Put Your Politics Where Your Mouth Is! 2012

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Dates: February 27th to March 2nd

Locations: Concordia and McGill campuses

About the Conference: A conference linking food politics and the student movement. Presented by Midnight Kitchen and People’s Potato. Descriptions and locations will be updated as they are confirmed.

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Monday, February 27th

1:00 PM — Fermentation

• Location: Midnight Kitchen – Room 304, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: This workshop will cover some of the basic principles of fermenting foods for preservation and taste. The plan is to guide people through the process (making sauerkraut and beer!) and discussing various ways that fermentation can be made DIY and cheap.  

3:00 PM — The History of the Midnight Kitchen

• Location: Room 302, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)

5:00 PM — Dinner and Discussion

• Location: Midnight Kitchen – Room 304, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)

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Tuesday, February 28th

1:00 PM — Intro to Herbal First Aid

• Location: UGE – Room 413, Shatner Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: Learn some basics about how to deal with a range of common health problems using herbs and other plant materials you might just have in your house.

3:00 PM — Gluten-Free Baking

• Location: People’s Potato Kitchen – 7th floor, Hall Building
• Description: Come by the People’s Potato to learn about the mysteries of (delicious!) gluten-free vegan baking. This workshop will include info & discussion as well as hands-on baking practice. We will be making bread, banana muffins, and black bean brownies.  

5:00 PM — Dinner and Discussion

• Location: Midnight Kitchen – Room 304, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)

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Wednesday, February 29th

10:00 AM — Radical Walking Tour of McGill

1:00 PM — A Practical Workshop on Internet Security

• Facilitator: Presented by Anarchist Tech Support
• Location: Lev Bukhman – Room 203, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: A discussion of the importance of (tech) security, touching on issues of Necessity, Solidarity, Counter-insurgency, and Corporate Data-Mining. Followed by a practical workshop explaining some tools that we can use on computers: Online anonymization (Firefox add-ons, VPN, Tor); Encrypted communications (GPG email, OTR instant messaging, ZRTP voip); System security (various things).  

• Note: IF YOU CAN, BRING YOUR LAPTOP OR OTHER DEVICES!

3:00 PM — The History of the People’s Potato

• Location: People’s Potato Kitchen – 7th floor, Hall Building
• Description: The politics behind the kitchen: a discussion on history of the potato, its mandate, and its internal structure.

5:00 PM — Dinner and Discussion

7:00 PM — The ABC’s of Occupation

• Location: Room 433a, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: This workshop will provide a space to explore the political and tactical argument for occupations as a form of direct action, and go through some concrete steps for planning, carrying out, and following through with different sorts of occupations. From no-nonsense lockdowns to theatrical office visits, come learn and share your experiences of occupations!

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Thursday, March 1st

1:00 PM — Prisons, Food, and Hunger Strikes

• Location: QPIRG Concordia – 1500 de Maisonneuve West, Suite 204
• Description: This workshop will be divided into three sections, each presented by a different person involved with prisoner support work in Montreal. The topics that will be covered include: the state of food in Quebec's prison systems; the prison-food industry in the United States and Canada; and the 2011 California prisoner hunger strikes.  

• Note: Snacks will be provided!

3:00 PM — Don’t cha put it in your mouth: Food and Social Control

• Location: Breakout room – 2nd floor, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: As children we were told not to put things in our mouths until we checked with a grown-up if it was okay to eat (like a muffin or a beet). This was probably good advice. This advice is less than prudent when it applies to letting government professionals and greedy corporate big shots control what we eat, and in turn, control many other facets of our lives. This presentation and discussion will focus on the many ways that the state and large corporations control what is considered food through the process of commodification, as well as some of the ways we culturally regulate what is considered food. We will also explore some fun ways that we can de-commodify food, defy the stupid grown-ups telling us not to eat candy off the floor, and learn that we can actually feed and care for ourselves.  

5:30 PM — Dinner and Discussion

6:30 PM — Witch-hunting, Enclosure and the Ongoing War Against Women

• Co-Presenter: Presented in collaboration with QPIRG Concordia
• Speaker: Silvia Federici
• Location: People’s Potato Lounge – 7th Floor, Hall Building, Concordia University (1455 de Maisonneuve West, métro Guy-Concordia)
• Description: Silvia Federici will discuss themes from her book “Caliban and the Witch”, as well as her further research and writings on enclosures and the war against women. Facebook Event Link

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Friday, March 2nd

1:00 PM — Fatphobia and its Intersections

• Location: UGE – Room 413, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
• Description: This workshop will provide an introduction to fatphobia and look at how it intersects with other forms of oppression. We will also attempt to debunk/discuss some myths surrounding fatness.

3:00 PM — Neoliberalism and McGill

• Location: Room 433a, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)

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