Get Inspired!

August 19, 2010 | Author: genya | No Comments

2009 GFJI Gathering Videos are on YouTube!

Announcing Special Guest Winona LaDuke!

July 27, 2010 | Author: genya | No Comments

The lineup for the Growing Power Urban and Small Farm Conference in Milwaukee this year just keeps getting better   We have recently confirmed another powerful speaker - Winona LaDuke!

Winona LaDuke is a leader in the movement for environmental justice, food sovereignty, and indigenous rights.  She is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg of the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota.  She is the founder and director of both the White Earth Land Recovery Program, aimed at preserving cultural heritage while recovering and reclaiming the lands of the White Earth Reservation, and Honor the Earth, an organization that advocates on a national level for Native American people.  To celebrate the gathering, we will also be serving the White Earth reservation’s Native Harvest wild rice at one of the conference meals.

I had the extreme good fortune of hearing both Will and Winona speak at Terra Madre in 2008.   Terra Madre is an international gathering of farmers, foodies, and food activists, organized by Slow Food International, and held every other year in Turin, Italy.  The experience left a deep impression on me, and from what I could tell, on the rest of the audience as well.  Check out the video of her inspiring speech below, where she and her nephews speak plainly and passionately about the relationship we have with their food and our land.

Don’t miss this opportunity to listen to the words of so many of the most inspiring speakers and leaders in this food revolution!  Come to the Growing Power Farm Conference September 8-12, 2010!

From Rust Belt to Green Belt - Don’t Miss the Upcoming Keynote Speech by Grace Lee Boggs

July 19, 2010 | Author: genya | No Comments

Activist, author, speaker, and scholar Grace Lee Boggs will be joining us via video conferencing for a keynote speech at the Growing Power International Urban and Small Farm Conference!

Grace is well-known for her work in community revitalization in Detroit, as well as for her role in nearly every people’s movement in the last 80 years, an on-going struggle for the rights of tenants, workers, women, and people of color.  Boggs is an incredibly powerful speaker and role model, as demonstrated by her recent appearance at the US Social Forum in Detroit, where she joined Immanuel Wallerstein for a talk on Detroit, social movements, and systems (Click here to listen to an audio recording of the speech posted on AREA Chicago).

Growing Power’s friendship with Grace Lee Boggs began several years ago with her first visit to our site, and our paths continue to cross as we work towards the renaissance of our own cities, Detroit and Milwaukee.  Will met her again at a recent Growing Power workshop at D-Town Farm in Detroit.

We are honored to welcome Grace and her incredible (r)evolutionary spirit back to Milwaukee, as she joins us over video conferencing for her keynote speech!

Check back soon for the exact date and time to be announced, and don’t forget to register for the conference!

http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/register/register.html