on wednesday i gave the keynote address for the South Carolina Librarians Association Conference (”Going Green in Greenville”) in Greenvile, SC. in my talk i, offered suggestions for shifting organizational polices in libraries in order to raise awareness and activity around the movement towards creating a more healthy, just, and sustainable food system. afterwards, i signed copies of Grub.
i intend to compose and publish an essay inspired by my talk that day. In the meantime, i will share a few of the gems i dropped:
- Libraries could serve as CSA sites. Because libraries already serve as community gathering spaces, local libraries would lend themselves nicely to being a neighborhood CSA pick-up site.
- As a part of the children’s story hour, there could be a weekly seasonal tasting of a fruit or vegetable. This tasting could be pulled from the CSA box, families could bring sliced fruits or veggies with them to the story hour, and local farmers’ market and/or grocery stores could donate food to this hour.
- A small vegetable/herb garden could be created on or near libraries and be used as an educational resource and a model for the community. The garden could be incorporated into the programming for children and adults at the library, helping to give more exposure to the process of growing fresh produce.
more to come. . .
big up to Shayna Marmar for research assistance for my presentation.
