Mary Berry, daughter of Wendell Berry, will talk at Oliveto Restaurant in Oaklnd this Sundy about the health of farm communities, local food economies, and her work trying to resurrect them from corporate abuse.
This is a significant problem with a new dimension in California, where already exorbitant farmland prices are rising and getting new attention from equity firms looking to replicate the success of almond and pistachio crops.
Corporations are getting smarter in how they present themselves, and the quality and value that small farmers create are being usurped.
This is an opportunity to connect with an amazing leader on the national level of the sustainable agriculture movement. Mary, through the Berry Center, has been carrying on the legacy of her father, author, activist, and farmer Wendell Berry, whose Unsettling of America called the country to action, to protect and support the small farmer and his or her way of life. She herself is a farmer in rural Kentucky, and a poignant speaker when it comes to talking about what’s happening with American farmland. Farm leaders will be here to frame our problems here in California.
The event is from 1-3 pm on May 3rd at Oliveto, upstairs in the Siena Room. After 3 p.m., the ideas and conversation will keep flowing downstairs in the café. Tickets are $10; space is limited. To register, visit olivetocommons.org.
