If you're in NYC, or anywhere close, this will be an amazing day.  There are dozens of workshops planned, including "Passing the hoe: our new farmers share stories and experiences".  See you there...

Brooklyn Food Conference

A grassroots event for a just, secure, sustainable, healthy and delicious food system.
A project of the Brooklyn Food Coalition.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
P.S. 321 and at John Jay High School, 7th Avenue in Park Slope
Conference is FREE and open to allFood activists, local farmers, health advocates, academics, union leaders, elected officials and restaurateurs will gather this day with concerned citizens to discuss the changes and challenges in our
global food economy and how it impacts our communities. Workshops and speeches will provide education and networking opportunities for individuals to get involved for improving our diet, health and environment.
The Brooklyn Food Conference will have dozens of community groups and hundred of volunteers participating. Key-note speakers include well-known activists Dan Barber, executive chef and owner of Blue Hill Restaurant, and a leader of fair trade development and healthy food; Anna Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and the author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen; Raj Patel of the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System; as well as LaDonna Redmond, head of the Institute of Community Resource Development in Chicago. "Never before have there been such compelling reasons to rethink our energy policy, our environmental
policy, and our health care system - and we cannot make headway on any of these without addressing food,"
said Dan Barber, who will speak at the opening plenary session.
The Brooklyn Food Conference aims to increase awareness and education around food issues and establish a
Brooklyn Food Coalition that will develop a Legislative Food Agenda. A town hall event will give participants
the opportunity to testify in front of the elected officials expected to attend.
The conference is entirely volunteer driven - from event planning to fund raising and community outreach. A
team of over 300 volunteers has been planning the conference for 7 months, and 2,000 participants are
expected to attend. More than 75 organizations, including non-profit and community organizations, schools, elected officials and local businesses are partners in this effort. There will be a full program of workshops and activities for children.
"We hope to change our food system on local, state and federal levels so that all people have access to healthy
food, and to ensure consumers and workers are treated with fairness and justice," said Nancy Romer, the
conference's General Coordinator. "This conference is the official beginning of our collective efforts."
For a full list of workshops check out www.brooklynfoodconference.org