A Co-op Menu for the Future
added 09/17/08
The Co-op’s Menu for the Future reading and discussion course was off to a successful start this week, with the group gathering for the first session on a September night at the Hanover food store. The ten participants came from a variety of towns in Vermont and New Hampshire, united by a common interest in food and the complexity of today’s food industry. “We had a wonderful discussion” says Rosemary Fifield, the Director of Education and Member Services, who facilitated the opening session. “The participants were enthusiastic about the readings and open to sharing their opinions and personal stories. This is going to be a great group.”
Menu for the Future is a 6-week reading and discussion course being offered as part of the Co-op’s 2008 Fall Co-op Class schedule. Participants examine the effects of modern industrial agriculture on both human and ecological health, explore emerging food-system alternatives, and consider how we as individuals can contribute to a more sustainable food supply. The readings consider food from multiple perspectives: cultural, economic, ecological, health, and social. Each selection presents a different, though often complementary, angle on our complex modern food system.
“Grocery shopping has become a challenge for the person who wants to do the right thing,” Rosemary says, relating the feelings of many of the discussion group participants. “Some find all the choices confusing and overwhelming, some are bombarded by conflicting moral choices, some even admit to seeing their eating habits as a backlash to the way they were fed growing up. It’s fun and fascinating to discuss it all, as well as the implications of what it means to us as a culture.”
Each week participants will discuss several short readings from the course anthology. Vermont Earth Institute staff and course participants will share responsibility for facilitating discussions. This course is offered in partnership with the Upper Valley Land Trust.
Although our current courses are filled, interested individuals can learn more about upcoming events by going to the VEI website. Menu for the Future is one of seven courses offered by Vermont Earth Institute, one of 25 sister earth institutes in the U.S.
