you register before November 1, you will receive in the mail confirmation of your registration, copies of the Vision Statement/Call to Action draft and of the conference program, and other travel and parking information. Soul of Agriculture Project 3124 Patterson Pl., N.W. Washington, DC 20015 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".