Living fair comes to Bloomington

The 5th annual Simply Living Fair will begin this Friday and continue through Sunday at Dunn Meadow. The fair will begin with the goal of educating members of the Bloomington community about healthy living and organic foods.\nThis year's fair is especially interesting because it will be hosting a satellite link to the 14th annual BIONEERS Conference, which is described as a gathering of people with practical solutions for restoring the earth. \n"The entire fair is geared toward people who are interested in learning about what they can do to live more in tune and in harmony with the natural world," said Marcia Veldman, an event coordinator for the fair. "That is why it is great that the BIONEERS have chosen us for one of the five satellite locations."\nBIONEERS is a group founded by Kenny Ausubel in 1990. They have come together to conduct educational and economic development programs in the preservation of biological and cultural diversity. \nVeldman expects 100 to 150 people a day to attend the fair. People who wish to participate in the Fair can register each morning between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in Dunn Meadow. Registration fees run between $20 to $40 for one day and $50 to $90 for all three days. People can expect a wide variety of activities during the days of the fair, which begin at 8 a.m. and end around 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday.\n"We are especially excited about the field trips that will happen at the fair," explained Veldman. These field trips, which will happen on Friday and Saturday, will take participants to different sites to learn about environmentally sound projects going on in Bloomington. \nOne of the field trips includes a trip to the straw bale house, which, currently under construction, will use straw for insulation.\n"This is a much more efficient way to insulate a house," Veldman said. "There are so many negative sides to other types of insulation." \nAnother site for the field trips includes a trip to Meadowlark Organic Farm, which happens to be Veldman's farm. Here, Veldman has built a passive solar greenhouse, which is designed to maintain warmer temperatures during the winter. Veldman says this technique uses a limited amount of fossil fuels.\nThe satellite conference will be held at Ballantine Hall and at Myers Hall. Highlights of the conference will include talks from David Suzuki, Ph. D., who is a professor emeritus at the Sustainable Development Research Institute at the University of British Columbia, and Terry Tempest Williams, one of the nation's most celebrated writers. \nThe BIONEERS conference was started by Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons. \n"They saw a need for people doing solutions-based work to be able to come together and learn from each other 14 years ago," said Azlan White, office administrator for the BIONEERS. \nMany local businesses are sponsors of the Simply Living Fair. One in particular is Bloomingfoods. Jeff Brown, Bloomingfoods member services manager, explained why the store has become involved in sponsoring the Simply Living Fair for 4 out of the 5 years. \n"We stand for the same things that the Simply Living Fair is trying to promote," Brown said. "We want to contribute to community education and promote substantially grown organic foods." \nNot only is Bloomingfoods a sponsor of the fair, but they are also providing all of the food that will be served. The meals will be vegetarian and predominately organic.\nThe Simply Living Fair was created by Christina Glaser, who attended the Midwest Energy Fair. Her inspiration began there and Glaser took her idea to Bloomington Park Department. Five years later the Simply Living Fair is still running strong. This year organizers are hoping for the best fair yet. \n"With the BIONEERS conference taking place this year, people will be able to learn more than in years past," Veldman said. "Anyone who is interested in learning more about practical solutions in their lives on environmental and social issues we face daily should come out to the Simply Living Fair."\n-- Contact staff writer Monica Dix at mcdix@indiana.edu.