NEWS ARCHIVE:
Bruce Cockburn in Truro and Halifax
Cockburn here to promote food safety


News Index

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.




News Index

This page is part of The Cockburn Project, a unique website that exists to document the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bruce Cockburn. The Project archives self-commentary by Cockburn on his songs and music, and supplements this core part of the website with news, tour dates, and other current information.