Center for Women, Ethics and Public Life Hosting Two Programs in November

Meredith’s Center for Women, Ethics and Public Life will host two campus events this month, a panel discussion on Religion and the Economy, and a viewing of the film “Food, Inc.”
 
How have people of faith responded to the economic downturn? On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Religion and the Economy Panel Discussion will explore this question. The event will be held at 4 p.m. in Ledford 101.

Panelists representing a variety of faiths will speak on the issue of religion and economy, discussing how each faith speaks to the issue of wealth, charitable giving, and other economic issues. The panel will also talk about how their communities have handled the recent economic downturn.
 
Scheduled speakers are the following:

•  Rabbi Lucy Dinner, Temple Beth Or;
  
• Richard Hill, Director of Financial Freedom Ministry, Crossroads Fellowship Church;
  
• Jahar Asad, Founder and President of Muslims In Action Outreach Center ;
  
•  Mike Broadway, Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics, Shaw University Divinity School; and
  
• Fr. David McBriar, O.F.M., Ph.D., St. Francis of Assisi.

The Center will also host a showing of “Food, Inc.” on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. in Ledford 101. After the film, Master of Science in Nutrition students and Foods and Nutrition faculty will lead a discussion of the issues raised by “Food, Inc.”

Film Synopsis
In “Food, Inc.,” filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (“Fast Food Nation”), Michael Pollan (“The Omnivore's Dilemma,” “In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto”) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, “Food, Inc.” reveals surprising—and often shocking—truths about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Both events are free and open to the public. Students can receive convocation credit for attending.
 
For more information on the Center for Women, Ethics and Public Life, visit