Food Justice Panelists at Harvest Festival

A major goal of UCGTCF is to address how we can meet the food security needs of our communities while working to change the economic, political and social systems that have created great inequalities in our society. At the Harvest Festival on Sunday, we’ll have a food justice panel starting at 3 pm to strive to answer these very questions.

Brandi Mack, national director of the Butterfly Movement and outreach team member for Permaculture Convergence, has been practicing permaculture for years. Permaculture is the development of self-sustaining and self-sufficient agricultural ecosystems. She is a specialist in the healing powers of permaculture and works to provide others with the experience of reconnecting with the earth and thus reconnecting with themselves.

Miguel Altieri has been a professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley for 35 years. He specializes in agroecology, which refers to a form of agriculture that seeks to both conserve natural resources and maintain high production levels. Miguel has been advisor to many efforts to study agroecological practices as an alternative to industrial agriculture, which is the culprit of many issues of inequity and food security inherit in our current food system. He is author to over 230 publications and we’ll be honored to hear what he has to say.

Ana Galvis Martinez is a Co-Lead Educator at MESA (Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture). MESA is a grassroots organization striving to revive community food systems via the fusion of ancestral knowledge with today’s innovation. Originally from Colombia, Ana has been working in the US for 8 years as an agroecologist. Educating others about agroecology as an alternative to industrial agriculture is her passion because of agroecology’s power to both strengthen societal bonds and conserve natural resources.

Pancho Ramos Stierle, member of both ServiceSpace and Casa de Paz, will also be joining us! ServiceSpace is a volunteer-run organization that creates an online space for folks to inspire one another to serve, as well as organize service opportunities together. Casa de Paz is a community house that lives according to collective values, including meditation, vegan eating, and generosity. Pancho has a rich history in standing for social justice and equity. He, too, recognizes that food, combined with kindness, can be healing for all of us.

This lineup can’t be missed. Make sure that you are at the Farm at 3 pm on Sunday so you can get a chance to hear from all of these amazing folks!