2021 Yale Food Systems Symposium

Panel 5: Community-Based Initiatives for a Resilient Food System in New Haven

This panel features organizations and individuals working to create a more equitable and resilient food system in New Haven, with a particular emphasis on community-led and community-informed initiatives. It will explore what resilience means for New Haven, how different players at varying scales are collaborating to get there, and the role of community members in effecting change.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Networking / Panel Debrief

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Art as Activism

Jen Bloomer is an artist, facilitator and the founder of Radici Studios in San Francisco. For the past two decades, she has painted and taught art in Guatemala, India, Italy, Colorado, Eritrea, Thailand, Kenya and California. Jen has a BA in Latin American Studies, a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Painting, and a Masters Degree in Expressive Arts Therapy. She has created art with people aged 1 to 81 giving space for them to find their unique creative voice in the world through the arts. Jen's own activist art can be seen in local murals, at marches for social justice across the country, and across social media. Her work has been shown internationally by Amplifier Art, and is included in the Library of Congress archive. Jen is a white woman married to an Eritrean/Italian man with whom she is raising mixed race children. She believes that the intersection of creativity, connection and community holds the answer to our personal and collective healing.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

2021 YFSS Symposium Digestion Session B: Climate and Community Resilience

Join these small group conversations to talk about what you've learned this week and what you plan to take with you from the conference. "Digestion sessions" are organized by topic, and we invite you to bring observations and learnings from conference events, as well as reflections from your own experiences. Feel free to bring a beverage or snack to nibble on as you chat!

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Panel 3: Growing Resilience Along the Coast

From seaweed farming to oyster cultivation, the coasts are among the world's most dynamic and vital regions of food production. Yet, coastlines today face unprecedented challenges from rising sea levels, increasing population pressures, and global climate change. During the panel, we'll hear from growers, scientists, activists, and business leaders on the frontlines of ocean food production to explore how these innovators are growing resilience along the coast.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Networking / Panel Debrief

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Panel 4: Land Access, Land Justice: Stories from Connecticut and Beyond

Finding secure access to farmland is the number one barrier facing the next generation of farmers and ranchers. High land prices and histories of land dispossession and theft have resulted in inequities in land ownership, and significant barriers to establishing new farms. At the same time, the average age of farmers is increasing, and farmland is transitioning to new owners. In this panel, learn from policy advocates and land access technical assistance providers about federal- and Connecticut-level actions to connect farmers with land with a particular eye towards equity and justice. Speakers will discuss policies that affect farmland access and conservation, new ways of thinking about land ownership and care, and farmer Susan Mitchell's story about using creative financing (and persistence!) to access farmland.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Networking / Panel Debrief

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Building resilient meat supply chains: wellbeing for workers, rural economies, animals, and the environment.

Deregulation, consolidation, and climate change threaten American animal agriculture. Meat production in the United States has consolidated rapidly — a few large companies control massive feedlots and meatpacking plants. As these companies compete with emerging economies like China and Brazil for profits, producers, workers, and the environment are paying the price. Deregulation of worker safety standards have contributed to massive COVID-19-outbreaks among meatpacking workers. The industry has become increasingly deregulated as plant inspections are privatized, increasing food safety concerns. Ranchlands are at risk of being converted to row crops or housing developments, and ranchers are losing their farms because market forces and climate change are making bad years more frequent. Our panelists will consider what American agriculture can do to re-imagine an industry that is good for the worker, rural economies, animals, and the planet.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Networking / Panel Debrief

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

This panel will feature farmers and those who work closely beside them. It will consider how the adoption of innovative on-farm practices has increased the resilience of their operations along several dimensions: ecological, financial, social, and cultural. Farmers, scholars, and industry experts will discuss the range of factors that influence on-farm decision-making around conservation, as well as the barriers farmers face to adopting practices that support long-term resilience.

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Networking / Panel Debrief

Registration and full symposium information at
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335

Sanctuary Kitchen, a program of CitySeed in partnership with a network of community volunteers, was formed in 2017 to promote and celebrate the culinary traditions, cultures, and stories of refugees resettled in Connecticut. We believe that refugees and immigrants arrive here with the potential to contribute their own unique skills and passions to the diverse and changing face of the Greater New Haven Area. By going beyond the headlines and creating opportunities for meaningful encounters through food, Sanctuary Kitchen aims to create economic development opportunities for refugees and immigrants, improve cultural understanding, mutual appreciation, and build a stronger sense of community.

Registration and full symposium information at:
https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/rsvp?id=907335