Idaho Green Expo Speakers

The Idaho Green Expo is proud to announce
our lineup of Speakers for the 2008 Expo!

(All Presentations will be in the Summit Auditorium at the Boise Centre)

BENJAMIN GISIN Publisher, Touch the Soil Magazine www.touchthesoil.com Sunday, May 18th at 11am To view a recent copy of the speaker’s Syndicated Column, American Wheat - A Domestic Shortage Looms, click here	Food and Farming Consciousness: Things Every American Family Should Know Thirty eight percent of the world's land surface and 70 percent of all fresh water use is committed to food production, making agriculture the single largest activity on Earth. With all its fanfare, industrial chemical farming is slipping. Only once out of the last 8 years has agriculture produced enough grains to meet consumption, resulting in a dramatic draw-down of domestic and global food stocks. Simultaneously, loss of farmland to urbanization creates pressure that results in over 10,000 square miles of South American rainforests being destroyed each year, 80 percent of which goes into food production to offset farmland loss to urbanization. The emerging relationships between consumers and farmers, seeking to establish sustainable food systems close to home, will, in conjunction with new forms of energy, determine the well being of biological life on the planet. SPEAKER BIO: Benjamin Gisin comes with a background of three agriculture-related careers: Twenty years of banking culminating as senior agricultural approval officer for one of the nation's top ten agricultural banks. Eight years as a private consultant to farmers and ranchers facing economic crises, facilitating some of the nation's largest workouts between creditors and farmers. Publisher, since 2005, of Touch the Soil magazine. These multiple careers have afforded Gisin the privilege of visiting hundreds and hundreds of farms and understand the relationship between farmers, finance and economics. In addition to his publishing duties, Gisin lectures across the nation.
MICHAEL SHUMAN Economist and Author of The Small-Mart Revolution www.SmallMart.org Sunday, May 18th at 1pm	The Small-Mart Revolution: How Idaho Businesses Can Beat the Global Competition The Small-Mart Revolution represents a major new trend that thus far has largely escaped public notice. Local businesses in the United States suffered setbacks during the era of globalization but still make up more than half the economy—and they are now on the verge of a huge comeback. More than a half dozen trends are increasing the competitiveness of small business. The rising price of oil, for example, makes local production and distribution more competitive against Wal-Mart production in China. Local businesses are enjoying advantages in mastering local markets, delivering the best services, and bypassing inefficient global distribution systems. The imminent decline of the U.S. dollar also will benefit local business. A growing body of evidence shows that local businesses are the best promoters of good jobs, high environmental standards, economic stability, smart growth, the “creative economy,” social equality, and political participation. The politics of the Small-Mart Revolution are inherently multi-partisan. Conservatives like the focus on small business, free markets, and local government, while progressives like the emphasis on community empowerment. SPEAKER BIO: Michael Shuman is vice president for Enterprise Development for the Training and Development Corporation (TDC) of Bucksport, Maine. A noted economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman is widely recognized for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalization as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies in an era of big-box chains. He has authored, co-authored, and edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). The Small-Mart Revolution was just awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers' Association. In recent years Shuman has led community-based economic-development efforts in St. Lawrence County (NY), Hudson Valley (NY), Katahdin Region (ME), Martha's Vineyard (MA), and Carbondale (CO). He is currently preparing studies on state business subsidies for the Kellogg Foundation and on global models of local food businesses for the Gates Foundation. He served as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community. And he is a cofounder and active participant in the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and a founder of Bay Friendly Chicken, a community-owned company located in Salisbury, Maryland.
REV. KATHERINE JESCH Director of Environmental Ministry U.U. Ministry for Earth Portland, Oregon www.uuministryforearth.org RABBI DANIEL FINK Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel Boise, Idaho www.ahavathbethisrael.org REV. EDWARD KEENER First Congregational United Church of Christ Sunday, May 18th at 3pm	Faith's Role in Protecting our Environment The Rev. Katherine Jesch, Rabbi Daniel Fink and Rev. Edward Keener will participate in a panel discussion on faith's role in protecting our environment. Each speaker will discuss their own faith's perspective on the environment, and then all three will field questions from the audience. SPEAKER BIOS: The Rev. Katherine Jesch Rev. Jesch is Director of Environmental Ministry for Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth. She coordinates the Green Sanctuary Program, supporting congregational efforts to deepen their relationship with Earth, connect their love of Earth with their faith, and turn their compassion into effective action for healing the Earth and ourselves. Before beginning this ministry in 2001, she worked for twenty years in public land planning and environmental management. She believes that the Church must be a leader in the transforming the way we view our relationship with Earth. In the seven years since this program was established, Katherine has worked with over 200 congregations, preaching, leading workshops and retreats, and consulting with congregations on issues of environment and Earth justice in a context of our faith. Rabbi Dan Fink Rabbi Fink is the author or co-author of numerous works on Judaism and ecology, including Let the Earth Teach You Torah (a high school curricula) and Judaism and Ecology (an adult study guide). He has also published several scholarly articles on Judaism and the environment. Ordained by Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Fink currently serves Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise, Idaho, where he kayaks, backpacks and cycles as much as possible. Rev. Edwin Keener Rev. Keener is a native of Boise and a retired Presbyterian minister, attending the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Boise. Ed grew up on a 3 acre garden farm in northwest Boise. “We've always raised much of our own food and use canning, freezing and drying to preserve it. Caring for our land is a top priority. Stewardship of the earth is a way of life.” Upon retirement Ed returned to his family home to live, garden, and follow his interests in social justice and peace making. He serves on 4 non-profit boards: The Interfaith Sanctuary Homeless shelter, The Interfaith Alliance, The Kessler-Keener Lectures, and Ten Thousand Villages third world craft store. He is also serves on the Neighborhood Advisors Committee of the Ada County Highway District and on the State Street Transit Corridor planning committee.
GUY DAUNCEY Author, Environmental Consultant, and President of the British Columbia Sustainable Energy Association www.earthfuture.com Sunday, May 18th at 5pm	Global Warming and Peak Oil: The Challenge of Our Generation The warnings that we are being given by climate scientists around the world are dire. Likewise, warnings about the future of the world's oil supply. Could our civilization survive without fossil fuels? This is the challenge we must embrace, for the sake of our children and grandchildren. In this powerful presentation, Guy Dauncey presents evidence from around the world that demonstrates that communities can not only survive but flourish in a sustainable, joyful culture. The small town of Gussing, in Austria, has eliminated 93% of its CO2 emissions since 1995. San Francisco is heading towards Zero Waste by 2020. In Copenhagen, 36% of all commute trips are done by bike. Sweden is planning to end its entire dependency on oil by 2020. This illustrated presentation will include many positive stories about how communities are tackling these crucial problems, and encourage us to have faith in our ability to do likewise. SPEAKER BIO: Guy Dauncey is a Victoria, BC-based author, environmental consultant, and President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association. Guy Dauncey is a Victoria, BC-based author, environmental consultant who works to develop a positive vision of a sustainable future, and to translate that vision into action. He is President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association. His book, Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to lobal Climate Change, is packed full of solutions for individuals, businesses, schools, churches, cities, and federal governments. It won the Nautilus award at the New York book Expo in 2002. He is also co-author of Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic, published in Summer 2007, and co-chair of Prevent Cancer Now. He is founder of The Solutions Project, co-founder of the Victoria Car-Share Cooperative and editor of EcoNews, a monthly newsletter that promotes the vision of a sustainable Vancouver Island.