brooklyn food conference
i really wish i were here this weekend so i could go to the brooklyn food conference.
somebody please go and tell me all about it.
Saturday, May 2nd Conference Workshop Sessions with Room Numbers
Food issues hit home for all of Brooklyn–from school lunches, the rise in diabetes, and escalating food costs to immigration, farmers markets and local food challenges and delights, food touches us all. Come join us for a day of workshops, food demos, and a kids’ food fair. Lunch and dinner will be available for purchase. Dance following dinner. The conference will be FREE to all participants.
- See a roundtable of NYC chefs, moderated by WNYC’s Leonard Lopate, with Dan Barber, Peter Hoffman, Bill Telepan, and Brooklyn’s own David Shea of Applewood and John Tucker of Rosewater.
- Hear LaDonna Redmond on what people in Chicago have done to change their food system, learn about worldwide food rebellions from author Raj Patel, and find out how climate change can affect the world’s food supply from activist Anna Lappé, and discuss milk health risks and benefits with author Nina Planck–plus workshops with many other dedicated activists and professionals.
- Screen films about food issues, including Fresh, Life and Debt, Unnatural Selection, and Flow.
- Meet your local farmers!
- Learn how to start your own victory garden in Brooklyn, compost, and start a food coop.
- Join your children at a kids’ food fair with cooking demonstrations and other fun activities.
- Workshops by and for teens plus Teen Iron Chef!
- Enjoy lunch and dinner created by Brooklyn chefs using sustainable foods. (See menus here!)
The BFC is waste free! To help lessen the BFC’s impact on the environment, don’t forget to bring a reusable water bottle and cloth bag to the event. We will also be composting kitchen scraps. Click here to learn more about the BFC’s Zero Waste Challenge.
Workshop 1 • 11:30am–1:15pm
Why co-ops matter 249
Eating for a healthy pregnancy 230
Eating locally: Community supported agriculture (CSAs) & farmers’ markets 241
Climate change and the world’s food supply G38
Hunger in new york City: What’s being done & how to change it 251
Meet our local farmers 254
Organizing in the obama era: digital activism 258
Obesity, diabetes and the food crisis for adults 200
Permaculture 336
A modern victory garden: Making and growing food in your backyard 304
Meet our congressional reps: ask your questions on federal food policy aud
Challenging big food: How food transnationals harm our health and environment and how to fight back 322
Immigrant communities responses to the food crisis 418
Food workers closer to home 400
Food and the elderly: Food insecurity as a way of life 462
Food sovereignty north and South: People’s control over their own food 463
Health food stores in underserved communities: From first aid to economic development 116
Transforming the faith-based health fair: Toward a new wellness paradigm 440
Small businesses and the stimulus package 300
Defending against genetically engineered food: Saving seeds Old Stone House
Film screening and discussion: Life & Debt by Stephanie Black 238
Film screening and discussion: Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock 216
Workshop 2 • 1:30–3pm
Strategies challenging the food systems: learning from other communities 300
Food as a treatment and life-enhancing approach for at-risk populations 116
Green economic development strategies: What needs to happen to make that a reality 243
Fighting hunger through advocacy & public policy 336
How to start a food co-op: Nuts and bolts 418
Water and food: Connected crises G38
Community gardens 304
Our industrial meat complex: Hazardous to our health and our habitat 465
School food activism: Making it better 322
Food rebellions 251
Prenatal nutrition in immigrant communities 209
Our sustainable restaurants: a roundtable of NYC chefs aud
Milk: Good, bad, organic, conventional? 200
Changing the us farm bill: Challenging agribusiness 254
How to hold a sustainable event: decreasing our carbon footprint while organizing 400
Food as culture 208
Urban agriculture: Farms in Brooklyn 440
Future of New York City food policy 245
Union organizing: local, national and global strategies for transforming the food system 241
The perils of a globalized food supply: Trade policy and how to change it 258
Film screening and discussion: Life Running Out of Control by Jeff Smith and Bertram Verhaag 238
Workshop 3 • 3:15–4:45pm
The political economy of food: Why are we all eating Big Macs? 336
Good food now: Getting healthy food into underserved communities 230
Feeding the hungry in our communities 254
Fair trade and food justice 251
Labor rights for workers in the food chain 209
Passing the hoe: our new farmers share stories and experiences 249
Fuel vs. Food: are biofuels and agrofuels the answer? G38
US farmer visits Cuba: alternative agricultural structures 258
Obesity and youth 200
Gastropolis: Food and New York City 418
Chickens in the city 462
Race and the food system 400
College students’ response to the food and health crises 463
“Food Summer” enrolling for Food Stamps, WIC and Healthy Choices 440
Public hearing on food policy & implementation with state and city elected officials aud
Breastfeeding: The safest and healthiest way to feed your infant 241
Green roofs: Integrated agricultural systems 208
You are what you eat: Health, beauty, intelligence 322
Fish: Urban aquaculture, fresh water and sea fishing 116
Film screening and discussion: Flow by Irena Salina 238
Off-site Guided tours
11:45a.m.–3p.m.
Compost tours and field trip to Garden of Union
Union St. btwn 4th & 5th Aves.
11:45a.m.–1:15p.m.
Old Stone House demonstrations
3rd St. & 5th Ave.
5:00 Closing plenary speaker: Anna Lappé
