| Freeman Lecture will address “Food or Fuel: The Emerging Competition” on April 17 The race for renewable energy has resulted in new conflicts among business,
agriculture, and government leaders. The growing use of ethanol—produced
from crops such as corn—to create renewable fuel comes with consequences
for farm production and food prices. The third annual Freeman Lecture, “Food
or Fuel: The Emerging Competition,” will address this issue through
featured speakers and panel discussions from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April
17, at the Humphrey School.
 Lester
R. Brown (photo on left), founder and president of the Earth
Policy Institute, will deliver the keynote address. Described as “the
guru of the global environmental movement,” Brown will examine the environmental
and economic policy alternatives available to the world's population—discussed
at length in Brown's most recent book, Plan
B 2.0.  Dr. Robert
Elde (photo on right), dean of the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences
and a local leader on renewable energy, will give a luncheon address on the
energy potential of prairie ecosystems.
Experts from agribusiness, farm organizations and cooperatives, environmental
groups, and other non-governmental organizations will participate in the afternoon
panel discussion to address policy issues raised by ethanol from their perspective.
They will comment on policies created to encourage alternative energy sources,
including wind power and solar energy, and energy conservation.
The Freeman Lecture is free and open to the public, with a nominal charge for
lunch ($15 for the general public; no charge for high school and college students).
Seating is limited, so pre-registration for the program and lunch is required.
Please register by April 12 at www.freemanforum.org.
Questions can be directed to (651) 645-9403.
The Freeman Lecture is hosted by the University of Minnesota in honor of Orville
L. Freeman, Minnesota's first Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor. Freeman
also served as Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinets of Presidents John F.
Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Freeman died in 2002. For more information on
the lecture program, visit www.freemanforum.org.
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