Local experts shared insights about farming and food issues at the Climate Change Summit.

The halls of UCG reverberated with solutions and determination to address the growing climate crisis when nearly 200 people gathered for our first Climate Change Summit on September 30. One of the organizers, Nkwanda Jah of Alachua County’s NAACP Environment & Climate Justice Committee, said she would continue this work until she returned to the soil. The lead organizer for UCG and its Creation Care and Climate Justice Task Force, Jackie Davis, heard high compliments about the UCG volunteers who made the day flow seamlessly. The main sessions were hosted by Anna Prizzia, chair of the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners.

The keynote speaker who came from Baltimore was Jacqueline Patterson, the executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project. She spoke powerfully about fighting the “corporate-aucracy” and supporting frontline communities. To watch her talk and other parts of the summit, visit YouTube for the Opening Session and Alachua County Vulnerability Study, and for the closing session. The smaller breakout sessions, not recorded, had local experts on agriculture and food, health care, water, and energy issues. In the courtyard, 16 local groups had tables for information sharing and networking.