SAC Announce

[Bethany Lowe]

In this email, you'll find information about some exciting events sponsored, supported, or promoted First Parish in Concord's SAC. 

The announcement contains information on (red bold indicates new news items):

• Concord Roots on October 24^th 
• Climate Solutions Speaker Series Presents Dr. John Carroll on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 PM 
• Jean Baker Miller Memorial Lecture on Friday, October 24^th at 7 PM at Wellesley College
• Caring for Torture Survivors” Event Hosted by AI Group 15 on Saturday, October 25^th at Boston University
• The Nature Connection (SAC Grantee) is Seeking Volunteers

Concord Roots on October 24^th 

Concord Roots marks the official launch of the Concord Food Council on National Food Day, October 24 by encouraging use of locally sourced root vegetables this fall.  These vegetables are available for purchase at local farm stands and grocery stores and served roasted for the occasion in local schools, other institutions, restaurants, and homes. Concord Roots highlights each part of our food system from food production to food waste recovery and shows how these parts are all connected and can be brought closer to home. Who knows what we’ll discover together? For more information and the Food System Report: “Building Local Connections”: www.concordfood.ning.com.

Climate Solutions Speaker Series Presents Dr. John Carroll on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 PM 

What will it take to ensure food sufficiency and farm sustainability In New England as climate change advances? On October 24, John Carroll, UNH Professor of Natural Resources, will speak about the rising movement towards small scale, sustainable agriculture in New England and how this movement can soften the blows inflicted upon us by the anticipated failure of our current national and international food system.

In his book, “The Real Dirt,” Carroll tells us that New England – romantically imagined as a gentle landscape of rolling farmland dotted with lazily grazing livestock – produces less of its own food than any other region in the nation. Because we rely heavily on food imported using fossil fuels, New Englanders are highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Adapting to climate change as well as reducing the carbon footprints that fuel it require of us that we reinvest in locally grown food. John Carroll provides a road map for achieving regional food security.

 

Carroll is always mindful of the spiritual and moral implications of how we produce food as well as the more scientific facts and figures. He has written ten great books. For more information about him and his books, click here. Save that date and stay tuned for more information.

Jean Baker Miller Memorial Lecture on Friday, October 24^th at 7 PM at Wellesley College

The Jean Baker Miller Memorial Lecture will be held Friday, October 24, at 7 p.m. at the Wellesley College Science Center, Rm. 278. The speaker is Allan G. Johnson on "The Great Silence Around Men's Violence".  Prior intern, Rev. Tony Fisher and FP member Pat Simon recently lead a workshop based on Johnson's work.

 

Caring for Torture Survivors Event Hosted by AI Group 15 on Saturday, October 25^th at Boston University

Members of Concord Area Group 15 of Amnesty International will be hosting a workshop at Amnesty’s Northeast Regional Conference on Saturday, October 25, at Boston University. The topic is “Amnesty’s Global Campaign Against Torture: Caring for Survivors,” an area of particular concern to local group members. Group 15’s regular meetings are the third Tuesday of each month, 7 to 8:30, in the Ripley Room. In addition to signing letters in support of human rights activists and prisoners of conscience worldwide each month, we also focus on several other issues including solitary confinement, the death penalty, and violence against women. We welcome all to join us -- our monthly meeting in October is on the 21^st. If you’d like more information about Amnesty’s regional conference or Group 15, please contact Kathy Taylor, the group’s coordinator, at Kly.t...@gmail.com or 781-718-7640.

The Nature Connection (SAC Grantee) is Seeking Volunteers

The Nature Connection is seeking adult volunteers to join our team in planning and delivering nature-based educational and therapeutic programs for at-risk youth, elders and people with disabilities. We serve people of all ages; our clients are in Concord and throughout Greater Boston. This is a great opportunity for those who believe in the healing power of nature and would like to share it with others. Preferably, volunteers should have experience in environmental education, psychology, social work, occupational therapy, the arts or have worked with people with disabilities, youth, elders or animals. Volunteers are fully trained, in a two-day training program. Upcoming training program will take place:

Wednesday and Thursday, October 29^th and 30^th - 10-1 PM (both days)
Wednesday, October 29^th - Trustee Room at Concord Library, first floor
Thursday, October 30^th - Emerson Umbrella building, Room 112