Save the Date for our conference in 2010
Our 5th Farm to Cafeteria conference will be held May 17-19, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. More info will be posted to this site when available. Stay up to date on this conference and future conferences via Twitter, Facebook, or our conference email list.
Sponsors: USDA Risk Management Agency Community Outreach, Kaiser Permanente, Farm Aid, Action for Healthy Kids, Doubletree Hotel, The Food Alliance, Oregon State University Extension Service
Funders: Compton Foundation, UPS Foundation, USDA Risk Management Agency Community Outreach, WK Kellogg Foundation
Post-Conference Info
Many thanks to everyone who participated to make it the outstanding event that it was!
Download the conference program [PDF-3.8M]
View workshop presentation materials on Slideshare.net. Presenters: please upload your presentations.
About the Conference
Farm to Cafeteria has gone the distance in the last decade, with the number of farm to school programs exploding – from a handful of programs in the late 1990’s to over 2,000 today. Local purchasing efforts in colleges, hospitals, and senior and daycare centers are also growing rapidly.
During this year’s conference, “Going the Distance and Shortening it, From Farm to Cafeteria,” you’ll have the opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities that come with the success of the movement. During the opening plenary, attendees will hear from youth about their actions to improve school meals. Another plenary will explore growers’ efforts to increase the supply of farm products to meet increasing demand. On Saturday evening we’ll open up to the public for a reception dinner with keynote speaker, Joan Dye Gussow, who will share her perspectives on sustainable agriculture through a nutrition lens.
Join us for field trips to local farms, school lunchrooms and processing facilities; short courses covering topics such as grant writing and research and evaluation; an open space session; 32 workshops on issues such as federal and state policy, experiential education, sustainability and economic development and sessions geared towards youth, producers, and food service providers. All food will be organic or sustainably produced and locally sourced whenever possible.
The conference has been developed in collaboration with School Food FOCUS and the Real Food Challenge. Our hope in doing so is to produce a positive synergy, as we discover ways to combine our efforts to build a movement that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Why Portland?
The City of Portland prides itself on bike friendly streets, a strong culture of sustainability, a love of food, and a 30-year policy protecting local farmland outside the urban growth boundary. Walk into almost any corner café and you can expect to see free range, hormone-free meats, local produce and seasonal menus as the norm.
Visit the city and see how we are turning Portland’s food culture into a movement – for us “Going the Distance and Shortening It” is about taking what has become commonplace for some – eating seasonally, cooking from scratch, celebrating local farmers – and making it available to all families regardless of education or socio-economic status. From low-income farmers markets to urban food planning to classes about cooking healthfully on a budget, Portland is looking to make farm fresh foods a reality for all its residents.
Nowhere is this more true than its Farm to Cafeteria efforts. Join us for a community discussion of what it takes to make healthy, nutritious food available for all.
