Learning the Roots of the Plants We Live By: Perennial Cultures & Perennial Grains in the Great Plains

The University of Nebraska – Lincoln’s Center for Great Plains Studies’ 48th annual interdisciplinary conference focuses on Indigenous food sovereignty movements; the long-standing significance of the meatpacking industry; related topics of labor, immigration, and health and safety standards; and the environmental impacts of food production and consumption. The event will include keynote speakers from some of our region’s leading experts, panel discussions on the latest research, demonstrations, tastings, workshops, and of course…food! The diversity of food from the Great Plains will be highlighted through shared meals. This conference is meant for a wide audience and welcomes the general public, scholars, students, business owners, community leaders, and life-long learners.

The Land Institute’s Aubrey Street Krug will be a keynote speaker at the conference. Her talk will take place from 9-10 am on Wednesday, April 19th. The description for her talk, titled “Learning the Roots of the Plants We Live By: Perennial Cultures and Perennial Grains in the Great Plains,” can be found below. 

How do we build more just and enduring food cultures that are grounded in the sufficiency of the Great Plains? Our work begins in recognizing the few, mostly annual plants by which many of us currently live—and continues in remembering and restoring the diverse, mostly perennial plants our societies can live by for the long term. By creatively investigating the relational roots of the plants we live by in the Great Plains, we can find possibilities for a more just, perennial future in which grain crops and food systems feed people while sustaining land communities.

Tickets range from $0-$60, depending on the event. Price breakdown and registration details can be found here. The full conference schedule can be found here.