2014 Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living Conference

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The Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute announces the 9th annual Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living Conference to be held October 3rd & 4th, 2014 at the Nick L. Salazar Performing Arts Building of Northern New Mexico College, in Espanola, New Mexico.  The conference will include keynote speeches by Percy Schmeiser, Jefferey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology, Nina Simons of Bioneers, and arriving from Bolivia, Los Masis, an Andean cultural performance group.  This year’s conference will again be a multi-national fellowship with speakers and participants from at least 6 countries including Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Canada and the United States, as well as many Native American tribes from across the country.  The event will also feature local and regional experts in the areas of food security and sustainable ecology, a heritage seed exchange, workshops and panel discussions on youth issues in the 21st century, food and nutrition, seed saving, traditional farming, land restoration, traditional medicine, and medicinal herbs. 

Organizers expect this conference to generate pro-active community response in support of sustainable communities, ecologies, health and indigenous spiritual practices. There will be a vendors market featuring natural earth friendly products, information and services. These events contribute tremendously toward the goal of making the State of New Mexico, and the nation aware of the need for sustainable agriculture and the Genetic modified food issue.  In light of the recent proposal to bring 80 acres of GMO Poplar trees to Espanola Valley, the conference will have a strong theme teaching about the extreme dangers of GMOs in our environment, food supply, and human health.

The Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living Conference is a organized by a partnership of like-minded organizations including the Pueblo of Tesuque, Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute, the indigenous program at Northern New Mexico College, and Traditional Native American Farmers’ Association (TNAFA).

This conference was created to bring awareness to the prevalence, presence and threat of genetically modified food seeds and foods. This organization promotes healthy, traditional, sustainable methods of agriculture that exist as viable alternatives to the dangers of corporate agriculture. In cooperation with the Native American communities of Northern New Mexico with their tradition of agriculture and self sufficiency we are asking people to abandon their reliance on corporate agriculture and the consumerism life styles that surround them. We demonstrate the validity of their traditional agriculture and knowledge to the broader community and teach it by presenting an opportunity to listen to, and share in their world view through our conference. 

It is our position that the genetic modification of our food may be the worst pollution problem facing mankind. We have seen that polluted air and water can be cleaned up and be used again. Genetic modification cannot be cleaned up. There is no process to reverse genetic modification and bring the organic material back to its original state. Genetic modifications made today are forever. We believe that “for profit corporate scientists” have started a fire that they cannot put out.

For more information visit http://4bridges.org/educational-programs/annual-conference/2014-conference/