The Midwest's Premier Good Food Event

Teaching and Eating in the Garden:  Enabling educators to utilize the school garden in their curriculum and find new models for nutrition education  -  11:30-1:00

Establishing and incorporating gardens into schools' curriculum is a priority. Nutrition education must embrace a broader understanding of the ecological, personal and social impact of the foods we eat.  School gardens provide an unparalleled opportunity for engaging in the food system and illustrating it's complexity.  Educators must be provided tools with which to fully utilize these gardens.

Participants will walk away with the motivation and inspiration to begin growing edible plants as educational tools in a way that can scale to their needs, be that small herb plants in the classroom or a larger in situ garden.  Recognition of the school garden as an opportunity to teach a wide variety of subjects and skills including: biology, history, team work, math, writing, etc. Strategies to encourage student, parent, community and teacher involvement in the school garden.  Ability to instruct students in Taste Education.

(Facilitator: SlowFood - Megan Larmer, Chicago Rarities Orchard Project; Lynn Hyndmann, Dawes Elementary School; Jason Greenberg, Chicago Waldorf School; Jennifer Sandy, PreSERVE Community Garden)

www.slowfoodchicago.org  •  www.dawesschoolgarden.net  •  www.chicagowaldorf.org  •  www.edibleschoolyard.org

SNAPshots:  A Visual Conversation about Hunger and SNAP Benefits on the Northside of Chicago  -  11:30-1:00

SNAPshots is an interactive photography exhibit that explores the realities of hunger and SNAP benefits on the Northside of Chicago.  This workshop challenges stereotypes of poverty, food aid, policy-making, and Chicago’s North and Southside divide by asking what is “within reach” when people have access to SNAP benefits.

As a result of this session, summit attendees will be more aware of the landscape of the 2012 Farm Bill, specifically the role the farm bill plays in the SNAP program.  Because of this, Chicago organizations will be better equipped to decipher policy recommendations within this bill and to speak to the need that unites all areas of the city.

(Facilitators: Erin Edwards, Northside Anti-Hunger Network; Kelly Viselmand and Anita Denes, EZRA; Lara Ignoffo, Deborah's Place)

www.northsideantihunger.org

SNAP/EBT Support at Farmers Market  -   11:30-1:00

This session will target the following policy recommendations:

Participants to come away with:

• Local and national policy updates
• EBT/SNAP/WIC how-to’s for farmers markets and other local fresh-food venues
• Overview of the growth of SNAP redemption at farmers markets in, Chicago, Illinois and around the country
• Understanding of what makes a farmers market SNAP program a success, as well as the challenges
• Understanding of food deserts and food access issues for low-income communities
• Understanding that the process of getting authorization for FNS/USDA is now easier than ever

 (Facilitators: Dennis Ryan, Experimental Station; Corey Chatman, Experimental Station; Pat Stieren, IL Farmers Market Network)

Urban Agriculture Zoning and Policy 101  -  2:30-3:50

This session will explore the Urban Agriculture Zoning Ordinance for the City of Chicago.   We will focus on the following issues:

• The basics of zoning as a guide to city land use and other decisions
• Information on Chicago’s current and proposed policies
• Examples of progressive zoning policies in other cities

Join us to learn more, contribute to supportive urban agriculture zoning policy recommendations!

(Facilitators: CFPAC & AUA - Kevin Pierce, Resource Center/City Farm; Patsy Benveniste, Chicago Botanic Garden, Amy Beltemacchi, Root-Riot Harambee Garden; Paul Hardej, City Micro Farms, LLC)

Illinois Stewardship Alliance's Grassroots Policy Committee: Advocating for Your, From Farm to Fork  -  2:30-3:50

In order to increase communication and coordination about policy issues amongst Illinois local food and farm stakeholders, ISA has organized several regional grassroots policy meetings during the month of March. This breakout session will serve as ISA's Chicago regional policy meeting.  The goals of this regional meeting are to:

1.    Introduce Chicago area stakeholders to ISA’s grassroots policy efforts.

2.    Garner input on the critical policy issues facing stakeholders in the Chicago area that are building local food systems.

3.    Educate attendees about ways they can get involved with the policy making process in Illinois.

4.    Educate attendees about relevant local food related policy initiatives and legislation on the state level in Illinois.

(Facilitators: Wes King, ISA; Lindsay Record, ISA)

www.ilstewards.org  •  www.facebook.com/ilstewards

Next Level of Food Safety: Procurement of School Food Supply Purchases  -  2:30-3:50

The focus of this session will be on the procurement of school food produced by corporations, farms and diaries that operate under just and ethical principles and recognize that safe food comes from workers in safe working conditions.

Participants will leave the session with a broad-based understanding of the obligation of policy makers to our children that ensures a school food supply procurement process that employs ethical principles for both health, good and safe food in conjunction with safe and just working conditions for food industry workers.

www.newcomm.org

Innovation or Infractions?  Making the Urban Agriculture We Want  -  4:00-5:20

Rules and policies inherently lag behind new practices, methods, and/or change that occurs by necessity. Infractions to existing policy may also be necessary and useful innovations that can grow more food, recycle nutrients, and transform vacant land and buildings in Chicago.

How can we, as growers in Chicago, try out innovations, learn from each other, practice better methods, support each other's projects, and work with the City to adapt and adopt new ways and policies into the future?

We’ll ask:

a) How visionary, adaptive, flexible, and explicit do we need UA policy to be, and how do we preserve the option to change it? 

b) How can we build strategic coalitions and nurturing, supportive contextoptions and advancing edges -- protecting innovators and pilot projects? 

(Facilitators: AUA - Martha Boyd, Angelic Organics Learning Center, Ryan Anderson, Delta Institute; Lyndon Valcenti, Chicago Department of Environment)

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT:  FOOD ACCESS AND ITS IMPACT ON COMMUNITY HEALTH  -  4:00-5:20

Food access is directly related to a community’s food environment; whether or not people have easy access to a variety of healthy, affordable and fresh foods.  A poor and inadequate food environment not only has a negative impact on the health of the community at large but also on the health of the individuals in that community. 

Participants will come away with an understanding of (a) how a communities food environment affects community and individual health outcomes, (b) how food access relates to community power, (c) ways in which communities and individuals can be better empowered to participate in health decision making and (d) the specifics of the Illinois Fresh Food Fund and concrete ways that people can influence policy development and implementation. 

(Facilitators: Danny Block, Chicago State University;  James Bloyd, Cook County Department of Public Health, Terri Johnson, Jane Addams Hull House)

Innovative Local Policies that Challenge the Fast Food Industry and

Protect Children’s Health  -  4:00-5:20

This session will explore Local Policies challenging fast food industry practices, such as marketing, that endanger children’s health and create unhealthy food environments.

Participants will come away with: An understanding of how the fast food industry impacts children’s health through marketing;  A menu of local policy options that challenge the fast food industry and protect children’s health;  Case Studies and lessons learned on corporate interference in local policy;  An understanding of how to integrate legislative elements into a corporate campaign.

(Juliana Shulman, Corporate Accountability International, Alfred David Klinger, retired physician)

www.stopcorporateabuse.org