Week 4: Food for Thought: Towards an Environmentally Sustainable and Socially Just Food System
Date: 12th April 2021, Monday, 6:00 PM IST on Zoom
Pls note: Registration is not required if you have already enrolled for the webinar series.
Overview
Feeding 1.3 crore (13 million) people in the Bengaluru metropolitan area every day takes a lot of effort, energy, land, water and complex logistics. From a time when the city was growing and sourcing almost all its foods from the local region and backyard gardens, rising wealth and associated consumer capacity has resulted in foods with a high carbon and environmental footprint being fetched from far away, even from across the world. The metropolitan region now contributes far less food production than before, even as its expansion strains rural areas close by in sustaining farming. Wealth disparities are reflected in who consumes what, and the poor and the working classes are amongst the least nourished with healthy and sufficient food. As the footprint of downstream pollution spreads, so does the contamination of water and soil. What will it take for everyone in the metropolis to return to consuming food that is healthy, locally grown and environmentally sustainable? Will this objective transform how Bengaluru shifts gears to becoming climate-friendly, and thus also supportive of local farmers and reduce transport of food from outside? Will Bengaluru be able to grow more on its terraces, front and backyards, canals, parks and more community farms? Will this mean more food will also be available to all?
Profiles
1.Dr. T.N. Prakash Kammardi, Retired Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore
Mr. Prakash has over 30 years of experience in teaching and research in the fields of agricultural, natural resources, environmental economics, traditional knowledge and indigenous technologies etc.. He was a Former Chairman of Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission, Govt. of Karnataka. He has published over 30 Research papers, more than 50 scientific papers, 25 Books and more than 100 popular articles. He has been a recipient of many prestigious awards like Agricultural Diversity Research Award from International Development Research Center, Canada (2001), First Scouter Award received from Dr. Abdul J Kalam, Honorable ex-president of India in promoting unaided, grassroots green technologies given by National Innovation Foundation, Ministry of Science Technology, Govt. of India (2002).
2. Ms. Juli Cariappa, Co-Creator, Kracadawna Organic Farm
Ms. Juli has been a student of living ecology for 35 years. She is the co-creator of kracadawna organic farm in the Nugu River Valley, and a pioneer in sustainable living and healing. Since 1986 Juli along with Vivek Cariappa have sustainably stewarded their land and created a community of children, animals, plants, trees and wilderness. Countless organisms and biodynamic and organic principles of conserving the soil ecology have helped her learn the importance of linking livelihood with sustainability in everyday living.
3. Ms. Vishala Padmanaban, Consultant, Organic Food Systems
Ms. Vishala is a Consultant in Organic Food Systems. She had been an early adaptor of social entrepreneurship with intent to apply her acquired knowledge and skills to enable social, economic and environmental justice in food and agriculture systems. She also has 8 years of professional experience in international taxation and ITS audits and 12 years of experience in the wide spectrum of the Organic food landscape starting from Agriculture, development organisations to food enterprises. Specialised in Information Systems audits, she uses design thinking to problem solving in the development sector.
4. Dr. Kshithij Urs, State Head, Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Networks
Dr. Kshithij practises organic farming and is deeply committed to social justice and a healthy planet. He has worked at the intersection between academics, activism and policy advocacy for over 25 years. He is a member of two sub-committees of the Government of Karnataka drafting a new Agriculture policy of the state, He is an adjunct professor at NLSIU teaching Democracy and Ecology and is the state head of Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network. In the past, he has been the Executive Director of Greenpeace, the Global G20 campaign coordinator at ActionAid International and the Director of APSA – The Association for Promoting Social Action. He is an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the National Law School of India and was the Executive Director of Greenpeace India till recently.
5. Dr. Manjunath H., Convenor, Gandhi School of Natural Farming