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June 26, 2012

CCNY Service Learning Program Continues with a Talk on “Production Capacity, Consumption and Export of Fruits and Vegetables from the DR”

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Three specialists in economic and social development will share their experiences in fair trade, food sovereignty and the role of Dominican products in domestic and international fruit and vegetable markets with City College students and partners in the urban gardening service project on Wednesday, June 27 at 10 a.m. at FUNGLODE.  The talk is part of an exhaustive training program that supports the creation of urban gardening initiatives in Bayona and Cielo, communities on the outskirts of the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo.

Three specialists in economic and social development will share their experiences in fair trade, food sovereignty and the role of Dominican products in domestic and international fruit and vegetable markets with City College students and partners in the urban gardening service project on Wednesday, June 27 at 10 a.m. at FUNGLODE.

The initiative is a collaborative project of the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture, the National Botanic Garden, City College of New York, ADRA Dominicana, the Global Coalition for Peace and the InteRDom Program of the Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) and its sister organization in the United States, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD).  The program will consume around 220 hours to be divided over four weeks, during which time experts, City College students and local volunteers are training the residents of these two communities, focusing on around 50 families, in techniques for planting and harvesting organic food-producing gardens.

The talk, one of the academic activities included in the program, seeks to expand the dialogue about the consumption of produce in the country, its production capacity and how to strengthen food autonomy in at the community level. The talk also intends to highlight the characteristics of small farmers in the Dominican Republic and the common challenges they face in promoting their products.

The activity will feature an interactive discussion with ample opportunities to ask questions about the services local producers receive and how they can increase their participation fairly in the global market while maintaining healthy environmental practices.  Throughout the question and answer session, participants are encouraged to express their concerns and urge the experts to share their knowledge of government food security practices, international export standards, how natural phenomena compete with commercial treaties and information on free trade the Dominican Republic has with other countries.

Facilitators:
Fátima Portorreal, Anthropologist –Santo Domingo Institute of Technology (INTEC)
Euclides Paulino, Representative of the Commercial Research Department – Center for Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic
Marco Coscione, Expert in Fair Trade practices from the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE).

The event is open to both students and the general public.

Related links:
Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival
http://www.muestracinemedioambientaldominicana.org
www.interdominternships.org/news211.asp

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