The Successful Communities Collaborative (SCC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is hosting the inaugural Speakers Series at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 in the Meridian Ballroom in the Morris University Center. The Speaker Series will focus on food systems, including production, distribution and access and consumption.
Designed to complement SCC partnerships, the series will elevate expert voices from both local communities and the region to launch dialogue and spark action around our region’s food systems.
Yves Doumen, founder of the Motherland Community Project in Springfield, will present, “Strengthening Community Capacity and Increasing Access to Healthy Food Through Sustainable Urban Agricultural Systems.”
Doumen recognizes that access to healthy food among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and communities affected by poverty is limited, but urban agriculture has the potential to change this dynamic by boosting access to nutritious food, increasing household incomes, rejuvenating communities and developing community power to impact change, via social networks developed in the garden. Doumen’s presentation will highlight Motherland’s guiding framework for addressing root causes and engaging BIPOC and other communities facing food insecurity.
The program is open to the public. For more information and to register visit bit.ly/3Gvvrwv.
Categories: Illinois, Education