Four talks examining Food Production, Marketing and Consumption in the United States – Colonial Era to Present comprise the 2015 Dowd Lecture Series at UNC Charlotte. Each of the lectures will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Denny Hall, Room 220. The campus community is invited.
The first presentation, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4, will feature Baldemar Velasquez, founder and president of the Ohio-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee. Velasquez has dedicated his life to improving the working and living conditions of migrant farm workers and their families. The recipient of numerous awards including the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur “genius” award, Velasquez earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bluffton College. He earned advanced degrees in practical theology and was ordained as a chaplain to farm workers in 1991. He has published several articles and collaborated on books that address the plight of migrant farm workers.
Gavin Gibbons, vice president of communications for the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), the trade group representing the U.S. fishing industry, will speak on Monday, Nov. 9. The NFI is dedicated to education about seafood safety, sustainability, and nutrition. Its members are committed to sustainable management of the oceans and fisheries. Gibbons holds a Bachelor of Arts from UNC Greensboro.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Dr. Jeanine Davis, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist with the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University, will present on North Carolina organic agriculture. Davis co-authored Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other Woodland Medicinals. Her expertise is in medicinal herbs — particularly ginseng cultivation, organically-grown food, specialty crops and sustainable living. Davis manages the NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program, an outreach tool for fundraising to support research, educational programs and online resources. She is a co-owner of Our Tiny Farm, where her family produces and sells garlic, honey, and pasture-raised beef.
Robin Emmons, founder and executive director of Charlotte-based Sow Much Good Inc. and a UNC Charlotte alumna, will discuss urban food poverty on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Sow Much Good is a nonprofit organization committed to growing healthy communities in under-served neighborhoods by providing direct access to fresh, affordable food; educating and engaging residents to adopt healthy eating habits, and advocating for the right of every person to have real food security. Emmons left her job in financial services in 2008 to grow food in her backyard for the urban poor. Today, two farm sites totaling 9 acres have sold over 30,000 pounds of produce to urban food-desert residents. More than 20,000 families have benefited from this initiative.
The campus community is invited without charge to these presentations sponsored by the History Department and the Dowd Foundation.
