Centenary workshop tackles the issue of sustainable food systems
February 3, 2017
SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary’s Department of Philosophy has teamed up with the LSU AgCenter’s We Grow Together! initiative to organize a workshop examining the relations and meanings embedded in our community’s food. Dr. Lisa Heldke will lead the event entitled “Who’s In Your Refrigerator? A Workshop on Local Food Movements and the Quest for a Sustainable Food System” on Monday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Whited Room. The workshop is generously underwritten by the Attaway Professorships in Civic Culture program and is free and open to the public.
“When people think about philosophers, they generally think about abstract questions about the meaning of life or whether God exists,” says Chris Ciocchetti, Beaird chair of philosophy at Centenary. “Dr. Lisa Heldke has been using the tools and insights of philosophy to explore questions around food. She won’t bring a set of rules or a diet we should all eat, but instead she will help us think carefully about how we engage with each other through food.”
The workshop will begin with an overview of We Grow Together!’s efforts to create a sustainable, just local food system in the Ark-La-Tex. Dr. Heldke will lead the group in discussing the plans and raise questions about what the descriptors “sustainable,” “just,” and “local” mean for this community. Participants will have the opportunity to share their views and learn from others.
Heldke teaches in the philosophy department and the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Program at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she holds the Sponberg Chair in Ethics. Her scholarship and teaching have centered on questions about the nature of justice, oppression, resistance, and human liberation. Heldke also explores the philosophical significance of food and is the author of the book Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer along with numerous articles on food, foodmaking, and agriculture.
We Grow Together! is a collaborative campaign dedicated to creating a vision of a healthy regional food system in the Ark-La-Tex. More information on the campaign is available at wegrowtogether.org.