THE FUTURE OF FOOD
December 6th, 2010 / Hart House Theatre, University of Toronto

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Hart House is pleased to present the first-ever TEDx event at the University of Toronto.

The independently organized TEDxHart House: The Future of Food will explore some of the factors we must weigh as we choose what foods make it into our shopping carts. With the rise of issues like ethical eating, factory farming and food scarcity, the world is awakening to how we sow, grow, raise, reap, slaughter, transport, distribute, buy, share, cook, eat and dispose of food.

Five experts—Dan Donovan, Jason Qu, Lauren Baker, Jeffrey Crump and Bettina Schorman—share their views on food systems, food sharing, local food movements and sustainability in a series of four 18 minute talks. At TEDxHart House, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The talks will be posted online to the TEDx You Tube Channel following the event.

Hart House is a recognized leader in food politics and sustainability. Last year, Hart House celebrated World Food Week with filled-to-capacity programming, including a presentation by Dr. Vandana Shiva, a physicist, activist, vice-president of the global organization Slow Food International and author of Soil Not Oil, Earth Democracy and Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply.

TedX Hart House Speakers

Dan Donovan, Product Developer for Ontario’s Own
Small Enterprise in Food
How key are small and micro-enterprises to the goal of food production? Donovan will explore the role of small enterprise in food, and how smaller benefits both people and the environment.

Jason Qu, Coordinator for the University of Toronto Campus Agriculture Program (UTCAP)
The Secret Classroom
Food, and the act of feeding, gives life to everyday abstractions such as community, citizenship and democracy. Qu will share some of the fascinating lessons learned while leading student-led food initiatives.

Lauren Baker, Director of Sustain Ontario
10 Good Food Ideas
Regional food movements have sprung up all over the developed world. Baker will share ten good food ideas growing here in Ontario and the specific actions you can take to get involved and reap the benefits.

Jeffrey Crump & Bettina Schormann, Chefs and Slow Food proponents
Picking One Thing
If the statement ‘eat local’ were an all-or-nothing proposition, the answer would inevitably be nothing. Crump and Schormann will discuss how focusing on one positive action leads to a better way of life.

Arlene Stein, Program Director, Evergreen Brickworks
Master of Ceremonies’
A foodie force to be reckoned with returns! As Hart House’s Director of Events and Catering, Stein sparked a local food movement among students and the community. In her current role as Director of Programs for Evergreen Brick Works, Stein oversees dynamic programming that fuses communities and nature.

About TEDx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDx Hart House: The Future of Food, where x=independently organized TED event.

The TEDx conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.* TEDxHartHouse is an independent TEDx event operated under license from TED.

(*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TED Global is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDtalks or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED

TED2011, “The Rediscovery of Wonder,” will be held February 21-25, 2011, in Long Beach California, with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs, California.

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