Program for the National Conference – The Soul Of Agriculture | 1997
A National Conference, November 14-16, 1997, Minneapolis, Minnesota
SPONSORED BY: Center for Respect of Life and Environment
CO-SPONSORED BY: Heifer Project International, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture
Conference Planning Committee
The conference was conceptualized and shaped by a national committee set up more than a year ago. The committee developed the Soul of Agriculture Project, organized the committee that drafted the vision statement/call to action document, and planned the conference. Fred Kirschenmann, Manager of Kirschenmann Family Farms, chairs the committee. Other members are Melanie Adcock and Gary Valen, Humane Society of the U.S.; Rick Chigston, Tom Rogers, and Bob Welborn, Center for Respect of Life and Environment; Peter deFur, Center for Environmental Studies; Ron Kroese, St. Croix Valley Community Foundation, and Skip Poison, Heifer Project International. Roger Blobaum of Blobaum & Associates manages the project and is the conference coordinator.
Vision Statement/Call to Action Drafting Committee
The committee that drafted the document that will be refined in conference breakout sessions spent three days last March working together under the guidance of Robert Hudek of Wisconsin Citizen Action, a professional facilitator. Editorial assistance was provided by Brad DeVries of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Drafting committee members are John Bobbe, National Farmers Organization; Sr. Pegge Boehm, St. John’s University; Kate Clancy, Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture; Peter deFur, Center for Environmental Studies; Michael W. Fox, Humane Society of the U.S.; Cornelia Butler Flora, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development; C. Dean Freudenberger, Luther Seminary; Judith Heffernan, Heartland Network for Town and Rural Ministries, and Derrick Jensen, Environmental Author.
Also Lord Kemp, Minnesota Project; Fred Kirschenmann; Ron Kroese; Betsy Lydon, Mothers & Others; Mardi Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists; Michelle Miller, Environmental Consultant; Jose Montenegro, Rural Development Center; Neill Schaller, Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture; Shirley Scherrod, Federation of Southern Cooperatives; Kathy Sikorski, Rancher; Paul Smith, Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin; Paul B. Thompson, Purdue University; Bob Welborn, Center for Respect of Life and Environment; and David L. Williams, Farmer.
Special Thanks
The conference coordinator greatly appreciates the counsel and extraordinary organizing and other assistance provided by Br. David Andrews of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference; C. Dean Freudenberger; Judith Heffernan; Dale Hennen of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocense; Dana Jackson of the Land Stewardship Project; Loni Kemp; Ron Kroese; Michelle Miller; Helene Murray and students at the Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture; Sr. Mary Mark Tacheney of the Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry, and Ann Woods and staff of the Midwest Organic Alliance.
Program Agricultural Production Ethics Conference
Friday, November 14
8:15 a.m. Registration
9 a.m. Opening Plenary chaired by Fred Kirschenmann, Kirschenmann Family Farms, Windsor, N.D.
Opening Prayer. Allen Flying By, Minneapolis.
Welcome by Bob Welborn, Chairman, Center for Respect of Life and Environment, Franktown, Colo.
“Can Modern Farming Recapture the Spirit of the Soil?” Keynote address by Paul Thompson, Professor of Applied Ethics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
10:15 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. “A Production Ethic for Agriculture: Five Perspectives.” A plenary chaired by Roger Blobaum, Coordinator, Soul of Agriculture Project, Washington, D.C.
“Environmental Perspective.” Derrick Jensen, Environmental Author, Spokane, Wash.
“Agricultural Perspective.” Leland Swenson, President, National Fanners Union, Denver, Colo.
‘Faith Community Perspective.” Bishop Raymond L. Burke of the Diocese of LaCrosse, President, National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
“Consumer Perspective.” Kate Clancy, Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Greenbeh, Md.
“Rural Communities Perspective.” Cornelia Butler Flora, Director, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Ames, la.
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All plenary sessions are in the Auditorium.
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12:15 p.m. Lunch on your own.
1:30 p.m. Music by Rev. John Pitney, Western Small Church Center, Boise, Id.
1:45 p.m. ”Environmentally Sound Agriculture: The Vision and the Reality.” A plenary panel of farmers chaired by Dana Jackson, Associate Director, Land Stewardship Project, White Bear Lake, Minn.
Larry Olson, Granite Falls, Minn. Jane Siemon, LaFarge, Wis.
Joan Allsup, Mitchelrville, LA.
3 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. “Modern Farming and the Environment: Is Conflict Inevitable?” A plenary panel of environmentalists chaired by Margaret Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C.
Michelle Miller, Environmental Consultant, Madison, Wis.
Cheryl Miller, National Audubon Society, St. Paul, Minn.
Rebecca Goldberg, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, N. Y.
4:30-5:30 p.m. ‘Tanners and Environmentalists: Common Ground and Shared Values.”
Session A. Facilitated by John Bobbe, National Farmers Organization, Brussells, Wis. Room 196.
Session B. Facilitated by Renee Hunt, Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Association, Rochester, DL Auditorium
Session C. Facilitated by Bill Wenzel, Executive Director, Wisconsin Rural Development Center, Mt. Horeb, Wis. Room 198.
Session D. Facilitated by Helene Murray, Miinnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn. Commons.
Session E. Facilitated by Tom Rogers, Associate Director, Center for Respect of Life and Environment, Washington, D.C. Room 170.
Session F. Facilitated by Skip Polson, Heifer Project International, Little Rock, Ark. Wilkins.
5:30-6:00 p.m. Plenary session chaired by John Hall Executive Director, Michael Fields
Agricultural Institute, East Troy, Wis. Brief reports back from the “Common Ground and Shared Values” breakout sessions.
Friday Evening No conference events scheduled.
Saturday, November 15
9 a.m. Plenary session chaired by Fred Kirschenmann, Kirschenmann Family Farms, Windsor, N.D.
“Resource Conservation: Making an Agricultural Production Ethic a Public Policy Priority.” Keynote by Paul Johnson, Administrator, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Washington, D.C.
10 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. ‘Tanners, Environmentalists, and Consumers: The Search for Shared Values.” A plenary chaired by Ferd Hoefner, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, D.C.
“The Wetlands Issue: From Confrontation to Cooperation.” Ann Robinson, Wetlands Specialist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Des Moines, la.
“Pesticide Reduction and Pollution Prevention: A Great Lakes Region Dialogue.” Michelle Miller, Environmental Consultant, Madison, Wis.
“CORE Values Apples: Post-Alar Cooperation Between Growers and Consumers.” Betsy Lydon, National Program Director, Mothers & Others for a Liveable Planet, New York, N. Y.
11:15 a.m. ‘Toward the Development of an Agricultural Production Ethic: A New Direction for the 21st Century.”
A plenary panel of ethicists chaired by Ron Kroese, President, St. Croix Valley Community Foundation, Somerset, Wis.
C. Dean Freudenberger, Luther Seminary (Retired), Roseville, Minn. Bernard F. Evans, School of Theology, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn.
Richard P. Haynes, Professor of Philosophy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
12:30 p.m. Lunch on your own.
1:45 p.m. Music by Rev. John Pitney, Western Small Church Center, Boise, Id.
2 p.m. Breakout sessions for discussion of draft of Vision Statement/Call to Action document.
Session A in Auditorium. Chair: Loni Kemp, The Minnesota Project, Canton, Minn. Rapporteur: Brad DeVries, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, D.C. Panelists: Monica Kahout, Route 2, Olivia, Minn.; Freeman Boyd, University of Guelph, Meaford, Ontario, Canada, and David L. Williams, Route 1, Villisca, Iowa.
Session B in Wilkins. Chair: Melanie Adcock, Vice President, Humane Society of the U.S., Gaithersburg, Md. Rapporteur: Arthur Getz, World Sustainable Agriculture Association, Washington, D.C. Panelists: Jon Evert, Route 2, Moorhead, Minn.; Sr. Miriam Brown, Churches’ Center for Land and People, Sinsinawa, Wis., and Jose Montenegro, Rural Development Center, Salinas, Calif.
Session C in Commons. Chair: Judy Heffernan, Heartland Network for Town and Rural Ministries, Columbia, Mo. Rapporteur: Linda Elswick, World Sustainable Agriculture Association, Washington, D.C. Panelists: Dan French, Route 1, Dodge Center, Minn.; Tim Sullivan, Environmental Lawyer, Minneapolis, and Gail Kahovic, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, Wis.
Session D in Room 196. Chair: Br. David Andrews, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Des Moines, la. Rapporteur: Laurie Sovell, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn. Panelists: Paul Homme, Route 3, Granite Falls, Minn.; Gene Paul, President, National Farmers Organization, Ames, la., and Suzanne McIntosh, Clean Water Coalition, Minneapolis.
Session E in Room 198. Chair: Barbara Meister, Meister Consulting, Santa Cruz, Calif Rapporteur: Jan Joannides, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn. Panelists: Diane Milan, Hawk’s View Farm, Northfield, Minn.; Larry Swartz, National Family Farm Coalition, Berea, Ky., and Prescott Bergh, Sustainable Agriculture Program, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn.
Session F in Room 170. Chair: Mark Schultz, Land Stewardship Project, Minneapolis, Minn. Rapporteur: Sr. Kathleen Storms, Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry, Mankato, Minn. Panelists: Jeanne Wertish, Route 2, Renville, Minn.; Marlene Halvorson, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn., and Leland Glenna, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
3:30 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. Resume discussion of Vision Statement/Call to Action document in small
group sessions in same rooms.
5:15 p.m. Plenary session for summary reports from six small group work sessions.
Chaired by Gary Valen, Director, Eating With Conscience, Humane Society of the U.S., Gaithersburg, Md.
Remarks by Ann Woods, Director, Midwest Organic Alliance.
6-8 p.m. Reception sponsored by the Midwest Organic Alliance, Minneapolis, Minn.
Sunday. November 16
9 a.m. Plenary session chaired by Richard Clugston, Executive Director, Center for Respect of Life and Environment, Washington, D.C.
“Learning from Native Peoples.” Keynote address by Winona La Duke. White Earth Reservation, Ponsford, Minn.
9:45 a.m. “Models for Developing Agricultural Ethics Initiatives at the Grassroots.”
A plenary session chaired by Roger Blobaum, Coordinator, Soul of Agriculture Project, Washington, D.C.
“Strangers and Guests Revisited.” Sr. Mary Mark Tacheny, Co-Director, Center for Earth Spirituahty and Rural Ministry, Mankato, Minn.
“Voices of the Land: Spreading the Message Through Arts and Literature.” Gayle Peterson, Northwoods Consulting, St. Paul Minn.
“Images of the Land: Spreading the Message Through Photography.” Cynthia Vagnetti, Photographer, Washington, D.C.
‘Teaching Values Through Youth Education Programs.” Catherine Statz. Education Director, Wisconsin Farmers Union, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
“Developing a Curriculum for Agricultural Ethics Education.” Stan Dundon, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, University of California, Davis, Calif.
10:30 a.m. Break.
10:45 a.m. Breakout sessions with discussion leaders and rapporteurs (same rooms as yesterday).
12-1:15 p.m. Closing plenary session chaired by Gary Valen, Director, Eating With Conscience, Humane Society of the U.S., Gaithersburg, Md.
Reports from small group work sessions
Response from the Soul of Agriculture Project.