Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Iowa Environmental Council Annual Conference

Date: Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Start: 9:00 am End: 5:00 pm

Location: Olmsted Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa

Contact: Matt Hauge, Iowa Environmental Council annual conference coordinator, (515) 244-1194, Hauge@iaenvironment.org

This annual conference, Agriculture for Life: Cultivating Diversity in Iowa Fields and Food Systems, will take place at Drake University in Des Moines. It will focus on the intersections between U.S. agricultural policy, the health of Iowa's water, soils and air, and what consumers, policy makers, environmental advocates and farmers can and are doing to make a difference.

The keynote speaker will be author Frances Moore Lappé, whose forthcoming book EcoMind argues that the way we look at today's environmental challenges robs us of power and prevents us from positive action. Lappé will also speak in Ames in the evening.

A second featured speaker will be Ricardo Salvador, who will present "Iowa Fields and Food Policy: Good Intentions and Unintended Consequences." Salvador is a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan, and formerly agronomy professor at Iowa State University. He co-leads place-based work in New Mexico and the foundation’s Food & Community program that supports transformation of the U.S. food system into one that provides healthy, green, fair and affordable for vulnerable communities and their children.

Related information

Event flier [PDF]

Photos, reports and other resources from the conference [Iowa Environmental Council website]

Learn more about Lappé's evening talk in Ames

Listen to Lappé on Iowa Public Radio's Talk of Iowa (October 27, 2011)