FOCUS ON FOOD AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

From K-State Media Relations:

Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

K-STATE'S 2009 SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE TO FOCUS ON FOOD AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

MANHATTAN -- Food, food systems and human relationships will be the focus of Kansas State University's eighth annual Season for Nonviolence, Jan. 30-April 4.

The community-wide event is dedicated to promoting nonviolent relationships and takes place on the 64 days between the assassination anniversaries of two world-famous peacemakers: Mahatma Gandhi, who was killed Jan. 30, 1948, and Martin Luther King Jr., who was shot April 4, 1968. The observance was started in 1998 and has grown into an international event.

"An underlying aim of nonviolence is to encourage people to change our individual and collective minds about how we deal with the inevitable conflict in our lives," said Susan Allen, director of K-State's nonviolence education programs. "One way to do this is to take into account a more complex and realistic range of response options beyond polarities like 'fight or flight.' This includes expanding the alternatives beyond commercial agriculture or sustainable agriculture, either meat eating or no meat eating, local foods or imports, and so on.

Allen said we all have a relationship with the Earth and with our food. "The more nonviolent that interaction becomes the more sustainable the relationships will be. Healthy relationships are like good nutrition; the key is balance," she said.

K-State Season for Nonviolence events, all free and open to the public, include:

* Monday, Feb. 9: Rhonda Janke, professor of sustainable agriculture at K-State, will present "Connecting the Dots at K-State: Sustainability, Food Systems and Nonviolence," at 7 p.m. in the K-State Student Union's Little Theatre. Janke will discuss sustainable agriculture and how the local food system supports nonviolence every day.

* Tuesday, Feb. 10: Carol Barta will lead the discussion "Favorite Food Books: Talk and Tasting" from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Manhattan Public Library's auditorium. Barta, who works at the library and is on the board of directors of the People's Grocery Cooperative in Manhattan, will lead a discussion about food systems authors such as Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan. A local dessert will be served.

* Tuesday, Feb. 17: A showing of the film "King Corn" at 6:30 p.m. in the Manhattan Public Library auditorium. The showing is sponsored by the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice.

* Wednesday, Feb. 18: A showing of the film "The Future of Food" at 7 p.m. in the Manhattan Public Library auditorium. The showing is sponsored by the People's Grocery Cooperative.

* Monday, Feb. 23: "Change How You See, Not How You Look" by Woody Winfree, founder of the I Am Beautiful Project, at 7 p.m. in Union's Forum Hall. Related to the event and as part of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, the film "The I Am Beautiful Project" will be shown at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the Union's Little Theatre. The event is organized and sponsored by K-State's Sensible Nutrition And body image Choices, or SNAC, peer education group.

* Monday, March 9: "Vegetarian or Carnivore -- Wait! There's More!" will be a panel discussion guided by K-State student Cathy Benco, senior in dietetics, Manhattan. The panel will consist of a variety of eaters including carnivores, vegetarians, vegans and lacto-vegetarians.

* Thursday, March 26: The film "Black Gold: A film about Coffee and Trade" will be shown at 7 p.m. in Hale Library's Hemisphere Room. The film follows Tadesse Meskela, general manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia as he seeks a fair trade market for more than 74,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers. Summer Lewis, K-State alum and former Equal Exchange employee, will introduce the film. Fair trade tea and chocolate will be served.

* Saturday, April 4: the Local Food Fair will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Long's Park and feature local farmers and producers, community groups and grocery stores that support the local food economy.

During K-State's Season for Nonviolence, event organizers plan to raise $500 to buy and give a life-sustaining calf to a family in Africa through Heifer Project International.

More information and a full listing of events is available at http://www.k-state.edu/nonviolence

(From:

http://www.mediarelations.k-state.edu/newsreleases/jan09/nonviolent12309.html)