6 March 2008 - Bruce Cockburn is in Truro and Halifax this weekend.(David Smith / CP)
TRURO — Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn comes to Truro on Friday to help
kick off the four-day Real Food, Farming and Flowers weekend focused on food
security and related issues, both locally and globally.
Mr. Cockburn, who recently returned from a USC Canada trip to Nepal, will
also be in Halifax on Saturday night for the Food Sovereignty and
Biodiversity event at the Garrison Brewery on Marginal Road.
"There’s a lot of talk about buying locally, growing your own food and
supporting farmers’ markets," Mark Austin, co-organizer of the Truro and
Halifax events, said by phone Wednesday from his home near Truro.
"I believe, as many do right now, we have to find a way to reconnect with
where our food comes from. Along with that, we need to produce food in a
sustainable way. In other words, I’m not a great believer in industrial
farming and processed foods."
Mr. Cockburn will discuss farming in Nepal and West Africa when he speaks on
Friday during a community gathering from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United
Church on King Street in Truro.
A farmers’ market, cafe, small film festival of food and farm-related
documentaries, and children’s entertainment will be held at the church
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will also be displays focused on local
food and healthy landscapes and a workshop on saving seeds.
"It’s kind of like a meet-a-farmer event and a chance to find out about
farm-gate opportunities in the area," Mr. Austin said.
"I want to be informed when I go to the supermarket or the farmers’ market
about what my choices are. But I’m also very aware that there are people
around the world who don’t have choices."
Mr. Cockburn, along with USC Canada executive director Susan Walsh and
others will be at the Garrison Brewery in Halifax Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m.
for discussions, food and music focused on real food and farming around the
world. USC is a non-profit international development organization. Tickets
are available from Mr. Austin at 896-0184 or at the Wooden Monkey restaurant
on Argyle Street.
Events conclude Monday with a seminar entitled Challenges of Organic
Integrity in a World of GMOs and Nanotechnology. Pat Mooney, an agricultural
biodiversity activist, is featured and the talk begins at noon in Room C24
of the Cox Institute at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.
~from The Chronicle Herald, by Cathy Von Kintzel, Truro Bureau.