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Mississippi Sustainable Living Conference

Date and Time: Sat, Feb 25, 8:00 am

What is sustainable living, and why does it matter?  Consider this:  Planet earth is home to a growing number of people. Since the end of the Black Death in the 1400s, the number of people on earth has skyrocketed.  In 1804 one billion people were alive. By 1950, there were 2.5 billion people on earth.  Then things really picked up speed.  By 2000 there were 6 billion people living, and by 2050 population experts estimate there will be between 9 and 10 billion of us needing water, food, shelter, and fuel.  This is not a question of if, but when.  Will the earth be able to support this many people?  What do we need to do to prepare? We cannot afford not to know!

In 2009 several Mississippians decided we need to learn how to live in a way that preserves and protects the soil and natural resources that sustain us.  Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi was born.  Join us in our third state-wide conference where we have something for everyone. Register today at www.ggsim.org. Strands: Health & Wellness, Home & Garden, Energy, Networking This year’s conference offers 4 Strands, lunch, vendors, and a children’s center. The Health & Wellness Strand ties sustainable living to the mantra “We are what we eat” and breathe, and do. There is no doubt Mississippi’s health is unsustainable. It is rampant with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity epidemics. We must find our own, locally based solutions to these health issues.This strand begins with the statewide Farm-to-School Summit, walks participants through amazing health initiatives happening in Delta church yards and Jackson inner city gardens, and brings healthy practices right into your own kitchens, backyards, and homes.

The Home & Garden Strand is perfect for homesteaders looking for independence or extra income. Dreaming of providing renewable energy for your home, growing and preserving your own food, increasing the honeybee population, or keeping your own chickens? This strand is for you. Learn how you can save and earn money in your own home and backyard. Energy usage is at the core of sustainable living. Find out what is happening in communities and on college campuses around Mississippi. Learn about cutting edge technologies from Mississippi Technology Alliance. Find out what you can do in your home and community to reduce our dependence on oil and coal.

Our Networking Strand pulls people together to make a positive change for Mississippi. Find out how one single mom started a lawn-revolution with O Gardens! Listen to Dustin Pinion tell us how we can create a lucrative local food system in our state. Find out about Mississippi’s newly formed Food Policy Council. Get the tools you need to advocate for change during your lunch break with Toolkits for Community Activists. Join our Mississippi Sustainable Agricultural Network to redefine the face of farming in our state. And get information from the US Green Building Council about how to make your home and business more sustainable. Statewide Farm-to-School Summit: 9am -11:50am Conference Room Mississippi’s Newly Formed Food Policy Council has done some amazing things! Among those is bringing the issue of Farm-to-School to the forefront of the food agenda for our state. When Gaining Ground met with Harvard Fellow, Nate Rosenberg, in August this year, Farm-to-School was a distant dream. Now we have a pilot project well under way and the first, of what we hope will be many, statewide Farm-to-School Summits planned and ready to go. We are inviting all the players to the table for this event: parents, administrators, food service directors, farmers, Department of Health, Department of Education, and Department of Agriculture to get a good start on making fresh, healthy, and local produce available to all our children. Sustainable Agriculture Network: 1pm - 2:50pm Conference Room It is time to reclaim small, healthy farms as the backbone to Mississippi’s economy. It is time we stopped allowing 85% of our food money to be spent out of state. It is time to reclaim our greatest natural resources of land and water and use them wisely. It is time to create a localized, healthy food system. It is time to mentor each other, create a database of local knowledge, and organize to advocate for what we need. It is time to share knowledge about how to build hoop houses, find interns, use rotational grazing, and grow year-round. It is time for sustainable agriculture in Mississippi. Join the movement.

Registration $73 non-members, $45 members (registration includes a 2012 membership) $25 Farm-to-School Only w. CEUs $15 Students Children 16 and under are free We invite our veterans to attend at no charge; simply register online and be our guests! Register Online Today at www.ggsim.org

filed under: Community.