Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst
at The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy research group based in Wisconsin, will present a talk entitled: Connecting the Dots: Climate Change, Human Health and the Economy — We Can’t Afford Not to Eat Organic Food. The speech will be held in the Park School Auditorium on the Ithaca College campus on April 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm.
Kastel is a nationally recognized expert on food and farm policy. The Cornucopia Institute acts as an organic industry watchdog.
With the cheapest food in the world, and the most expensive health care, the US has health outcomes that are rapidly falling behind the rest of the industrialized world.
“It certainly costs more when shopping to choose local and certified organic foods. But there is a big payback — in terms of superior health and savings, both for our families and the healthcare system,” Kastel stated. “Every level of government, from school boards, municipalities, states and at the national level are going broke due to the weight of paying healthcare costs for employees and retirees.”
Kastel will lead a town hall discussion documenting research that shows that not only does toxic agrichemicals contamination of our food ruin our health but, possibly more importantly, the shift to industrial agricultural techniques, over the last 65 years, has resulted in food that is measurably lower in essential nutrients —the very nutrients we need to prevent cancers and other chronic diseases, maintain our physical and mental health, reproductive capabilities, and general quality of life.
As the organic food movement has morphed into a $40 billion industry Kastel will also cover how to choose the very best and sustainable brands, and reward organic farming heroes, while avoiding organic factory farm produced food and growing imports from China, India and former Soviet bloc states.
Sponsored by Ithaca College: Department of Media Arts, Sciences and Studies, School of Health Sciences & Human Performance, Department of Health Promotions & Physical Education, Office of the Provost and GreenStar Natural Foods Market.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Melissa Gattine at [email protected] or (607) 274-1023.
