by Pam Kelrick 25/06/2012
Up early…everyone made it for breakfast by 7:45 after a rather late night of playing pirate gambling games. This is going to be a long day.
First, we arrived at Victoriaville to learn about two subjects. Martin Lessard presented the sustainable activities happening in Victoriaville. These programs have changed the community over time, evolving as part of the community identity. Bill Ninacs proposed a theoretical way to think about community empowerment, especially for rural areas. Both presentations contributed to our understanding of how communities, even in small places, can achieve great things. Some of the useful comments included: what have you guys done to encourage residents/businesses to reduce waste in the first place? Also, what direction are you guys moving next?
Second, Carole Fortin explained the role and plight of food processing in St. Damase. Lots and lots of information to take in…regulations and standards are layered and layered on producers depending on their market. It seems that there is a well-developed food production to market system in Quebec. I’m wondering in what ways trade protectionism is helping or hurting this system? I’m also wondering what other foods could be niche market or specialty foods for Quebec.
Lunch reminds me of vegetarian in the Midwestern U.S. — iceberg lettuce and French fries :).
After dinner, Bruno kindly gave use some background on the Quebec rural policy.
Going to bed…so much to do tomorrow…more class, laundry, questions, writing, reading, group work, thinking, …..
Photos by Eduardo Gómez