Why do millions of people starve when there is an abundance of food?
Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist, believes the key to solving the problem is sustainable farming. She will discuss this topic and others at her lecture, ¿Hunger in an Age of Plenty: Sustainable Solutions through Nonviolence,¿ on Monday, Oct. 31.
Shiva is an internationally renowned author, activist and eco-feminist. She is also a trained physicist and wrote her thesis on ¿Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory¿ at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Shiva, who was named an environmental hero by Time magazine in 2003, created Navdanya, an environmental group whose mission is to protect biodiversity and support local farms. Navdanya literally translates to ¿nine seeds,¿ which represent India¿s food security. Shiva believes upholding biodiversity is the key to solving world hunger.
¿Turning the living wealth of the planet into the property of corporations through patents is a recipe for deepening the poverty and ecological crisis,¿ Shiva writes on her personal blog. ¿Biodiversity is the basis of life; it is our living commons. We are a part of nature, not her masters and owners.¿
Tara Sethia, director of the Ahimsa Center at Cal Poly Pomona, says Shiva¿s values of environmental activism correlate with that of the center¿s. Sethia hopes the audience will be inspired to tackle important issues such as world hunger.
¿The Ahimsa Center is honored to have her speak on our campus and relate nonviolence to real-life issues such as hunger,¿ Sethia says. ¿Her work is of great interest and of inspiration to all those who seek peaceful, nonviolent and sustainable solutions to social and political problems.¿
This event is free and open to the public. The lecture will be in the Music Recital Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. Registration is required by Oct. 28 via email to ahimsacenter@cpp.edu. For more information, visit www.cpp.edu/~ahimsacenter/lecture/lecture_10-31-11.shtml.