Virtual conference ‘Cultivating Soil, Soul & Health’ announced
What role can people of faith play in responding to the climate crisis?
The Montana chapter of Interfaith Power and Light believes their Zoom online conference “Cultivating Soil, Soul, and Health” will help answer that question. It will be held September 25th–26th.
Speakers will use our current food system as a focal point to explore climate, health, and structural vulnerabilities and inequality, as well as opportunities for restoring soil, health, air, and water quality, making healthy food affordable for the poor, increasing the viability of small farms, reducing waste and pollution, and enhancing social, economic, and spiritual resiliency.
The conference kicks off Friday evening, Sept. 25th at 6:30pm with keynote Fred Bahnson, Director of Food, Health, and Ecological Health Well-Being at the Wake Forest School of Divinity and author of Soil & Sacrament. Bahnson’s talk on ‘Contemplative Ecology’ will guide us to re-imagine our place in, and responsibility for, the natural world. Drs. Rob and Lori Byron follow at 7:50pm, sharing their insights on Climate Change and Human Health in Montana. An internist and pediatrician respectively, the Byrons helped start Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate.
The conference resumes at 8:45am Saturday morning, Sept. 26th with ‘Just Food Systems’ presented by Mary Stein, Program Leader of the Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems (SFBS) undergraduate degree program at Montana State University (MSU), and, at 10:30am, find out how Casey Bailey, a Montana grain farmer, transformed his Clearlake Farm in Fort Benton, using regenerative practices.
Conference organizer Connie Campbell-Pearson, Deacon at St. James Episcopal Church in Bozeman says, “I hope this conference will give folks a chance to step back from their daily interaction with food and take a deeper look into where it comes from, social inequities of food access, and what impact our appetites have on our precious earth. I also want people to find community and have actionable items when they go home.”
Interactivity is woven into the conference structure and breaks are included. After each speaker, participants will join in moderated small groups to brainstorm ways they can act on a personal level, as well as effective actions and opportunities for collaboration they can take back to their social or faith groups. The conference will be capped with a plenary discussing “Where do we go from Here?,” wrapping up at 12:30pm.
The conference costs $15, including downloadable resources and access to recorded presentations after the event. For registration and additional information, including detailed schedule, please visit www.fscaconference.org. •