Mario will introduce the Community Food Forestry Initiative (CFFI), a national initiative funded by USDA Forest Service Community & Urban Forestry grant. The initiative takes a unique and innovative approach to address the challenge of urban and community tree canopy loss due to re/development by providing planners, developers, policy-makers, designers and practitioners a comprehensive set of resources that integrate food-producing trees and plants into the urban landscape. In addition, it will help raise public and professional awareness around the issue of using urban places to grow food.

Presented By: Mario Yanez

Sunday, September 18th | 4:10 – 4:30 PM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Mario Yanez has dedicated his life’s work to envisioning and inspiring a transition toward life-sustaining, resilient human communities. He has a professional background in finance, information systems and ecology. Mario has several decades of experience applying systems thinking in nonprofits, developing and funding cutting-edge programming. As an educator, Mario creates provocative and relevant active-learning curriculum supportive of a much-needed cultural evolution. As a Permaculture practitioner, he is applying design at various scales, implementing regenerative productive landscapes, enterprises, and organizational and social systems. Mario is native to the Greater Everglades bioregion and is well versed in tropical/sub-tropical food production.

2016 RED Talk Presentation: Community Food Forestry Initiative