UWSP Hosts Panel Discussion on Sustainability in Agriculture
From left to right: Joel Kuehnhold, Taylor Christiansen, Kim Bremmer, Dr. Jacob Prater, and Dr. Krishna Roka. Photo by Ross Vetterkind

UWSP Hosts Panel Discussion on Sustainability in Agriculture

On Wednesday March 29, student organizations Meat Free SP and the Land Conservation Society hosted a panel discussion about sustainability in agriculture in the Alumni room.

The panel consisted of five individuals from varying farming backgrounds including Krishna Roka and Jacob Prater, assistant professors of environmental sociology and soil waste resources, respectively.

Also present were representatives of Lonely Oaks Farm, Joel Kuehnhold who owns the farm, and Taylor Christianson a longtime employee and former UWSP graduate.

The final panelist was Kim Bremmer, the only conservative panelist. She is the founder of Ag Inspirations and a representative of the Wisconsin Beef Council.

The panelists took turns sharing their opinions in response to written questions from the audience. It became apparent through the questions that sustainability is not an easily defined term because it can be viewed from a number of different perspectives such as environmental, economic, social or technological.

“To me, when it comes to sustainability, it’s not just about the environment and natural resources but also includes people. If we want to grow our food, we have to grow it so we can feed the existing population and also prepare for the population growth that will happen in the future,” Roka said in his opening statement to the audience.

“Another important thing for the future of sustainable agriculture is recognizing the rule of sustainability improvements in science, technology and innovation because science, technology and innovation have been huge cornerstones for sustainability in agriculture today,” Bremmer said.

The general consensus among the panelists was that there are many different ways to sustainably produce food.

After the event, attendees and those who put on the event seemed to think the event went well.

“I thought it went extremely well. I couldn’t have been happier with the variety of opinions, but also the variety of backgrounds that were brought to the panel,” said Brewster Johnson, senior natural resources planning major and member of the Land Conservation Society.

 

The point of disagreement among the panel was what types of meat were sustainable.

The question remainsAre grass-fed  meat sources more environmentally friendly than corn-fed meats? Or should humans just cut meat out of their diet completely?

 

Connor Schoelzel

Reporter

Connor.l.schoelzel@uwsp.edu

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