Australian Year of the Farmer 2012. Conventional farmers are aiming to draw our attention to the contribution of their work towards our well-being, reminding us in their manifesto that Farming is Australia’s Life Support System. http://www.yearofthefarmer.com.au/about/manifesto.html As our Australian population continues to concentrate in urban areas it is easy to become disconnected from the sources of our basic needs and to take for granted the effort that goes into creating the conditions for our nourishment on a daily basis. In this 21st century, the life support systems which sustain and enable the farmers to produce such abundance are themselves under threat. Changes in water supply, climate and oil prices combine to pose a unique challenge to conventional thinking about farming practices. In preparation for changing weather patterns and increasing costs of fossil fuels alternative farming methods are growing in momentum, modelling small-scale, intensive, local efforts which may well become the face of our food sources in the future. Local farmers markets are on the increase, responding to our desire to know more about the source of our food, how it is grown and who is doing the growing. Growing food at home is also on the rise, opening opportunities for reconnection with this vital source of our well-being as well as re-awakening our awareness of the amazing cycle from seed to to flower to fruit and back to seed.
We are being called into a new place
EarthSong March Programs.
Themes of Creativity, 13th March 7.30 – 9.30 pm, repeated 21st March 10- 12 noon. Kildara Centre.
The Road to Rio + 20, Saturday 17th March, 9.30- 12, Kildara Centre. Presented by Joan Power.
For details about all EarthSong Programs: Program 2012
We Seek to learn new ways
Being Together, Becoming Sustainable course at CERES from 17th April 2012. There will be an information session on 20th March, 7-8.00pm, CERES Van Raay Centre. For further details visit http://www.ceres.org.au/being-together
The Grace of Forests.
Prepared by the Columban Mission Institute Centre for Peace Ecology and Justice, this new resource is available now online at no cost. The Stations of the Forests dvd and booklet is also available for online purchase.
http://www.columban.org.au/resources/The-Grace-of-Forests/
FAIRTRADE chocolate Easter Campaign. If you want to eat your Easter chocolate with the knowledge that its producers promote FAIRTRADE check out your options by clicking on the link: http://www.fta.org.au/get-involved/campaigns/make-fairtrade-choice-easter
Towards Earth Literacy
This engaging book for young (and not so young) by Elin Kelsey, teacher in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, is packed with good news messages. It begins by emphasizing our interconnectedness with our Earth home, highlighting relationships between everyday items and the well-being of the planet. The book is replete with positive suggestions for making a difference to consumer-based lifestyles, showcasing alternatives which engender hope. For all of us who are concerned about how children respond to today’s ecological realities, this book finds a way to emphasize the possibilities for a more healthy future for Earth. (Owlkids Books, Toronto, 2010)
