Committee Meetings & Structured Networking

Sunday, October 10, 2:30 – 3:45pm | Monday, October 11, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Sunday, October 10, 2:30 – 3:45 pm

Networking Session for CHC Hunger Fellows and Alumnus

Room 136

The fellows networking event will be an opportunity for past and present Bill Emerson or Mickey Leland fellows of the Congressional Hunger Center and staff to meet up to discuss their work and experiences both during and after the fellowship. A great opportunity to meet fellows from other classes and to get to know other members of the Congressional Hunger Center community.

ORIENTATION SESSION for proposed CFSC Community Economic Development (CED) Committee

Room 140

Contact: Ken Meter

All are welcome to this introductory meeting. Creating local food systems is an effective Community Economic Development strategy, but many local officials are just beginning to understand this potential. Come to learn how you can engage local officials in local food planning, and leverage local investment. Meet others around the US who are having success with this strategy.

Healthy Corner Stores Network Meeting

Room 144

Contact: Kai Siedenburg

Are you working to bring fresh produce or other healthy foods into small-scale stores in your community, or interested in doing this type of work? Come meet with members of the Healthy Corner Stores Network (HCSN) and learn about corner store initiatives around the country and what’s working on the ground. You can also learn more by attending the workshop on working with small-scale stores right after this meeting, or by visiting the Healthy Corner Stores Network website: http://www.healthycornerstores.org.

National Farm To School Network Meeting

Room 146

Contact: Anupama Joshi

Join Farm to School on a dialogue on successful examples of bringing together farmers, school food service directors, parents, and community organizers to address the barriers and opportunities involved in creating a Farm to School project.

Urban Agriculture Committee Meeting

Room 138

Contact: Betsy Johnson and Cynthia Price, Urban Agriculture Committee Co-Chairs

The Urban Agriculture Committee works on policy and communications, and meets monthly for business and informational conference calls. The Committee agenda for 2010 includes:
a) Poultry and livestock in cities project;
b) federal urban agriculture initiatives;
c) MetroAg Alliance clearinghouse.

International Links Committee Meeting

Room 148

Contact: Christina Schiavoni, International Links Committee Chair

The International Links Committee works to connect the Coalition to its food security partners around the world through initiatives for food sovereignty, fair trade, and sustainable agriculture. Our goals are to strengthen CFSC’s involvement in broader global movements and to serve as a springboard for collaboration among CFSC members on international issues. Anyone interested in the intersections of domestic and international issues is encouraged to attend this session. We will be joined by a number of special international guests.

Interested in Developing a Local Food System In Your Hometown?

Room 141

Facilitator: Penny Brown Huber, Grow Your Small Market Farm – Business Solutions

This session will provide you with shared successful models on how to create a community process for developing a local food system plan; outline a way to engage a broad section of community members to lay out a local food system plan within three planning meetings; and provide a place to share your communities experiences and ideas for engaging local food system planning in your region.

Street Markets

Room 142

Facilitator: Alfonso Morales, University of Wisconsin Urban and Regional Planning

Street markets and street merchants are a signiﬁcant economic activity. They create a sense of place and serve agendas beyond ﬁnancial transactions. Learn how markets and merchants help create public space, reconstruct food systems, supplement, and even replace big box retail, as well as the monetary and nonmonetary beneﬁts of public markets to local economies and local households. Learn about variation in market regulation. Discover how design, infrastructure, security, and transportation inﬂuence market success.

Sharing Best Practices on How to Engage Youth

Room 135

How do young people relate to the food system, and how are some of them working to change it? What are some best practices and examples that work in your communities?

Facilitator: Blake Santifer Robbins, Portland State University

Monday, October 11, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Networking Session on the Food Crisis and Food Rebellions Book Launch Celebration

Room 134

Featuring: Food Rebellions co-author Eric Holt Giménez

Join us for a networking session to celebrate the launch of the new book, Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice, hear updates from the US Working Group on the Food Crisis, and learn how you can get involved. The session will feature Food Rebellions co-author Eric Holt-Giménez, as well as the 2009 Food Sovereignty Prize recipient and other international guests. Come bring your own stories and experiences of the food system in crisis.

WORKING MEETING for proposed CFSC Community Economic Development (CED) Committee

Room 146

Contact: Ken Meter

This meeting will be a chance for CED committee members to plan the 2010 strategy for the Community Economic Development effort within CFSC. All are welcome, but the focus will be on making strategic plans. If you are looking for an introduction to the topic, you may prefer Sunday’s meeting.

Food and Faith Committee Meeting

Room 140

Facilitators: Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, United Methodist Ministries, and Sharon Thornberry, Oregon Food Bank

The Food & Faith Committee (formerly Faith-Based Committee) exists to provide all people of faith with a special forum to discuss community
food security issues and to contribute to CFSC, which can be a powerful vehicle for addressing local and world hunger at its foundation, by increasing secular groups’ understanding of how to work with faith communities, and broaden the perspectives & vision of the movement.

Increasing the Use of EBT, Farmers Market Coupons & Other Federal & State Beneﬁts to Expand Accessibility of Local, Fresh Food Programs Including CSA’s & Farmers Market

Room 143

Facilitator: Heather McMann, Acting Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence, and Candidate for the MBA in Non-Proﬁt Management, Heller School, Brandeis University

Are you working to bring fresh, healthy foods into low-income areas where food dollar decisions are based on limited budgets and spent in corner stores or low-quality grocery stores? Groundwork Lawrence currently manages a Community Food Program that includes the Lawrence Farmers Market, CSA, CSA Share-a-Share Program and community gardens but we are still struggling to capture the Farmers Market and SNAP beneﬁts available to low-income residents. Many of us are experiencing different levels of success in supporting the utilizing of these beneﬁts. Come share your successes and struggles in helping communities utilize beneﬁts to access fresh, local food so that we may all learn and improve from our experiences.

Networking Session on Food & Culture in Iowa

Room 136

Facilitator: Riki Saltzman, Iowa Arts Council

Interested in Iowa’s diverse populations, their culture, arts, and foodways? Chat with the Iowa Arts Council’s Riki Saltzman, state folklorist, about the range of folk and traditional arts in our state. Food and culture are inextricably intertwined throughout the world, and Iowa is no exception. The flavors of our state derive from a variety of regional and ethnic traditions. There are fish and shellfish supplied by the state’s rivers and lakes, the fruits, vegetables, and meats supplied by our farms, and game from the flyways and woods.

Plugging into the Global Grassroots

Room 142

Facilitator: Mr. Stephen Lauer, Iowans For Oxfam

In the US and abroad, many of us rely on family farms for the food we eat, the fibers we wear, and the income that keeps us going. But small-scale farming is difficult work. And with decades of inattention, unfair policies, and climate change, the same occupation that sustains the majority of people in developing countries has become more difficult than ever. How can ordinary people in the United States support small farmers’ efforts to escape from poverty? What forms of organization and collaboration will be needed? Can alliances endure between diverse groups around the United States? Around the world?

Taking the Initiative on Eliminating GMOs

Room 148

Facilitator: Jeffrey M. Smith, Author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette; Director of Your Milk on Drugs—Just Say No! and Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals; Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America

A US medical organization urges doctors to prescribe diets free from genetically modified (GM) foods. They cite animal studies showing immune system dysfunction, reproductive problems, allergies, organ damage, gastrointestinal distress, faulty insulin regulation, etc. Nearly everyone wants GM foods labeled and most would avoid them if they were. With the government abdicating its role, I propose that NGOs, food providers, health care professionals, schools, media, and green organizations educate consumers about GMO health dangers. As happened in Europe (and is happening with GM bovine growth hormone here), this will create a tipping point and drive GMOs from the market.

Youth Engagement

Room 138

Facilitator: Blake Santifer Robbins, Portland State University

How do we engage young people are not involved in the food movement? How do we build conversations and create action to change the “food reality” for young people?