Borah Symposium Focuses on Link Between Sustainability and War

Senator William E. Borah. Library of Congress.

University of Idaho News Release

The University of Idaho's 2012 Borah Symposium, “Food and War: Cultivating Peace,” will explore the connections between hunger, population, sustainability, war and peace. Evening keynote speakers Raj Patel and Dr. Vandana Shiva exemplify the intersection of these themes within the context of the current global food crisis. The event, scheduled for April 9-11, is free and open to the public.

“This year’s topic is particularly important to focus on because food shortages and rising food prices can lead to political turmoil,” said Melissa Saul, Borah committee co-chair and faculty member. “As the population of the planet increases, food insecurity around the world is affected by the limits of the earth’s land and water resources.”

The Borah Symposium will open on Monday, April 9 with a screening of “Darwin’s Nightmare,” 2004 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary. Following the showing, Borah Symposium panelists will discuss the film.

On Tuesday, April 10, award-winning writer and food activist Raj Patel will address “Causes of War and Conditions for Peace: Food's Role.” Patel received degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University, has worked for the World Bank and WTO, and protested against them around the world. He has published several books including “Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System,” and his latest, “The Value of Nothing”, is a New York Times best-seller.

The symposium concludes on Wednesday, April 11 with physicist and internationally renowned activist Dr. Vandana Shiva’s presentation on “Water Wars and the Future of Food.” Shiva left academics to found the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, a participatory, public interest research organization. Later, when she found that global corporations wanted to patent seeds, crops or life forms, she started Navdanya International to protect biodiversity, defend farmers’ rights and promote organic farming.

For more information, visit the the Borah Foundation.