Austin J. Shelton, who leads the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant was one of the speakers at the first-ever Obama Foundation Democracy Forum held Nov. 17 in New York City.
The event was held at the Javits Center in Manhattan, in partnership with Columbia University and the University of Chicago.
“After thousands of years of thriving on her own, our sustainable existence was interrupted,” Shelton told the forum audience. “When we lost ourselves, … we became dependent on outside resources. We stopped caring for our land in traditional ways and today we are now dependent on importing over 90% of all of the food and goods we consume. However, our people are hopeful that this is just an interruption in our sustainable…