Brooklyn Food Conference: Local Action for Global Change

Brooklyn Food Conference: Local Action for Global Change

A grassroots event for a just, sustainable, healthy and delicious food system


~ Saturday, May 2, 2009 ~ 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. ~

Free and Open to the Public

~ PS 321 & John Jay High School, 7th Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn, N.Y. ~



BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – Rising grocery bills, food riots, and childhood obesity - Food hits home. Food activists, local farmers, health advocates, academics, union leaders 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 to improve our diet, health and environment.

The Brooklyn Food Conference will have more than 50 partners participating, including Just Food, Slow Food NYC, and The Children’s Aid Society. 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.

Children and teenagers are invited to participate in educational activities such as cooking classes, and arts activities. A New Orleans-style parade with massive puppets will kick off the day.

The conference will expand community awareness on the policies and issues impacting the way our food is grown, distributed and eaten. Topics will explore the politics behind farming and the food supply, as well as the effect of corporate and government policies on labor, nutrition, production, and programs such as school lunches.

It also seeks to increase individual and family participation in our communities by proposing strategies and tactics for a local response to the important issues surrounding the food we eat. A Legislative Food Agenda will be proposed to help position Brooklyn as a stage for change in the global food movement and to advocate for food democracy.

The conference will be free to all participants. Donations from individuals and funding from foundations and food companies are welcome.

About the organizers:

Founded in 1973, the Park Slope Food Coop is the country’s largest member-owned and operated grocery store in the country with over 15,000 members. http://www.foodcoop.com/

World Hunger Year is a leading advocate for innovative, community-based solutions to hunger and poverty. WHY challenges society to confront these problems by advancing models that create self-reliance, economic justice, and equal access to nutritious and affordable food. http://www.yhunger.org/

The Caribbean Women’s Health Association was founded in 1982, and provides access to health related services for low income and indigent populations, and assists immigrants in adjusting to their new host environment. http://www.cwha.org/

Brooklyn Rescue Mission Inc. is a community-based organization in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn that develops creative solutions to food justice, community health and the economic challenges our community endures on a daily basis. http://brooklynrescuemission.org


Brooklyn’s Bounty is a coalition of farmers markets in Brooklyn, mostly in communities of color. Its mission is to provide healthy food to Brooklynites and increase awareness of health, environmental and justice issues in the food system in our Borough. http://www.brooklynsbounty.org/