SierraScape June - July 2002
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Eastern Missouri Group's general meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. We are at the Missouri Botanical Garden except when otherwise noted. Meetings are free and open to the public. You may also join Sierrans and the evening's speaker for dinner, anytime after 5:30 p.m. at the St. Louis Bread Company on Grand near Arsenal. It's a great way to get acquainted with fellow Sierrans!
Thursday, June 27: Roger McManus, Director of the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, will talk about the Missouri Botanical Garden's role in the international community.
Thursday, July 25: Kyle Vickers, food and society policy specialist, will discuss sustainable agriculture and efforts to support environmentally-sound family farming practices in Missouri.
Featured speakers offer visions for a sustainable planet
THURSDAY, JUNE 27
We didn't need to look too far for our June speaker, Roger McManus. McManus is Director of the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
The Center promotes conservation and sustainable use of plant resources on a global scale, by working directly with government agencies, non-government organizations, researchers, farmers, and industrialists. Since it serves as a clearinghouse for conservation efforts worldwide, McManus likes to call the Center "MBG International".
"The Missouri Botanical Garden has a global reputation for scientific achievement," McManus says.
"In today's world, we must recognize that every species we do not internationally protect, we will lose. We all share a concern for the future of the planet-the Earth is not a big place anymore."
THURSDAY, JULY 25
July's guest speaker is Kyle Vickers, a Food and Society Policy Fellow in a program sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation which promotes sustainable agriculture, family farms, and community-based food systems.
"I am working to communicate an alternative vision for our current food and farming system," Vickers says. "It's a vision that includes environmentally responsible farming, strong rural communities, and thriving family farms.
"In many areas of the country, such a vision lives and breathes. Fighting long odds, many farmers and consumers are turning to organic or sustainably produced food, raised by small farmers or family farmers, and sold and distributed outside the current industrial system.
"Even in Missouri," Vickers adds, "several groups and many individuals are working in this direction. They are answering the call from consumers for safe healthy food grown in responsible ways."
Vickers will discuss some of these efforts in Missouri and elsewhere and share his vision for the future of farming. Along the way, he'll give an update on changes in Missouri and U.S. Farm Policy.