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The Second International Food and Thought Mela:
Food, Community and the Future
Hamilton, 21 June 2008
What is a Mela?
Mela is a Sanskrit word for a large gathering, festival, fair or celebration. Melas have a long tradition of strengthening communities by bringing people together in a festive atmosphere to enjoy food and music as well as to discuss issues that are important to their everyday lives.
What is the 2008 Food & Thought International Mela about?
A simple meal with family, the taste of a freshly picked mushroom—each
are simple pleasures which bind us to our culture and to each other.
At the same timetoday’s global food production is made up of complex
and often invisible relationships between producers, governments,
individual consumers and local communities that raise many questions
about how food connects us —as individuals, as communities,
as nations— to each other and most importantly, to the sustainability
of our environments. What kind of impact does the way we produce and
consume food have on our cultural, environmental, economic and spiritual
wellbeing? How can we actively engage—locally and globally—to
respond creatively, economically and collectively to the increasingly
critical challenges of climate change and accessibility to fresh healthy
food?
These are some of the questions that will be raised at the Second
International Food and Thought Mela on 21 June at RMIT University
(Hamilton) and the Hamilton Institute of Rural Learning (HIRL) at
Hamilton, Victoria. This international and intercultural event is
an opportunity for communities from the Hamilton region and beyond
to hear international community activists, researchers, scholars and
practitioners talking about the sustainability of local communities
across the world. It will be part-celebration, part-dialogue about
critical issues—framed by a keynote address by Ecuadorian ecologist
Carlos Zorilla—and practical local responses to food production,
climate change and a sustainable future. The event will conclude with
a formal dinner featuring special guest presenter Rod Quantock.
Youth Food and Thought Mela
How can young people be encouraged to participate actively and effectively
in local-global issues that affect their future? In response to and
in consultation with local schools, a special session has been organized
for Friday 20 June from 10.00am to 2.00pm. The
Youth Food and Thought Mela program will involve local secondary school
students in dialogue and workshop sessions with the international
and local community activists, researchers, scholars and practitioners
presenting on 21 June—with a view also to facilitating international
exchanges and local projects.
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