DUBOIS – Brandy Brooks, regional director for the Food Project in Boston-Metro West will share ideas on sustainability and community agriculture during this year’s Umbaugh Lecture at Penn State DuBois. Made possible by the generosity of Robert and Joyce Umbaugh, the Umbaugh Lecture brings highly qualified speakers in the fields of science and technology to the campus each year.
As director for the Boston-Metro West region for the Food Project, Brooks works to engage communities in sustainable agriculture. The Food Project works with more than 150 teenagers and thousands of volunteers each year to farm on 40 acres in eastern Massachusetts. The organization’s focus is on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.
Food from those farms is distributed through community supported agriculture programs and farmers’ markets, and donated to hunger relief organizations.
In addition to producing and distributing food, The Food Project helps others grow their own crops through community programs and provides training resources.
Brook’s presentation will highlight the ways that community-based organizations around the country are reconnecting communities, families and individuals to one the most basic human needs: food that is produced in ways that are healthy and sustainable.
The public is welcome to attend the Umbaugh Lecture, free of charge. The lecture is planned for 7 p.m. April 4, in the Hiller Auditorium at Penn State DuBois.