Monday, April 1, 2019
5-6 p.m.
Belk Library and Information Commons, Room 114
Dr. Carla Norwood and Dr. Gabriel Cumming, – co-founders and directors of Working Landscapes, a grassroots nonprofit organization based in Carla's homeplace of Warren County, N.C. – will share findings from food system development initiatives they have led since 2010 in rural, economically-distressed northeastern North Carolina. Norwood and Cumming have employed the Community Voice Method-a participatory research approach that combines interviewing, film production and structured public dialog-to engage stakeholders and set action agendas for Working Landscapes and its partners. Guided by this research and engagement, they have transformed vacant buildings in Warrenton's small downtown into an experimental food processing hub that has provide fresh-cut produce to schools across the region. Drawing insights from their research and interventions, Norwood and Cumming will assess prospects for, and obstacles facing, the emergence of a sustainable, regional food systems.
Norwood is the Executive Director and co-founder of Working Landscapes. Previously, she worked as a researcher at Duke University, with a specialty in participatory research, and served as Director of the Little Tennessee Watershed Association in Franklin, N.C. Norwood received her B.A. and Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University and earned a PhD in Ecology from UNC Chapel Hill.
Cumming is Associate Director and co-founder of Working Landscapes. He has co-led the development and management of the Working Landscapes Food Hub, which processes produce for schools and other institutions. He is also principal of Community Voice Consulting, which helps communities and organizations engage stakeholders in making research-based natural resource management decisions. Cumming previously served as Warren County's Economic Development Director and as a researcher at Duke University. He holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a PhD in Ecology from UNC Chapel Hill. Norwood and Cumming live with their three children on Norwood's family's former tobacco farm in Warren County.
For more on their work in Warren County, see http://workinglandscapesnc.org.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Sustainable Development. For questions about the event, contact Dr. Dana Powell, Department of Anthropology at powellde@appstate.edu.
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About the Department of Anthropology
The Department of Anthropology offers a comparative and holistic approach to the study of the human experience. The anthropological perspective provides a broad understanding of the origins as well as the meaning of physical and cultural diversity in the world — past, present and future. Learn more at https://anthro.appstate.edu.
About the Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University prepares students to thoughtfully analyze human development while focusing on the applied practice of pursuing transformative, community-driven development and social change. It offers a Bachelor of Science degree in sustainable development with concentrations in agroecology and sustainable agriculture; community, regional and global development; and environmental studies; as well as a Bachelor of Arts and minor in sustainable development. Learn more at https://sd.appstate.edu.
March 29, 2019
By Ellen Gwin Burnette
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Carla Norwood and Dr. Gabriel Cumming, – co-founders and directors of Working Landscapes, a grassroots nonprofit organization based in Carla's homeplace of Warren County, N.C. Photos Submitted.
Dr. Carla Norwood and Dr. Gabriel Cumming, – co-founders and directors of Working Landscapes, a grassroots nonprofit organization based in Carla's homeplace of Warren County, N.C. Photos Submitted.