Fulfilling the Promise of the Land Grant University | Kip Curtis | TEDxOhioStateUniversity

How does one achieve social justice? In his talk, Kip Curtis explains how land grants can lead the way to justice and empowerment in the 21st century. Kip Curtis is an Associate Professor of Environmental History in the Ohio State University’s Department of History and a 2020/2021 Faculty Fellow in the University Office of Outreach and Engagement. He has written and published on the history of mining, on the history of environmental ideas, and he is co-authoring a forthcoming history of humans on earth (2022). His current project focuses on what he calls “histories of the future,” where he has imagined an urban food production system and then developed a grant to launch it. Working at the intersection of racial justice and ecologically-minded economic development, Curtis has partnered with the North End Community Improvement Collaborative and their Executive Director, Deanna West-Torrence, to launch a microfarming cooperative in Mansfield that captures food dollars that once left the state and redirects them into households and neighborhoods in their community that need them. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx