On May 21st A Rocha Manitoba, together with Canadian Mennonite University and Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba hosted an online event called Germinating Conversations. For the last nine years, over 12 events, Germinating Conversations has explored a range of contested issues emerging from the intersection of food, faith, and land.
This latest event focused on food security and the covid-19 pandemic. Recent reports from the World Food Programme have found that an additional 130 million people around the world will face hunger as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Canada, 1 in 8 people faces food insecurity, and food banks across Canada have noticed an increase in demand in the past two months. Likewise, the agricultural industry is facing challenges, from finding workers, to distributing their produce and more. Can this pandemic help us think about food and agriculture in a different way?
The following people spoke about their experiences:
Heather Unger – Permaculture design specialist
Rick Bergman – Chair of the Canadian Pork Council and vice chair of the Manitoba Pork Council
Dave Guenther– Resource Pastor at Many Rooms Church Community in the Spence Neighbourhood, Winnipeg – Click here to read his article on Food Banks and Covid-19.
Mike Salomons – Agriculture & Livelihoods Technical Advisor at Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Megan Klassen-Wiebe – Farmer with Metanoia Farmers Worker’s Cooperative
Click the following link to download the podcast or listen below: Germinating Conversations-Food Security and the Covid-19 Pandemic
A Message from Marta- Editor of the upcoming Germinating Conversations Book:
“In the past few years, a group of organizers and participants has been imagining ways of capturing the story of Germinating Conversations and sharing it with a broader audience. The result has been the creation of a book, entitled: Food, Faith, Farming, and the Land: A Germinating Conversation. It is a collection of stories and reflections that record the content of the dialogue. We hope that it may also serve as inspiration for others to initiate their own difficult conversation. As editor of the book, I am excited to announce that the book will be available for purchase in October 2020. We are tentatively anticipating a book launch then. We will keep you up to date on further event details. We would love to see you all there!”
To help make this book a reality that can be shared with a larger audience you can contribute here.
