[Scpg] Spring Events in Sustainability Cal Poly San Luis Obispo CA

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Hello all -

Hope your spring is off to a great start!  Lots will be happening locally over
the next few weeks in celebration of the season.  Here are just a few
examples...

1.  California Rare Fruit Growers meeting and tour of  TREES OF ANTIQUITY 
(4/10)
2.  Environmental CAREER SYMPOSIUM  will be held on Tuesday (4/13)
3.  Cal Poly OPEN HOUSE all day next Saturday (4/17)
4.  Video Showing of FOOD FOR THOUGHT and discussion on GE crops (4/19)
5.  Noted Author on Sustainability, DAVID ORR to speak at Cal Poly (4/23)
6.  A special EARTH DAY FESTIVAL at Cal Poly’s Leaning Pine Arboretum (4/24)
7.  BIODYNAMIC horn preparation workshop Part II at the Student Farm (5/1)
8.  REMINDER:  Cal Poly’s fifth annual CSA program begins May 3rd!  (5/3)
9.  FORUM on Science, Spirituality and Sustainable Living in SB (5/7-9)

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1.  California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) meeting and tour of  Trees of
Antiquity nursery in Paso Robles TOMORROW starting at 1:30 p.m.!  This will be
a great opportunity to learn about the many varieties of organic, heirloom
trees available to us through Tom Linden and Neil Collins unique nursery  AND
to become involved with our local chapter of CRFG (see: www.crfg.org)!  All 
are
welcome to attend this free event.
Directions to Trees of Antiquity Nursery: 20 Wellsona Road, Paso Robles, CA.
Go beyond Paso Robles on 101 N until the freeway becomes a highway with cross
traffic. Turn left onto Wellsona Road near the big truck stop on the left hand
side of 101.  Stay on Wellsona (becomes dirt) until you reach San Marcos Rd.
This is slightly more than a mile.  Keep going on Wellsona to San Marcos 
Road.
Right turn on San Marcos and then take the first right turn on San Marcos.
This is an immediate right turn on to the Trees of Antiquity property.  Follow
the signs to park.

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2.  An Environmental Career Symposium  (for students) will be held on Tuesday
4/13 from 4:15-5:45 in the Performing Arts Center, Room PAC-124.   A reception
will follow in the Fisher Science Building (33) from 5:45-7:15.

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3.  Cal Poly’s annual Open House will be on Saturday, April 17 from 10 a.m. to
10 p.m. and will feature tours and exhibits by many of the departments on
campus.  Come learn about the many exciting things happening in the Cal Poly
community.  Fun to be had by all!   For details, please see the link on the 
Cal
Poly website: (www.calpoly.edu).

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4.  ECOSLO and SLO GE Free will sponsor a showing of the VIDEO “Food For
Thought” on Mon., April 19, at the San Luis Obispo City Library, 995 Palm, at
7:00pm.   The event will include several speakers who will address issues
surrounding genetically engineered crops, including pharmaceutical rice which
was approved to be grown in San Luis Obispo and other Southern CA Counties by
the California Rice Commission in March.  The possibility of a ballot
initiative to keep SLO County ge free will also be discussed.  The public is
invited free of charge.  A question and comment period will follow the
speakers.  Mark Lea, SLO County Agriculture Inspector & Biologist, will be
available to answer questions regarding SLO County’s current positions on the
subject of GE crops.

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5.  Noted ‘Sustainable’ Environmental Designer & Author, DAVID ORR will speak
at Cal Poly during our Earth Day Convocation on April 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. in
Chumash Auditorium in the University Union.  The Oberlin College professor 
will
be just one of the speakers at a special Earth Day “Education for
Sustainability” convocation.  The professor’s speech, and the convocation, are
free and open to the public.  Among others, Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker
will begin the convocation with remarks about Cal Poly’s historic mission as a
polytechnic university and the announcement that the university has signed the
Talloires Declaration, joining some 300 universities worldwide in a 10-point
pledge to practice, improve and teach methods of sustainable resource use and
environmental protection.  Orr spearheaded the effort to design, finance and
build the Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College in Ohio. The green
building has been described by The New York Times as “the most remarkable” 
of a
new generation of environmentally responsible college buildings, and was also
selected as one of 30 “milestone buildings” by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Orr is a contributing editor of Conservation Biology and a trustee of the
Educational Foundation of America and the Compton Foundation. He serves on the
boards of the Rocky Mountain Institute (Colo.), Second Nature (Mass.) and the
Center for Ecoliteracy (Calif.).
         For details on Cal Poly Earth Day activities and university
sustainability plans and accomplishments, visit:
http://www.facilities.calpoly.edu/Facilities_Planning/campusprojects/projects/su
stainability/index3.htm.

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6.  A special EARTH DAY FESTIVAL sponsored by Cal Poly’s Sustainable
Agriculture and Environmental Horticulture Clubs will be held Saturday, April
24 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Leaning Pine Arboretum (located on campus
behind the plant shop and next to the Horse Unit on campus).  Cal Poly
students, faculty, staff, and community members will congregate to enjoy music
and educational booths in an effort to celebrate and motivate action that
prioritizes and respects the Earth.  This event is open to the public free of
charge.  Food will be available on-sight for a minimal fee.
Renowned sustainability expert, David Orr, will help open the occasion with
brief remarks at 1:30 pm.  Cal Poly’s Animal Science professor Rob Rutherford
and local ecological designer Larry Santoyo will also address the audience.
Beginning at 3:00 live music will be provided by locally based Dubsense
followed by the Santa Cruz based band Pond Rock.  A presentation by a local
belly dancer troup will also be featured.  For more information, please 
contact
sustclub at calpoly.edu.

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7.  A BIODYNAMIC workshop and gathering will be held at the Student
Experimental Farm on Saturday morning, May 1st from 9-11 a.m.  Refreshments
will be served at 9, followed by the unearthing of the (compost prep) horns
buried last fall.  Come celebrate the return of spring and the unveiling of
this unique compost tradition at the Organic Farm!  (Free and open to all.)

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8.  Cal Poly Organic Farm’s FIFTH ANNUAL CSA (community supported agriculture
program) will begin on May 3rd.  Members will receive a weekly assortment of
unique, fresh produce grown and harvested by Cal Poly students throughout a 26
week season concluding at the end of October.  Pick-up occurs Monday or
Thursday afternoons.   Membership for the season costs $520 and includes a
weekly newsletter and invitations to special farm events.  To register, please
contact Michael Silverman at 756-6139 or email msilvermsd at lycos.com.  The CSA
program is run by Cal Poly students of the Organic Enterprise (now in record
numbers ­ over 35 students enrolled this term!!!)

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9.  HIDDEN CONNECTIONS:  An Intergenerational Forum on Science, Spirituality
and Sustainable Living will be held at the Zaca Lake Retreat Center in Los
Olivos (SB County) from May 7-9. Outstanding presenters from around the world
will include Fritjof Capra, Matthew Fox, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva
and Brian Swimme. This will be an intensive educational expedition into the
frontiers of human and cosmological understanding amidst the beautiful setting
of Zaca Lake. Enjoy healthful food, a relaxing atmosphere and joyful
conversation with innovative thinkers and fellow seekers devoted to living
simply and scientifically "so that others may simply live."  Student discounts
may still be available.  For more information, visit:
www.reverentialecology.org

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All our best wishes for happy springtime holidays!   Hunter

Hunter Francis
Program Coordinator
Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium
c/o Horticulture and Crop Science Department
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California  93407
(805)756-5086
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