Edible forest gardening -- rewriting the narrative and falling in love: Paul Wartman at TEDxGuelphU

"Imagine walking down the street and being surrounded by rhubarb plants, cherry trees, and raspberry bushes. Imagine all the jam!" Paul Wartman likes to create space to imagine what's possible when communities are grown from good, accessible food systems. Bringing that vision into reality is his mission. Paul has founded the group Many Rivers Permaculture that is working to create a healthy, environmentally-protective, politically-engaged, food-loving, "I-wanna-grow-that-in-my-backyard" community. He is currently researching Edible Forest Gardens as a Master Student at the University of Guelph and collaborating with community groups to bring healthy food to everyone in the Guelph and Mississauga communities.

Paul's understory consists of being a board member and vo-livin-teer with Transition Guelph, a grass roots community organization working and playing towards a thriving resilient community. His character is built from experiences in organic farming, permaculture design, appropriate technology development, eco-camp counseling, and many potlucks!

This video was recorded at TEDxGuelphU - Inside Out in November 2013. TEDxGuelphU is a student-organized TEDx event held annually at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. Each year we highlight emerging ideas, movements and talent from the University and surrounding community. For more information visit our website at www.tedxguelphu.com.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)