In addition to the full-length documentaries on "food revolutions" that are occurring throughout the world, there are a considerable number of shorter videos (one to ten minutes) that also delve deeply into food issues. National Geographic is especially relevant to the conversation and has been featuring food prominently in latest issues of their print magazine as well as in a unique section of their website. Two of National Geographic's videos are shown below, but I highly recommend that you go to the full site and watch the rest of the videos; new videos will be released until at least November 15, 2014.
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Things have certainly changed a lot at the office in the past few months, and while I haven't had too much time to actually distill coherent thoughts about what's been going, I have been keeping myself busy with some pet projects that have slowly morphed into full-fledged office initiatives. One of these projects involves hosting a film screening or workshop that relates to my larger project of having an on-campus Farmers' Market, the idea being that the market facilitates a dialogue between and amongst food producers, consumers, and their peers. The specifics about what they choose to talk about don't necessarily concern me - whether it be food security, ethical production, validity of organic, or the rise of "locavorism", what's important to me is just that people are talking. I'm hoping that having a film-screening or demonstration from a YYC Grower will help educate some of the staff and students on these issues prior to the market itself and empower them to bring up these issues with their friends, family, and colleagues in a critical way. While we're unsure as to whether or not there is sufficient interest to host this event in advance of the market, it has given me a fantastic opportunity to watch an abundance of movies (which I don't generally do) and educate myself on some of the issues I hope will be raised. Trailers for two of the movies I've considered screening are shown below. Are they relevant to Canadian consumers? Would you go to a free screening for either of them? Growing Cities (2013)Edible Cities (2012)This summer playlist has been brought to you by five week's worth of office song swaps:
Basia Bulat - Tall Shadow Robert Plant - Rainbow Belle Starr - Cry Love Weber Brothers - Before We Arrive Ella Henderson - Ghost (Oliver Nelson Remix) William Elliot Whitmore - Old Devils The Builders and the Butchers - Bringin' Home the Rain Legendary Shack Shakers - Blood on the Blue Grass Caravan Palace - Cotton Heads Sam Smith - Nirvana Iggy Azalea - Rolex Iggy Azalea - Don't Need Y'All Chromeo - Jealous (I Ain't With It) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth Beyoncé and Andree 3000 - Back To Black Vance Joy - Rip Tide My Brightest Diamond - Pressure ASAP Rocky - Fuckin' Problem Stromae - Formidable (Ceci n'est pas un leçon) The Rolling Stones - Heaven James Blake - Retrograde Mac Miller - Insomniak (ft. Rick Ross) DJ Khaled - They Don't Love You (Ft. Jay Z, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, French Montana) Duke Dumont - I Got You (Ft. Jax Joes) Woman's Hour - Darkest Place (Oceaán Remix) The Tragically Hip - My Music At Work Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) Bas - Last Winter (Ages and Ages) Ages and Ages - Divisionary (Do The Right Thing) Calvin Harris - Summer Fat Freddy's Drop - Wandering Eye Ben Cocks - Curiosity I first watched this show in 2010 with my best friend at the urging of our theatre-nerd mutual friend. And it was amazing.
Now, in 2014, it continues to be my favourite live show and one of the most interesting experiences I've ever had. While my friend couldn't make it to the latest showing, I was introduced to some Sled Island staff who were new to both Calgary and Sled Island and who made the event ever more enjoyable as they watched it for the first time. The show calls itself "A Listening Party to Watch", which is exactly as it sounds: Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows plays in it's entirety - without pause - as twenty dancers perform to the choreography of Denise Clarke. It is at some moments haunting, some moments funny, and always beautiful. I can only imagine the direction given for the song "Nude", in which all members of the cast become romantically, and then sexually, interested in the folding chairs on stage ("You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking"). Please, please, please, if you ever get the opportunity to see the show - GO! So I have finally started to settle back in at home since returning from my field school late Thursday evening.
It will likely take me some time before I can adequately express the things that I've learned while away and to fully articulate my thoughts about the experience, especially given that the majority of the concepts I was learning about were completely new to me. I'm fearful that if I don't take the time to reflect on what I learned now and try and formulate my opinions on things, I will likely just forget what I've learnt and slip instead back to my old habits and thoughts, which is something I am not very keen on doing. I'll have patience, and will be crossing my fingers that I can write about something conclusively in the near future. Now that exams have come to an end, many of my friends and high school alumni are finally snapping up their degrees and entering the real world. I am so proud of how far everyone has come and am so excited to see where the post-graduation life takes them - Madagascar, England, France... who knows where else!
I've got some catching up to do but I'm stoked to see everyone on the other side. Congrats! You made it! Happy Earth Day everyone!
I love this set of PSAs from the Canadian Earth Day website. I think this set of images perfectly captures environmental sustainability in an immediate and aesthetic way. This year, the University is hosting a number of events to help people voice their support of a clean and healthy environment. One of the most exciting events is the appearance of Dr. David Suzuki at a Green Calgary film screening of Climate Change in Atlantic Canada. Despite being a polarizing figure in Canada and across the globe, he is still a figurehead for environmentalism and I am pleased that he, as well as Dr. Ian Mauro, chose to be in Calgary to discuss local issues and our future. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend as I have a final exam at exactly the same time, but I'm excited to hear what my colleagues have to say about the event. Luckily, I can make the Annual Earth Week Campus Clean-Up and BBQ to help make the campus a little cleaner as we FINALLY head into springtime. Things get a little grungy around campus after Bermuda Shorts Day, so there's certainly a lot of work to do! Let me know how you're celebrating Earth Week! Last week, the American Association for Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) held it's 83rd annual meeting... in Calgary! The anthropology department has been a whirlwind for the past few months as everyone has been preparing to host palaeoanthropologists, epigeneticists, primatologists, biological anthropologists and palaeopathologists (and every job description in between!) from universities across North America as they present new research, poster topics, and set the stage for the coming year. This was an incredible opportunity for our university, and I was so thrilled that they gave undergraduates the chance to volunteer at the event and attend all of the lectures.
It was mind blowing to sit in a room next to many of the people who I have cited and cited and cited again, and to hear them speak so passionately about their research and about the future of our discipline. It was inspiring to see so many young graduate students and post-docs talking enthusiastically amongst each other about skeletal morphology and implications of methylation or the primate vagina as a biome, and it was even more heartening to see everyone promoting the need for collaboration. One of the reasons I chose to pursue anthropology is because our department is fortunate to have so many vivacious instructors who always seem so keen to ensure that us, as students, are actually receiving a good education and coming out of a course with more than we put in (which, sadly, is not the case for all of the departments on campus). Learning that many of the people present at the AAPA meeting reflected this progressive view prompted me to rethink some of my hesitations and reluctance to continue certain graduate studies and came as a huge relief at the time when pursuing a Master's is a real possibility. There are so many exciting projects going on at every university, and as technology progresses it becomes even more feasible to understand our ancestral history and the connections that we have with our living relatives. *I pre-wrote most of this immediately after the event, prior to some heartbreaking news from the University of Calgary that, while not directly affecting me, has greatly impacted the campus and community. In the following weeks I will try and finish this post but will likely take a brief hiatus from blogging until I feel appropriate. Sustainability is more than just looking after the environment - it accounts for the social and human spheres too. The University of Calgary has a number of great programs and services that promote wellness, and it's been interesting getting to meet some of the people behind these services as we run our workshops and gather information for the 2014-2019 Plan.
It's been interesting that just as we've been preparing to gather the data for the social sustainability portion of our plan, the Wellness Centre has launched a new strategy and toolkit to make it even more simple for students, faculty, and staff to access the support they need to ensure that their mind, body, and spirit are healthy. This strategy includes counselling services, health services, faith and spirituality guidance, and much more, and while I'm not affiliated with the centre, I can say from my own experience that it can be extremely difficult to reach out for help and simply having the services there wasn't always enough. The new strategy makes it much easier to find the help that you need and, just as an observation, I feel that there is more being done on campus that fosters a culture where it is now okay to seek help and work on areas you may be struggling in. For example, the U of C unofficially broke the Guinness World Record yesterday for the most sexual health screening done in 24 hours at a single venue (#ucalgarygettested) - it takes 2-3 months until it's Guinness Official. This was a highly-publicized campaign that took place in the largest venue on-campus and featured a number of different groups and volunteers offering information on sexual health, STI prevention or treatment-options and distributing free condoms an pamphlets on safe sex (including same-sex methods). There are parts of the world where this would be illegal, let alone promoted. Here, over 520 people feel comfortable peeing in a cup and giving that cup to a stranger. Side note, even though they weren't testing for syphilis I witnessed one of the more chotchy kids actually yell at his friends standing outside to join him because "Al Capone died of syphilis and that shit ain't tight, get your ass over here and pee in this friggin' cup" (actual quote). An awareness campaign centered on managing stress is also currently active. The video above, which was made by high school classmate of mine, was part of a competition called "Dear Stress" where people were encouraged to share their experience with stress and how they've managed to cope. (If you're from the U of C you can vote for this video or the others here). I actually wasn't even aware about the campaign until she posted it on Facebook but I'll chalk that up to being physically dislocated from the main hub where most of the advertising happens. Since it's exam time, tax season, end-of-year and, for most of my friends, graduation time, it's especially important to learn healthy stress management so you can face all of the upcoming tasks head-on. As someone who has had historically poor stress- and time-management, learning how to deal with all of the pressure makes a world of difference and can help you get through day-to-day without getting lost in the scary, dark places that often start to take over your mind. I've started to feel the burn lately trying to juggle responsibilities and I have to continually remind myself to slow down and take a moment to look after my body and relax my thoughts (yoga almost feels like cheating since I feel I get to cross off both at the same time!). We have some really great resources at our disposal and we just have to remember to use them! Stay happy and healthy everyone! |