Green path to the summit: Area college takes on green living

Green is a state of mind, not simply recycling a bottle or a can. Sustainability is a way of life, not just a one-time project. Together, both concepts provide the foundation and focus for the Dallas County Community College District's 2013 Sustainability Summit, scheduled Thursday, March 28, at Mountain View College in Dallas.

The focus of the one-day event - which also includes a pre-summit workshop on March 27 - is "Doing the right things for people, our planet and the economy." The summit, which is free and open to the public, features keynote speaker Joel Salatin, a third-generation, full-time farmer from Virginia whose alternative methods have gained national attention, plus 20 breakout sessions. Those sessions, which feature a line-up of local experts, will offer information about five key areas: healthy living; urban agriculture; resource and energy efficiency; smart cities; and green careers and jobs. More than 20 exhibitors will attend and share their green products and services, too.

Salatin also will lead the pre-summit workshop that Wednesday.

The keynote speaker, who holds a bachelor's degree in English, writes extensively for agricultural magazines that include American Agriculturalist, Acres USA and Stockman Grass Farmer. His family's farm, Polyface Inc. ("The Farm of Many Faces"), incorporates many ideas implemented by Salatin's parents. Considered a "local farm," Polyface Inc. serves more than 3,000 families, 10 retail outlets and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs with salad bar beef, pastured poultry, eggmobile eggs, pigaerator pork, forage-based rabbits, pastured turkey and forestry products using relationship marketing.

The Salatins' farm has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic and Gourmet; on radio and television; and in other print news outlets. Profiled on the "Lives of the 21st Century" series with Peter Jennings on "ABC World News Tonight," the story prompted more hits than any other segment to date in the show's after-broadcast chat room. Polyface Inc. achieved iconic status after it was featured in the New York Times bestseller "Omnivore's Dilemma" by food guru writer Michael Pollan, whose new book is titled "Folks, This Ain't Normal."

During the pre-summit event on March 27, Salatin will discuss "Ballet in the Pasture"; the cost for that event is $250, and the one-day workshop is part of the Clean Economy Series.

Polyface Farm is described as a "choreographed plant-animal symbiosis which heals the landscape, the community and the eater." Salatin's presentation combines humor and entertainment to encourage others to think about sustainable living. He provides a virtual tour of the farm with pictures and commentary about the grass-based, multispecies livestock farm. "Ballet in the Pasture" is Salatin's signature performance.

Visit www.dcccd.edu/SustainabilitySummit to register for the free summit or for information about breakout sessions. To sign up for the $250 pre-summit program, part of the Clean Economy Series, visit carboneconomyseries.com; click on Workshops/Dallas/Joel Salatin and then hit the registration cart link. For details about exhibiting, email Maria Boccalandro at mboccalandro@dcccd.edu or call her at 214-860-8564.

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