Small farmers and underserved urban communities need changes in national food policies and international trade rules to have a fighting chance of feeding themselves and building healthy, prosperous livelihoods.
– Eric Holt-Giménez
Eric Holt-Giménez is Executive Director of Food First, a California-based non-profit founded in 1978, and named by the New York Times as one of the country’s “most established food think tanks.” He will be the featured speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires Saturday, March 21st at 7:00 pm at the First Congregational Church, 251 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA. The event is open to the public.
The subject of the talk will be the global impact of diminished access to farmland and the importance of community ownership of land. It is based on a chapter from the forthcoming book, What Every Foodie Needs to Know About Capitalism and is informed by Holt-Giménez’ experiences while working with small-scale farmers in Mexico and Central America.
Of Basque and Puerto Rican heritage, Holt-Giménez grew up milking cows and pitching hay in Point Reyes, California. His deep appreciation for the value and power of building local food systems is tempered by his belief that working locally is not enough to bring about larger, necessary changes.
Among his many accomplishments, Holt-Giménez is the editor of the Food First book Food Movements Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food Systems; co-author of Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice with Raj Patel and Annie Shattuck; and author of the book Campesino a Campesino: Voices from Latin America’s Farmer to Farmer Movement for Sustainable Agriculture.
The Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires was founded in 1980 to hold land on behalf of the community for homes, farms and businesses with the goal of ensuring permanent access, control, affordability and environmental stewardship. Control of strategic land assets for workforce housing, food security, energy independence and community-supported industry is essential to our regional sustainability. The Community Land Trust is an open, democratic, member-driven organization committed to stewardship of community-owned land. Membership is $10 or 10 BerkShares per year per household. It owns 49 acres of land in Great Barrington and Egremont leased to 23 homeowners and Indian Line Farm, the first CSA in the U.S.
This event is open to the public. Tickets are free to members of the Community Land Trust. General admission $10 or 10 BerkShares. Sponsored by: Berkshire Co-op Market, Berkshire Grown, Great Barrington Land Conservancy, Indian Line Farm, BerkShares, Inc., Schumacher Center for a New Economics and The Carrot Project.
Eric Holt-Gimenez is a compelling speaker on a subject at the root of shaping a new economics. Please join us.