From a young age, Anthony Flaccavento wanted to change the world, and on Friday the author, two-time congressional candidate and founder of Appalachian Sustainable Development shared his ideas with ETSU faculty as the guest speaker at the Blue Ridge Project: Environmental Sustainability Workshop.
Hosted by ETSU’s Center for Teaching Excellence as the third installment of their sustainability series, Flaccavento gave a presentation on ideas discussed in his book “Building A Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Quillen Conference Room on the fourth floor of Sherrod Library.
During his presentation, Flaccavento talked about the connection between sustainability and the economy. He discussed how the economy has negatively affected farmers and small business owners. Products are made and sold, but the money does not go back to the people who made it, he said.
A major concept Flaccavento focused on was “Trickle-down economics,” of which he called a myth.
“Trickle-down doesn’t – and economic growth on its own doesn’t – guarantee prosperity for most people,” Flaccavento said.
The second half of his presentation focused on ways to build the economy from the bottom up through small, practical changes in local communities. This included the idea of building local capacity, in which Flaccavento gave real-world examples such as community gardens, the Appalachian Garden Food Hub, solar garden and the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.
He also discussed the need to shift focus from problem-solving to “solving for pattern,” move from abstraction to action, as well as overcome estrangement through events like farmers markets.
ETSU Chair of Appalachian Studies Ron Roach is teaching a graduate level course on Appalachia and globalism in the Appalachian studies program. Coincidentally, one of the textbooks they are using is Flaccavento’s book.
“It was perfect timing for our class because we were using his textbook,” Roach said. “We were already scheming about getting him to campus. He’s been to campus before. He’s a good friend of the Appalachian Studies program, so we’ve known him for some years.”
Several of Roach’s students attended the event, including second-semester graduate student Amanda Morgan. Morgan said she enjoyed what she has read in class so far, so she thought it would be “really cool” to meet and hear Flaccavento speak in person.
“I really like it,” Morgan said. “It was nice having read the beginning of the book, and he mentions the economic myths that we are led to believe just based on society and everything, and hearing him discuss those and elaborate on them a little more, and to see the visuals was really great. It was really engaging.”
Flaccavento said getting to speak to faculty and students who are using his book was “great.”
“I wrote the book for everyday people, but I wrote it with enough evidence that I thought it could be used as a textbook as well,” Flaccavento said. “And it has been used by probably – I don’t know – eight or 10 universities. So, when I heard that they were using it in Appalachian Studies at ETSU, I was delighted.”
At the end of his presentation, Flaccavento opened the room up for discussion. Faculty members discussed issues such as labor versus capital intensive work, how to change people’s behaviors, how to market sustainability using positive examples and how to get more young people engaged with environmental sustainability.
Flaccavento said the main idea he wanted people to take away from the event is that if people want to tackle climate change and other environmental problems, the economy needs to change.
“We’ve created an economy that’s pretty good at making stuff, but has all kinds of side effects,” Flaccavento told the East Tennessean. “And until we change the fundamentals of how we think about and how we build the economy, those environmental problems are never going to go away.”
The Center for Teaching Excellence sponsors workshops and events every semester. Participants who complete the Blue Ridge Project workshop series will be eligible for a research grant and receive a CTE workshop certificate.
To learn more about the Center for Teaching Excellence and upcoming workshops and events, visit https://www.etsu.edu/teaching/default.php.
