FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 15, 2015
Climate Change in Colorado- What it Means for Farming, Food Security and the Western Slope
Join community leaders, expert panelists, farmers and chefs on November 2nd at The Hive Paonia from 5-8pm as we discuss food security and climate change on the Western Slope.
With an expert panel to discuss the climate change impacts now threatening Colorado agriculture – including its impacts on bees and other pollinators, on water resources and irrigation supplies, and on food security and Western Slope value-added crops in particular.
Sunday, November 1, features the recently released documentary THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING inspired by the Naomi Klein best seller with an opening slide presentation. A community discussion will follow the screening.
Monday, November 2, concludes with an expert panel to discuss the climate change impacts now threatening Colorado agriculture – such as impacts on bees and other pollinators, on water resources and irrigation supplies, and on food security and Western Slope value-added crops in particular. The evening begins with locally-sourced culinary creations and a community action workshop.
– MORE INFO –
Sunday, November 1 from 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM 
Special Movie Screening of “This Changes Everything”
At the Paradise Theatre of Paonia, 215 Grand Avenue – Sponsored by the Colorado Farm & Food Alliance
With a brief slide presentation prior, and a community discussion following the film.
Monday, November 2 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Expert Panel: Global Warming Impacts to Farming and Food Security on the West Slope
With Community Action Workshop and Delicious Local Food
The Hive Paonia, 130 Grand Avenue– Hosted by the Colorado Farm & Food Alliance and The Learning Council
Sponsors: Western Slope Conservation Center, Western Colorado Congress, National Wildlife Federation,
The workshops and panel discussion are free and open to the public.
-DETAILS-
Sunday
2:30 PM: Slideshow – Climate Change and Western Colorado, free and open to the public
3:00 PM: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING – The film will begin immediately following the slideshow for a $10 donation
4:30 PM: Community discussion will follow the film
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Excerpted from the media materials provided by the filmmaker
Shot in nine countries over the course of four years, THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, directed by Avi Lewis, recently had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING is based on the critically acclaimed non-fiction best-seller by award- winning journalist and author, Naomi Klein.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the frontlines of both fossil fuel extraction and the climate crisis it is driving, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there.
The film builds to its most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.
The Opening Slideshow will be based off a small portion of the current work of the Climate Reality Project chairman and former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, focused especially on climate change impacts – and solutions – most relevant to this region. The presenter, Pete Kolbenschlag, a long-time advocate for sustainable environmental and clean energy policy in Western Colorado, recently completed the Climate Reality Project Leaderships Corps training in Miami Florida.
The Community Discussion will cover some recent developments and what they mean for local opportunities and action, including the Clean Power Plan, the Citizens Climate Lobby, and updates from the “Western Colorado Climate Challenge.”
Monday
2:00 – 3:30 PM: Holdover showing THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING – Benefits The Learning Council, $10 donation
5:00 – 6:15 PM: Localvore Tasting and Community Action Workshop: Local Responses to Food Insecurity
6:30 – 8:00 PM: Panel Discussion, free and open to the public.
Panel Experts:
Dr. David Inouye discussing his decades of research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (near Gothic, Colorado) on the impacts from climate change to bees and other pollinators, critical to western Colorado’s fruit industry and other agriculture.
Dr. Gerald Nelson discussing the effects of climate change on global food security and on Western Slope specialty crops including wine grapes.
TBD discussing impacts from global climate change on western Colorado’s irrigation supplies.
Panel will be recorded by KVNF Radio for later broadcast.
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