Food Systems Change from Appalachia to Africa: A Panel Discussion

Join Rural Action and Ohio University’s Department of Geography for an evening discussion with visiting Kenyan professor, Dr. Martin Oulu, and three local farmer panelists. Dr. Oulu will be joined by farmers Paul Tomcho of Creekside Farm, Lindsay Klaunig of Trouvaille Farm, and Morgan Hager of Future Days Farm to discuss food systems change in Appalachian Ohio and Kenya. Guests will be invited to enjoy homemade Kenyan dishes as well!

Dr. Martin Oulu is an interdisciplinary scholar, consultant and policy analyst who teaches courses at the environment-development nexus at University of Nairobi, including ecological and resource economics, environmental and social impact analysis, and agroecology. He is also an adjunct lecturer at Strathmore University’s Climate Leadership Academy where he teaches courses on climate change adaptation and governance. Dr. Oulu completed his Ph.D. in Human Ecology at Lund University in Sweden, where he extended theories of unequal exchange into the realms of environmental political economy and justice. His research interests are broadly informed by political ecology and entail teaching, research, consultancy, community engagement, and policy advocacy that apply evidence-based approaches to technical, community, and policy-level engagements.

Paul Tomcho operates Creekside Farm, a seasonal goat dairy and creamery that makes several varieties of goat cheese and yogurt as well as a fluid milk herdshare. Paul practices rotational grazing, moving the herd daily during the milking season. They milk 30-35 goats, and recently started milking a small number of dairy sheep and hope to make sheep milk cheeses in the future. Creekside Farm also makes hay, has a shiitake mushroom log operation, a small apple and blueberry orchard, and a produce garden.

Lindsay Klaunig operates Trouvaille Farm, a diverse family farm on 80 acres of mixed woods and pasture. They focus on regenerative farming practices as they rotationally graze beef cows, goats, and chickens, grow heirloom vegetable and flower seeds, and produce specialty crops like garlic and herbs. She also has made bean-to-bar chocolate and vegan plant-based cheese in their on-farm processing facility!

Morgan Hager operates Future Days Farm, an Agroforestry oriented nursery. They grow low maintenance fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and planting stock for a variety of edibles and medicinal plants cultivated under a forest canopy. We are also establishing small scale commercial plantings of Chestnut, Persimmon, Paw Paw, and Elderberry which will be open to the public for U-forage harvest.

Also check out other Business events in The Plains, Workshops in The Plains.