Sharon Rempel
Sharon Rempel is an agricultural folklorist. She's a member of the American Folklore Society and works in the area of conservation of not only the genetic resources for food and agriculture (heritage seed and biodiversity) Sharon conserves the folklore of traditional agriculture, story and song.
Sharon has been a pioneer in Neo Gastronomy:
Neo or ‘new’ gastronomy is a concept of gastronomy as a multidisciplinary approach to food that recognizes the strong connections between plate, planet, people, (plant) and culture. The term was coined to correspond with the evolution of the Slow Food movement, which began with an initial aim to defend good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slower pace of life (eno-gastronomy), and then logically broadened its sights to embrace issues such as the quality of life and the health of the planet that we live on (eco-gastronomy). Neo-gastronomy adds a further holistic element to this: a neo-gastronome has a responsible, comprehensive approach to food, combining an interest in food and wine culture with a desire to defend the environment and food biodiversity, and considers eating as not only a biological necessity, but also a convivial pleasure to be shared with others. A neo-gastronome is aware that their food choices have a direct effect on the market, and therefore food production, and that everyday-choices can be made for the benefit of our palate, the environment and society. (thanks to Slow Food for birthing this concept and definition!)
As a biologist working as a park naturalist, Sharon discovered ethnobotany in the mid 1980s. She's a member of the Society of Ethnobiology where she contributes her work in linking People, Plants and Place (3Ps'). And in her spare time she's a folk musician, a fiddler and collector of the traditional and modern songs about agriculture and varieties of plants. A member of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, Sharon Rempel is beginning a new field of Canadian music studies - linking song and story to traditional varieties of seeds and crops.
Sharon brings humor with her monkey puppet Squeaky, heart felt passion, wisdom and motivation to the critical issue of seed as the heart of food security. Godmother of a movement to bring 'variety' and 'farmer' identification to food, Sharon has brought Red Fife wheat from historic obscurity to bakeries around the world.
Sharon combines her 25 years of organic food and heritage seed expertise with growing local food with a vision of green, environmentally friendly, climate change adaptable philosophy and vision.
Sharon has worked as an independent plant breeder and researcher while managing a registered charity The Garden Institute
Professional credits: -Adult educator with 'Train the Trainer' certification from the Provincial Instructor Program BC
- B.Sc. Agriculture and MA Conservation (landscapes and gardens conservation) from York University, England
Professional Highlights:
- Founder and designer of Seedy Saturday community seed program throughout Canada
- Sustainable agriculture activist and community facilitator
- Served on three Canadian delegations to the United Nations for seed genetic resources
- Pioneer of agri tourism in BC as creator of the 1980s heritage gardens and 'Living Museum of Wheat' at The Grist Mill at Keremeos
- 25 years as a pioneer in organic food in Canada and coauthored Alberta certification standards in 1987
- Celebrated author of 'Demeter's Wheats' linking traditional knowledge and story to ‘value added’ food
- Nationally recognized researcher in eco agriculture and heritage horticulture
- Client diversity includes Weston Foods, Parks Canada, B.C. Heritage, Alberta Culture, and many grassroot communities and individual farmers
- hands on experience in 'on farm' variety selection and maintaining 300 varieties of wheat through the Heritage Wheat Project
- project design and management in Nepal, Bangladesh, Greece and Canada
Current projects:
- working on an elder cohousing project to design ecofriendly low cost housing for seniors especially women
- documenting art, story, music and song related to agriculture and seed
- mentoring new projects through The Garden Institute of B.C.
- co designing a database to host information about variety adaptation, cultural information and climate in collaboration with Seeds of Diversity Canada