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THEMUSEUM Community Stage: Sustainable Food Systems Dialogues

A new dialogues series has been put together by our dedicated staff at THEMUSEUM. For the next two months, visitors will be able to come together with members of the local community to learn the importance of sustainable food systems.

There are many important aspects to consider when adopting a healthy diet, and even more if you want that diet to reflect sustainable consumption. But what is sustainable consumption?

How often do you shop at a major grocery store compared to local farmer’s markets? The majority of produce sold at chain location is imported from around the world and leaves a large carbon footprint, and many of the crops are also grown out of season in large greenhouses. What effect does this have on the foods we eat, or on the environment as a whole? Can we consider it “healthy” to eat foods that are grown under manmade lighting rather than natural sunlight?

But shopping locally at farmer’s markets – within the Waterloo Region you can visit either the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, or the Kitchener Market in the downtown core – can help local farmers in a number of ways. There are also a number of other organizations that sell locally grown produce throughout the region: there are a number of Community Supported Agriculture groups (CSAs) such as Fertile Ground (located in St. Agatha) and Hacienda Market Garden (located in Kitchener).  

Through THEMUSEUM’s new dialogue series, which focuses on the theme of sustainable food systems, visitors will be able to learn why these small actions can help create a big difference. The goal is to bring in both professionals and advocates to help educate and engage visitors about specific topics. The different dialogues will help answer the following questions:

How often do you question where your food comes from?

Do you care whether the components of your meal were purchased at a major grocery store or one of the local markets?

What does the term “organic” mean to you, and does it even matter?

And what about genetically modified foods (commonly referred to as GMOs) – are they the innovative answer to food production issues, or do they only create more problems?

Many people do not think about these aspects of their every-day eating habits, but they are important questions to ask. Information about local, urban gardening will also be explored, so people will be given the knowledge on how to grow some of their very own produce.

On Sundays, starting January 18th through until March 8th, come join our dialogue series and learn from prominent speakers on how you can help create sustainable food systems within your local community. Lectures will begin at 1:30pm at THEMUSEUM, unless the location is otherwise indicated. For more information, check out our website here.