Education
Erik Chevrier is an accomplished professor, researcher, and social activist. He’s a PhD candidate, specializing in subjects such as, food and culture, political economy of inequality, community and local activism, and food sustainability; to name a few. In this episode we discuss: the importance of our imagination and seeing what kind of future we want to create. How we need to dispel myths in our beliefs of what we’ve been taught about the world. Such as, agriculture does not have to be mechanized and large industrial farms do not necessarily feed the world. Our present agricultural methods are destroying our planet. Erik explains the concept of “carbon sinks” and carbon extraction from the air. How reconnecting with our food through gardening and cooking, helps us to build deeper awareness of our responsibility to our planet. Small plot intensive farming and how we can produce a significant amount of food on a small piece of land. Urban agriculture as a real model to produce food. Building local communities through changing models of agriculture. In order to solve our current crisis we need to look beyond our present “for profit” way of producing food. Prioritizing community over profit. The consumer mentality and how to curtail the behaviour in a way that moves away from over consumption. The myth that food is cheap. In actuality we have cheap food due to the poor work conditions and pay to migrant labourers. The true cost of food is far higher. How our capitalist system is set up to require continuous consumption. The need to change our politics and have citizens more involved in their local communities and catalyze change locally as a start. Beliefs need to change but helping an individual to recognize that their beliefs need to be modified is no easy task. When our beliefs are challenged we can sometimes become irrational in the defence of them. Introducing people to ways of seeing different dietary practices in a less intimidating way. Even though slow change in our industry practices seems like an accessible way forward, we must recognize that change actually needs to be done now and absolutely. You can connect with Erik on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/erik.chevrier