"The Essence of Life"
"Ikigai and Creating Value for Others"
A novel dinner and talk series at 15th St Farm.
Throughout history and across cultures, food has brought people together, enriching their lives through exchanges of ideas, experiences, joys, and sorrows.
Amid today's challenges, we gather at convivial long tables for dinner to slow down, reconnect, and reflect on professional and personal contributions to our community.
"Ikigai," a Japanese word, refers to " Purpose In Life." "Adding Value to Others" refers to the species-survival requirement that has existed since life began on Earth 4.2 billion years ago.
Each evening's speaker will address a topic related to the two themes above. offering "Mind Seeds", and possibly identifying "Mind weeds" in the context of our work, passions, and aspirations.
The topic will encourage small-group discussions. Between courses, time will allow for Q&A.
This month’s speaker, Deric Harvey, grew up in Southwest Florida in a family of doctors, where he came to see how deeply the food we eat shapes our health. Alongside that, he spent countless hours exploring wild places, growing plants and noticing how every living thing depends on the others. He holds a double B.A. in Environmental Studies and Agroecology from New College of Florida, and has worked on farms in California, Florida and Oregon. He also lived and worked at Plum Village in France, the mindfulness community founded by Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
He is the founder of Native Edible Abundance, a Sarasota-area company that transforms conventional lawns into native habitats and food forests: landscapes that feed families, shelter wildlife and invite people back into relationship with the land. Few things excite him more than helping someone experience the simple joy of growing their own fruit tree and tasting what it gives back. He also serves as Program and Outreach Coordinator for Metamimicry, a nonprofit advancing bioremediation and ecological restoration around Sarasota Bay.
Off the land, Deric is a practitioner of Anusara yoga, a heart-centered practice that informs the same attention to alignment and connection he brings to every landscape. At this dinner, he’ll share the story of his work and the journey that brought him to it.
In the spirit of one of the Farm's missions," To Facilitate Community Building," and as a true participatory event, guests will share the experience of setting the table, serving dishes family-style, and cleanup, as if at an informal friends' gathering.
The 3-course meals will be priced at $39.00 per person, including taxes. Those who can contribute more will help subsidize students and guests with more limited means. To secure your seat and have a voice in the discussion, please click below.
Thanks to generous donors we are offering a 50 percent discount to teachers and students. Please email tara@15thstfarm.com
We look forward to welcoming you to 15th St Farm soon. Please share this event with interested friends.