Uploaded on 19 May 2009
More than half of the growing human population now lives in cities, depending on the need for increasing food production from a fixed quantity of arable land, and the use of large quantities of our rapidly dwindling fossil fuel reserves. As a result, more than half the planets resources and land area are under the direct management of humans. While the scientific basis for this looming food and ecological crisis is understood, how can the problem and solutions be cast in a way that a citizen can recognize the issues, and find satisfaction and hope in contributing individually, and collectively, to the solution?A bridge between science and society is the media, and recent achievements in related environmental issues provide a roadmap for progress. Former Vice President Al Gore stepped well outside the policy arena to make a film that connected personally with viewers, and set off a wave of change in Americas perception of climate change. Can a similar change of awareness occur for our solid Earth, and for sustainability and healthy living, or is the change already underway?
In this panel discussion, we bring together scientists, film makers, economists, journalists, and visionaries at the forefront of a concern for the soil (the Earths skin), a portion of our planet impacted by how we eat, how we balance the need for both food and renewal energy, and finally by what portion of the planet we decide (or are able) to preserve unused for future generations.
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Panelist/Discussants: David Zilberman, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics; Garrison Sposito, Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Nathanael Johnson, Freelance Science Journalist; Alice Waters (invited), Executive Chef and Owner, Chez Panisse, Chez Panisse Restaurant; Eugene Rosow, Film-maker, Common Ground Media, Inc.
Moderator: Ron Amundson, Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management
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Sponsored by the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources http://nature.berkeley.edu/
