Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
IDEAS Article, IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute Special Issue 2019, and Longform
Table to Farm
October 1, 2019
In June, the Institute’s Energy and Environment Program, in partnership with the US Farmers and Rancher’s Alliance, hosted the inaugural Honor the Harvest Forum on a family owned corn and soy farm in southern Maryland. The forum brought together all sides of the food and agriculture industries, including Energy and Environment Program Executive Director Greg Gershuny, US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance CEO Erin Fitzgerald, along with farmers, ranchers, suppliers, packagers, retailers, and experts in environmental and economic sustainability. It was a microcosm of the real world, a “system in the room” that allowed participants to co-create a vision for sustainability, form new partnerships, take action, and answer the question, “How can the power of agriculture draw down climate change while creating value across the supply chain?” At the end of Honor the Harvest, working groups developed innovative food and agriculture projects to carry forward.
Featuring Porter Fox, climate journalist, Columbia University teacher, and author of “Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them,” and Jeff Goodell, award-winning environmental writer and best-selling author of “The Heat Will Kill You First.”
Insights on what it will take for rural communities to balance new residents, retain longtime residents and cultural traditions, and develop more equitable local economies.
