John Doe
Aug 17
PIF and the Houston Climate Justice Museum are teaming up to present this bi-monthly speaker series. Throughout the series we will bring in authors & local exports to explore how we built a 20th century food system that is collapsing global ecosystems, driving farms out of business, and creating untenable food access disparities. And most importantly, we'll build community with others who share our determination to do better going forward.
Speakers:
April 27th, 2023
6 - 8:00 pm
at Emancipation Economic Development Council
Collective structures of resilience are more important than ever for small-scale farming and climate work. Grace Ifeanyichukwu of We Are The Ones Cooperative Incubator and Accelerator will provide us with a primer on Solidarity Economies - What are they, their relevance to small scale farming, and how do communities form because of them.
December 15th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm
at the museum
Our final speaker of the year will be Monique Williams, Founder of The Heir+Loom Foundation. The Heir+Loom Foundation offers enriching and educational opportunities in a natural, historic space by resourcing Hester Farms and similar entities that support the empowerment of underserved populations.
Registration is recommended prior to the events.
October 5th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm
at the museum
Lucille Contreras, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project. She will be speaking on the restoration of the traditional relationship between the Lipan Apache and their relatives, the Bison.
Texas Tribal Buffalo Project is a non-profit dedicated to the reconnection and healing of generational trauma of the Lipan Apache and other indigenous communities and tribes in Texas. Contreras works to provide the indigenous communities of Texas a pathway to tribal and food sovereignty.
Lucille joined us with a virtual presentation.
August 4th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm
at Rice University
Jeremy Peaches, local farmer and extension agent, discussed climate smart solutions for Houston agriculture. Jeremy is operator and owner of Fresh Life Organic Produce Co. & Agricultural Consulting Firm (FLO). FLO provides services in aquaponics, hydroponics, row crop, farming operations, risk management, and marketing. As time progressed, Jeremy's consulting business began to show its ability to not only provide farming services, but to solve problems ranging from food access to providing jobs for those in need. He began to turn his business into a blessing for everyone in his community.
Jeremy joined us with a virtual presentation.
June 20th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm
at the museum
Roy Vũ, author and Dallas College-North Lake Campus history professor will share his perspective on the principles of food sovereignty laid out by the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance and the interplay between Food Sovereignty and Vietnamese American culture. Roy earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of Houston and is the author of “Natives of a Ghost Country: The Vietnamese in Houston and Their Construction of a Postwar Community,” and Farm-to-Freedom: Vietnamese Americans and Their Home Gardens (forthcoming TAMU Press, 2022).
Roy joined us with a virtual presentation.
April 6th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm
at the museum
Julia Freedgood, Director of Farms for a New Generation at American Farmland Trust. A national expert in farmland protection, agricultural viability, and food systems, Julia will share her perspective on the importance of local agriculture to community resiliency, discuss what broke farming in the 20th century and how we can fix it.
Julia joined with a virtual presentation. Small group discussion was facilitated after the presentation.
February 24th, 2022
6 - 7:30 pm at the museum
Chris Smaje, author of A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth. He will discuss how we broke our ecosystems and agriculture in the 20th century, and present an alternative approach that just might enable future generations to thrive.
Chris's conversation with PIF's Farms Program Director Rachel Folkerts was recorded prior and screened at the museum. Small group discussion was facilitated after the screening.
