Updates and Announcements
- Valerie Pollitt from Elk Creek Elementary School joined us for the meeting.
- Peace education: Stan and the peace group are planning to do something at the new peace park. Compassionate communications may be introduced to the schools. Stan thanked everyone who helped at the park dedication. Many people who are not part of Rotary helped too.
- Rotary Club of Conifer Peace Park held its grand opening and blessing ceremony on June 11, with songs, poetry and messages of peace. Funded by Conifer Rotary with a matching Rotary District 5450 grant, the communities of Conifer, and neighboring Pine Junction and Bailey, were deeply involved in the Peace Park’s creation. “Peace is the absence of want,” District 5450 Governor Nnabuchi “Buchi” Anikpezie said to the audience of over 80 Rotarians and members of the community who braved heavy rains to attend the ceremony, adding that Rotarians look at the root causes of peace. Incoming District Governor Jim Johnston remarked, “Peace is a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission.” Stanley Harsha, the Conifer Rotary incoming President, said he hopes the Peace Park can be a place for peace education for local school children.
Upcoming Events
- We need volunteers for wildfire education at Bailey Days, Elevation Celebration and ConiferFest. Please think of people outside Rotary as well. There are people with interest in this in the community that we can recruit.
Meeting program
Seeding Hope, Charly Frisk, Yale School of the Environment
charly.frisk@yale.edu; 303-653-6295; @charlyfrisky
OVERVIEW:
Charly Frisk is originally from Colorado, and grew up among the Rockies, where she learned to have a deep care and appreciation for the planet. In 2021, she graduated from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University with a Bachelors in Environmental Studies and Peace Studies. After, she attended Yale School of Environment, where she focused on storytelling within the climate movement. A few weeks ago, she graduated with a Masters of Environmental Management, and will be working with a few communications networks on climate remotely as she spends her summer in Denmark. She is Finn Knudsen’s granddaughter. She did young RYLA, RYLA and then was a counselor for young RYLA.
Charly said she wants to create cultures that help justice. She studied in Nordic countries, and visited urban farms and seed saving facilities trying to protect biological and cultural diversity.
Bombing in Syria hit a major seed bank there.
She visited the arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and visited the seed vault there, which contains more than a million seed varieties from all over the world. It is built into a mountain.
She said we are losing seed diversity at an alarming rate and have lost 75% of seed diversity.
We need diverse seeds in the ground and younger farmers. We need to revitalize the food tradition and culture.
Evergreen Community Garden has free seed exchange in the spring. In Broomfield, there is a seed bank where you can get five varieties every year.
In planting seeds, there is an aspect of hope. You can plant heirloom seed in your home or garden planter.
Q&A:
Q: What about genetically engineered seed from Monsanto, which farmers are not allowed to replant?
A: I met a woman in Denmark who had a terrific garden including many varieties of peas. In Denmark and other countries in Europe, it was illegal to trade seeds even among friends, because Monsanto lobbied for these laws. Some ladies got the law overturned.
Q: What about natural selection? Over centuries, Peru grew potatoes at successively higher altitudes, now at 14,000 feet. Don’t you lose that development in a seed in a seed vault?
A: People select for drought tolerance, pest tolerance, and other things. That is a risk of the seed vault, because you are taking the seed out of their natural environment where they would evolve. Look for non-GMO seeds. Seed from a community-based event may be far better than seed you buy.
Q: How much of the produce we buy is coming from a Monsanto seed? Versus a more natural seed?
A: I don’t know. We don’t have access to that information as consumers. So going to a farmers market is a way to address that.
Q: How do you know if heirloom seeds are native to that location? How does that impact native seed?
A: Be sure you are not buying invasive species. Colorado is one of the states best at identifying invasive species.
Q: How do you balance need for diversity versus the need for high yield for food?
A: That is a tough issue and a systemic problem. For example, Monsanto sent seeds to Haiti after a disaster and now people in Haiti are stuck with produce where they can’t collect and use their own seed.
Link to presentation: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFiqDkNqUg/ai9v25F6p26WHQ3DTGW_9Q/edit?utm_content=DAFiqDkNqUg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton