Kenyon College - Kenyon professor who champions rural life will give answers in speech to the community

Where does our food come from? Why does it matter?

Kenyon professor who champions rural life will give answers in speech to the community

Gambier, Ohio – Kenyon Professor of Sociology Howard Sacks, who has spent his career championing rural life in Knox County, will give a talk for the community about where food comes from and why it matters.

Sacks has worked with Kenyon students since 1978 to document and study Knox County’s culture, economy, history and nature, largely through the Kenyon Rural Life Center, which he founded. Through the center, Kenyon helped start the Mount Vernon Farmer’s Market, published a guide to local food sources in the county, supported the community garden program, developed a garden at Wiggin Street School and worked to get fresh, local foods to the neediest residents.

Sacks’ speech “Food for Thought: Farming, Community and Place” is free and open to the public at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23 in the Community Foundation Theater in the Gund Gallery, 101 1/2 College Drive. He’ll address why a connection to the community is an important part of a liberal arts education.

Kenyon's dining service gets 42 percent of its food from local sources, making it a national leader in the use of local foods. “Beyond providing tasty and nutritious food for our students, this effort constitutes one part of a countywide initiative to build a sustainable local food system that will support the family farms that are central to our rural character,” Sacks said.

Strengthening ties between Kenyon and the Knox County community is a priority for the college. For example, the college recently announced a plan to renovate the Buckeye Candy building as an extension of Kenyon in downtown Mount Vernon. Members of the Kenyon College Board of Trustees, which meets April 23-24 to consider final approval of the plan, will tour Knox County and the building with community leaders.

Sacks’ speech is part of lecture series called Kenyon Unique that features distinguished faculty members whose talks are recorded for a digital archive. For past Kenyon Unique speeches, visit http://www.kenyon.edu/middle-path/publications/kenyon-unique/. For more information on Sacks’ speech call 740-427-5589.