Contact: Jay Blanton or Lisa Broome-Price

Registration forms are available via mail from the Gaines Center for the Humanities, 232 E. Maxwell St., Lexington, KY 40506-0344; by fax at (859) 257-4543. The Gaines Center’s phone number is (859) 257-1537. Registration no later than Feb. 14 is strongly encouraged.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 31, 2005) -- The themes of food and building a collaborative vision for the future will come together Feb. 17 at the University of Kentucky’s Gaines Center for the Humanities’ Seventh Annual Lafayette Seminar series.

Kentucky agriculture, the state’s rural and urban communities, and the local market for healthy food will be explored during the three sessions of the seminar, held on consecutive Thursdays at noon, Feb. 17, Feb. 24, and March 3 in the Stewards Room of the Bingham Davis House at 218 E. Maxwell St. in Lexington.

The first week’s speaker will be Ann Harvey Yonkers, founding director of FRESHFARM Markets. She will speak about the challenges of creating an urban-rural partnership that brings healthy local food to communities while sustaining working landscapes.

On Feb. 24, Brereton Jones, former governor of Kentucky and chairman of the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), will discuss preserving Kentucky’s signature industry and the farmland dedicated to it.

The Lafayette Seminar series concludes on March 3 with responses to the previous discussions by Scott Smith, dean of the UK College of Agriculture, and Wendell Berry, renowned author and farmer from Port Royal, Ky. Smith will speak about the university’s role in enhancing Kentucky’s agricultural economy, educating citizens, and invigorating markets for local foods. Berry has often spoken on the value of farming, of his belief that one’s work needs to be connected to one’s place, and of the need to examine carefully the effect of technology and industrialization on our communities.

Participation in the Lafayette Seminar in Public Issues by community leaders is encouraged. Due to space limitations, participation will only be guaranteed to the first 40 individuals who register.

Lunches made from local foods will be provided by the Gaines Center. Lunch begins at noon on each of the three Thursdays, with the seminar presentations scheduled from 12:15 to 1 p.m. and discussion from 1 to 1:30 p.m.

Registration forms are available via mail from the Gaines Center for the Humanities, 232 E. Maxwell St., Lexington, KY 40506-0344; by fax at (859) 257-4543; or by e-mail at Chorne@uky.edu or Lbroome@hotmail.com. The Gaines Center’s phone number is (859) 257-1537. Registration no later than Feb. 14 is strongly encouraged.

This seventh edition of the Lafayette Seminar series will serve as a prelude to a two-day symposium, March 4 and 5, sponsored by the Gaines Center, the UK College of Agriculture, and Partners for Family Farms. The event is titled, “Growing Kentucky: New Directions for our Culture of Land and Food.”