NW Permaculture Institute

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Monthly Archives: February 2015


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Fresh – Join our Free Film and Potluck in Salem March 26th

Will Allen - Growing Power

Will Allen – Growing Power

March 26th @ 6:30pm, The NW Permaculture Institute presents, Fresh – film 70 mins

“Our current industrial method of food production is increasingly viewed as an unsustainable system, destructive to the environment and public health. But what is the alternative?

Fresh profiles the farmers, thinkers, and business people across the nation who are at the forefront of re-inventing food production in America. With a strong commitment to sustainability, they are changing how farms are run, how the land is cared for, and how food is distributed. Their success demonstrates that a new paradigm based on sustainable practices can be profitable and a model for our food system, if people choose to support it.

Fresh opens with a short summary of the problems and consequences of industrialized food production, then focuses primarily on the individuals who are creating new approaches to address environmental, health, and economic challenges throughout the food chain.

Joel Salatin is a world-famous sustainable farmer and entrepreneur who, by observing nature, devised a rotational grazing system for his animals that heals the land while making his operations many times more profitable than his conventional farming neighbors.

Will Allen, a former pro basketball player and recipient of a Macarthur “Genius Award”, is now one of the most influential leaders of the urban farming movement. He teaches people in the inner city the value of healthy food and how to grow their own.

David Ball saw his family-run supermarket and a once-thriving local farming community dying with the rise of Walmart and other big chains. So he reinvented his business, partnering with area farmers to sell locally-grown food at an affordable price. His plan has brought the local economy back to life.

Fresh also features a farmer in Iowa who illustrates the struggles family farmers face, a hog farmer in Missouri who stopped using antibiotics on his pigs, and commentary by noted food expert and author Michael Pollan.”

Film includes potluck and discussion at 5090 Center Street NE, Salem, Oregon 97317.  For more information: 503-449-8077.

This event is made possible by support from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, Life Source Natural Foods, and private donations from people in our community.  Thank you for your support!

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Two Free Films for February: Growing Cities and The Man Who Stopped the Desert

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Growing Cities: A Film About Urban Farming In America
A documentary film that examines the role of urban farming in America and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and change the way we eat.  In their search for answers, filmmakers Dan Susman and Andrew Monbouquette take a road trip and meet the men and women who are challenging the way this country grows and distributes its food, one vacant city lot, rooftop garden, and backyard chicken coop at a time.  Join them as they discover that good food isn’t the only crop these urban visionaries are harvesting. They’re producing stronger and more vibrant communities, too.

Febuary 17th @ 6:30 pm, Pringle Creek Community 3911 Village Center Drive, SE, Salem.  Made possible with support from the Pringle Creek Community.  For more info call Diana Cason  941-735-0452

 

 

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The Man Who Stopped the Desert
“Yacouba Sawadogo, a peasant farmer from northern Burkina Faso in Africa, has succeeded where international agencies failed. Over the last twenty years he has become a pioneer in the fight against desertification and hunger. Yacouba’s struggle is pure, inspiring drama. It is about one man’s determined efforts that have the potential to benefit many thousands living in the Sahel region of Africa.
As early as the 1970′s, the Sahel became a bleak land as a result of severe drought combined with overgrazing, poor land management, and overpopulation. By the 1980′s the region, which once had a population of some 30 million, suffered from severe poverty and starvation. Yacouba remained undaunted. Through the combination of his vast reforestation project and the adaptation of an ancient agricultural ‘zai’ planting technique, his name is now synonymous with reversing the process of desertification and combating food shortages. Yacouba’s work over a quarter century has resulted in the successful rehabilitation of farmland, the regrowth of forests, and the return of many to their homeland, as well as praise from international organizations eager to learn more about his techniques.”

February 26th @ 6:30pm, Event includes finger food potluck and discussion, @ 5090 Center Street. NE, Salem.  Made possible with support from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem and Life Source Natural Foods.  More info call: 503-449-8077