Regional & National Events

Black farmers have a rich history and promising future in the United States, even though the Black history of agriculture is often reduced to slavery and cotton plantations. In Farming While Black (2018), Leah Penniman argues that justice for Black people, farmers and otherwise, requires learning about Black histories of agriculture, creating new experiences in the natural world, and getting in touch with our food systems. With a panel of Black scholars, farmers, and activists, in this webinar we explore what justice for Black farmers is today, what it has been in the past, and what it can be in the future.

Esteemed Panelists:
Maya Allen, PhD Candidate in Botany | The University of New Mexico
Teona Williams, PhD Candidate in History | Yale University
Ashley Gripper, PhD Candidate in Environmental Epidemiology | Harvard University
Laquanda Dobson, Chef and Farming Activist
Jayson Porter, PhD candidate in History | Northwestern University & Social Justice Intern | The Organic Center (Discussion Leader)

This webinar is open to all and will be recorded and made available on demand

Recounting stories from the early twentieth century and across generations to the present, the recent book In the Struggle: Scholars and the Fight Against Industrial Agribusiness in California (2021, NYU Press) by Daniel O’Connell and Scott Peters brings together the experiences of eight politically engaged scholars, documenting their opposition to industrial-scale agribusiness in California. As the narrative unfolds, these eight scholars’ previously censored and suppressed research, together with personal accounts of intimidation and subterfuge, is introduced into the public arena for the first time. This event, a part of the Fall 2021 “Food and the Public” series, will begin with these narratives as grounding for a discussion and public discourse on timely agricultural justice and policy issues in New York City and State

Come join us as we explore the last 100 years of school food, and discuss how the history of school lunch can provide context for bringing Farm to School to life in your cafeterias. We will review current policies in place to support Farm to School work and hear from Guy Koppe, a local food service director who has navigated the school food terrain and gained valuable experience using the different resources available to build robust farm to school programs. Not a food service director? This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about school food and how to become an advocate for farm to school in their community.

Resources, tips, financial and legal considerations and more! 
Feel like your family needs to start talking about the future of the farm, but you don't know where to start? Have questions about passing on the farm?

Attend this FREE webinar series for transitioning farmers and junior generation farmers to learn the basics of farm succession planning, how to get started, where to find advisors and additional resources, ask questions of succession planning experts, and get support on this challenging process. All generations, including family and non-family members, who may play a role in the farm’s future are encouraged to attend.

Local food procurement is not just about reducing food miles and greenhouse gas emissions but also includes sourcing food that is fair, just, and supports workers' dignity. Today’s labor crisis is stark evidence of the need to listen and respond to the needs of workers in the food system. Join FINE and our speakers from Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Network and Migrant Justice to learn more about their worker-driven model, how the model was started, and the organizations that have implemented it. We will discuss what farm to institution stakeholders can learn from this model and how institutions can support worker-driven solutions to long-lasting worker abuses. We’ll also take a closer look at the dairy industry in New England as an example of worker-driven efforts and leadership. Learn more about how farmworkers and allies are making Vermont dairy sustainable, unique, and a source of dignified work for this state.

Join the USDA National Agricultural Library for an event featuring talks by Laurie Beyranevand of Vermont Law School's Center for Agriculture and Food Systems and Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III of the Black Church Food Security Network.

Food systems management takes place in diverse sectors and at different scales. This can include: kitchen management by culinary professionals and chefs; management of food businesses, cooperatives, and organizations; farm management; and labor management – whether worker-led or proprietor-driven. Meanwhile, food justice – as a movement, concept, and field of academic scholarship – insists that inequities in the food system are grounded in social structures such as structural racism, gender-based disparities, and intergenerational wealth and economic inequalities. There are many ways in which a food justice approach is important to supporting socially just and sustainable food systems management, touching upon diverse, but interconnected issues including wage disparity, uneven enforcement of regulations, and inequitable access to start-up capital for sustainable food businesses.

This panel discussion explores these themes from the perspectives of food entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders in non-profit, government, and business sectors. Panelist comments will be followed by audience questions and participatory discussion.

What if we owned it? In this Remaking the Economy webinar, leaders in the movement for Black food sovereignty will discuss how that movement is being built, rooted in the gifts and talents from within the Black community, and anchored in a community vision. Our panelists are:

Darnell Adams is a worker-owner of the Boston-based Firebrand Consulting Cooperative, which provides consulting support to nonprofit, for-profit, and cooperative business—and a member of the Food Co-op Initiative board.
Dr. Jasmine Ratliff, based in New Orleans, is co-executive director of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, a coalition of Black-led groups that builds Black leadership and institutions for food sovereignty and liberation.
Malik Yakini is cofounder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), which manages a 7-acre D-Town Farm, and is a board member of the Detroit People’s Food Co-op.

What is “network” for social change? Why do we at Beatufiul Ventures identify as a “Network”? In the 21st century, organizations are reaching their limits of effectiveness. The challenges we face as Black people can no longer be solved by larger and more sophisticated organizations. Networks, webs of connected individuals and organizations, are perfectly suited to address the sticky, complex problems and meet the opportunities of our times. As a collective of Black creatives and change makers, we will explore the concepts and practices of thinking and moving like a network from a Black liberation perspective.

Dr. Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate at Tufts University, is one of the leading thinkers in environmental justice and food justice. In this talk, Julian will outline the concept of just sustainabilities as a response to the ‘equity deficit’ of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design, the ‘Minneapolis Paradox’ and food justice.

This keynote presentation and Q&A will be moderated by Dr. Kristin Reynolds, Chair of Food Studies in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students within the Schools of Public Engagement.
Presented by the the Food Studies in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students, the Environmental Studies and Urban Studies programs in the Global-Urban-Environmental Studies Program (GLUE) within the Schools of Public Engagement, and the university-wide Tishman Environment and Design Center.

The 2022 Local Food Trade Show of New England is a dynamic virtual space for local food producers and buyers from across our region to connect. Through sales meetings, networking events, and technical support, this event provides food entrepreneurs with opportunities to expand their enterprise, while giving buyers access to the most promising new products. Register today!

In "Everybody Eats: Communication and the Paths to Food Justice" Marianne LeGreco and Niesha Douglas tell the story of food justice in Greensboro, NC beginning when the city reached the top of the Food Research and Action Center's list of major cities experiencing food hardship.

Greensboro's local food communities chose to act by engaging neighborhood voices, mobilizing creative resources, and sustaining conversations across the local food system. Within three years, Greensboro saw an 8% drop in its food hardship rate and moved from first to fourteenth in FRAC's list.

Music can be used to understand and communicate about food justice and environmental justice. Communicating through music can strengthen and uplift food and environmental justice practice that is diverse in terms of epistemology, representation, and mode. Music can offer references that may speak to specific and diverse audiences, and opens the door for deeper understandings of inequity and justice in ways that step away from Eurocentric insistence on linear and written communication to teach, exchange knowledge, or debate. This multimedia event brings together four leading and inspiring thinkers, activists, and artists who connect food or environmental justice with music through their work in a panel discussion accompanied by musical samples and audience questions.  

LEARN & SHARE on Tuesday, April 18 & Wednesday, April 19, 2023 during two days of educational virtual content highlighting inspiring regional projects and partnerships.

CONNECT & CELEBRATE in person on Thursday, April 27, 2023 through facilitated field trips and discussions, followed by an evening networking reception.

COORDINATE & STRATEGIZE in person on Friday, April 28, 2023 in networking and action-oriented strategy sessions designed to integrate and align our (net)work.

We hope you will join us for all or part of this exciting hybrid event, and help spread the word!

Want to contribute to this year's theme? Add a word or sentence or image that captures your view of the moment we are in, or an aspiration for our regional food system work.

LEARN & SHARE on Tuesday, April 18 & Wednesday, April 19, 2023 during two days of educational virtual content highlighting inspiring regional projects and partnerships.

CONNECT & CELEBRATE in person on Thursday, April 27, 2023 through facilitated field trips and discussions, followed by an evening networking reception.

COORDINATE & STRATEGIZE in person on Friday, April 28, 2023 in networking and action-oriented strategy sessions designed to integrate and align our (net)work.

We hope you will join us for all or part of this exciting hybrid event, and help spread the word!

Want to contribute to this year's theme? Add a word or sentence or image that captures your view of the moment we are in, or an aspiration for our regional food system work.