2010 Lezak Institute for Social Justice
“Fixing Food: What Ails Us & The Environment"
August 23-26, 2010 at Camp Westwind

In August 2010 the Sidney Lezak Project will hold the second Lezak Institute for Social Justice at Camp Westwind on the Oregon coast. It will build on last summer’s highly successful conference “Fixing Food: What Ails Us & the Economy.”

The 2010 conference will revisit “Fixing Food: What Ails Us,” this time through an environmental lens. Industrial agricultural practices seriously degrade environmental health as well as human health and are ultimately a major contributor to global warming. Participants will examine the impact of current food policy and agricultural practices on our health and the environment and will seek local, regional, and national solutions. The Institute will put into action the Lezak Project’s goal of serving as a catalyst for social change.

The target audience is policy makers, public officials, academics, students, faith communities, non-profits, filmmakers, philanthropists, and activists. At least one third of the participants will be from low-income communities or communities of color, a hallmark of last year’s program. Families again will be invited and welcomed. Thirty-five children attended last year’s 5-day program along with their parents. The conference attracted 165 attendees, Westwind’s capacity. Participants ranged in age from one month to late 80’s, an enriching and enlivening cross-generational dynamic we seek to repeat.

Many of last year’s 16 co-sponsors are expected to take part, including Portland State University College of Urban and Public Affairs, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Westwind Stewardship Group, Department of Human Services, Multicultural Health and Services, Urban League, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, Community Health Partnership, Coalition for a Livable Future, Oregon League of Minority Voters, and Community Food Security Coalition. Additional organizations will be enlisted as co-sponsors. Additional organizations are being be enlisted as co-sponsors.

For more information contact Linda Clingan, Executive Director, Sidney Lezak Project, 503-227-8925 or 503-309-3510 or email lezakproject@pdx.edu