“More often than not, we get into our little silo or burrow. We don’t look up to see the bigger picture.”
That's about as straightforward a description of the reason for the IdeaFestival as you're likely to hear.
Speaking in this IdeaFestival Conversation, Family M.D. Daphne Miller, who writes about holistic farming in her book, Farmacology, believes that farming has, at least figuratively, become too mechanistic and suggests that a regime of "testing and replacing" is much too reductionist in scope. She compares the practice to her field of medicine, which also entertains many interrelations that cannot be treated, or are treated less effectively, if the symptoms are not viewed as part of problem that may have many causes.
Working at the intersection of medicine, food, farming and the natural world, she talked to the IdeaFestival last year, highlighting the many relationships between them. About ecology and health: "What's so interesting," Miller said, "is as we lose contact with biodiversity, allergic diseases increase around the world."
To watch all IdeaFestival videos subscribed to our YouTube channel, IFTV. And be sure to follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the blog's RSS feed.
The festival will soon begin announcing speakers for IdeaFestival 2014, so stick around!
Stay curious.
Wayne