Agricultural Crossroads: Food, Fuel and the Future

A SIP OF SCIENCE

The rhetoric surrounding agriculture in the state of Minnesota almost invariably invokes a future of sacrifice. Some fear that maintaining the status quo will damage our ecosystems, while others are concerned that alternative approaches will lead to economic woe and inadequate food supplies.

Nick Jordan, professor of agronomy and plant genetics at the University of Minnesota, wants to change the terms of the dialog from abnegation to shared opportunity. Jordan wants to facilitate the adoption of land-use practices that take local agriculture in a new, multifunctional direction. Join Jordan, local farmer Tony Thompson, Warren Formo from the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition, and Jim Kleinschmit and Anna Clausen from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy for a discussion of a new vision for local farmland use, and how we might get there from here.

Join us for a discussion of science, policy, music, and art.

A SIP OF SCIENCE bridges the gap between science and culture in a setting that bridges the gap between brain and belly. Food, beer, music, and learning are on the menu in a happy hour forum that puts science in context through storytelling.

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ABOUT THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER PANEL

Nicholas Jordan is a professor of agronomy and plant genetics and an agro-ecologist. His work focuses on multifunctional agriculture, which explores and advances opportunities to reap benefits beyond food production from farmlands. In addition to studying how ecological services benefit agricultural production in areas such as weed management, Jordan helps bring together local and University resources to promote community-based food systems. Among his accomplishments, Jordan has helped develop a new form of agro-ecology that focuses on agriculture as a coupled human-natural system, and has been advancing landscape agro-ecology as a framework for linking agriculture with disciplines such as landscape design, land-change science, and planning.

Tony Thompson is a Windom-area farmer who manages his family's nearly 5000 acres to produce bountiful, profitable crops while carefully conserving the farm's soil and water. He has opened his home and farm to hundreds of researchers and scientists who want to learn more about agro-ecology.

Warren Formo is executive director of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition.

Jim Kleinschmit is director of the Rural Communities program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, which focuses on strengthening the link between rural economic policy and local, democratic decision-making in order to aid communities in creating and retaining the wealth that comes from their natural and human resources.

Anna Clausen is a landscape architect by training, she bridges years of practice in urban design and planning with a life deeply rooted on a Minnesota family farm. Over the last decade, Anna has focused on creating resilient communities through the creation of alternative land-use plans, regional greenway studies, city comprehensive plans, and park and trail system plans for communities across the state and the Upper Midwest.

ABOUT THIS MONTH'S MUSIC

Mother Banjo is a one-woman band featuring Ellen Stanley on banjo and vocals. Her music combines the haunting sounds of traditional folk and gospel with contemporary alt-country and Americana hooks. Poetic and rich, her songs are sad, sweet and full of the stories that inhabit the wide open prairies of the Midwest.

ABOUT A SIP OF SCIENCE

A SIP OF SCIENCE is a new science happy hour sponsored by the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED). It is a chance to hear about new and exciting research over beer, in a cool bar. Come talk with the experts about their efforts to address some of the Earth's most pressing problems. NCED's A SIP OF SCIENCE brings the wonder of science to happy hour.

The talk takes place during happy hour at the Aster Cafe || Food and Drink Available for Purchase