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Northwest Real Food Summit

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.  

****Please read all the information below carefully.  Direct any questions to David.is.Schwartz@gmail.com and ShannonKuhn@gmail.com****

Description
Youth Summit Schedule
Sponsors
What to Bring
What not to bring
2009 NW Summit Planning Team

Description

Are you ready for food that reflects your values, and vision of a just and sustainable world? This March 19-21, join young people around the northwest for our region’s first real food convergence! Fall 2008, students at over 300 colleges and universities united to take action for Real Food Now! Across the country, students at hundreds of colleges and universities are turning their attention to food systems in efforts to address campus sustainability and social justice.  United around a platform of community-based, ecologically sound, fair, and humane principles, the Real Food Challenge (RFC) is institutionalizing food change on campuses around the nation.

As the connections between food, sustainability, and social justice become more salient to the public, and the momentum behind this student movement grows, it is important, now more than ever, that students are able to connect with each other and with the resources they need to be effective advocates for change.  The summit will be an unprecedented opportunity for students across the Northwest to come together to network and create successful strategies for bringing the real food solutions to their campus-community.

The RFC summit will be held concurrently with the 4th Annual National Farm to Cafeteria Conference.  In the last decade the number of farm to school programs has exploded– from a handful of programs in the late 1990’s to over 2,000 today. During this year’s conference, “Going the Distance and Shortening it, From Farm to Cafeteria,” students will have the opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities that come with the success of the movement alongside community leaders, food service professionals, sustainable agriculture advocates, and other movement veterans.

RFC delegates will engage in the larger conference, as well as in special Youth Summit opportunities.  This is a unique opportunity to connect with over 400 experienced conference participants, as well as join a strong network of emerging young activists and organizers.  Join us for field trips, popular education, open space sessions, keynotes, games, panels, hands-on workshops, art, and shared meals.

We're looking for passionate high school and college students (or youth activists of a similar age) committed to taking the Real Food Challenge back to their campus and community.  Expect to leave re-energized with a support network, new friends, organizing skills, and a serious action plan.

Youth Summit Schedule

Go here for the overall conference schedule.

Thursday, March 19th
Theme: Learning Real Food, Making Connections, Building Community

9:00 – 10:00am: Breakfast—Portland People’s Co-op Donation
10:00 – 11:00am: Welcome to the Real Food Summit
11:00am – 1:00pm: Real Food Wheel Activity and Poetry
1:00 - 2:00pm:  Lunch—Papa G’s Vegan Café Donation
2:00 - 3:00pm: Travel to Double Tree Hotel and F2C Conference Registration
3:00 – 5:00pm: Opening Plenary: Voices of Youth

  • Students from Carleton College / Real Food Challenge (MN); Harwood Union High School (VT), The Rethinkers (LA) to speak

5:00 – 6:00pm: Hang Out Time
6:00 – 7:00pm: Opening Reception
7:00 – 7:30pm: Travel to Central Lutheran Church (Youth Summit Location)
7:30 – 9:00pm: Performances!
9:00 – 11:00pm: Music, Art

Friday, March 20th
Theme: Learning about the Movement, Skill-building, Celebration

7:30 – 8:00am Travel to Doubletree Hotel (Conference Site) 
8:00 – 8:30am Morning Check In + Breakfast 
8:30 – 10:00am Plenary: Leading Sustainable Social Change - Working Across Differences 
10:00 – 10:30am: Game!
10:30am-12:00pm Skills-based Trainings

  • Campaigning to Win – Strategic Planning: (Meghan Cohorst, Student/Farmworker Alliance; Sam Schabacker, Food & Water Watch)
  • Running Great Groups: Facilitation and Consensus-building (Tim Galarneu,
  • Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems; Amber Baker, FoodWorks)
  • Crafting Your Message; Telling Your Story (David Schwartz, Real Food Challenge; Erin Gaines, Stanford Dining Services)
  • People Power: Grassroots Organizing and Building New Leadership (Katie Blanchard, MW RFC; Shannon Kuhn, NW RFC)

12:00 – 1:30pm Mentorship Lunch + Lunch Keynote Speaker
1:45 – 3:15 pm Conference Workshop Session 1

  • An Overview of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization
  • Building Relationships through Gardens
  • Farm to Head Start in North Carolina and Oregon
  • Healthy Schools Campaign: Getting Locally Grown Food into School Cafeterias: Success Stories from Around the Country
  • Farm to School: Youth Entrepreneurship Initiatives
  • Beyond Organic: Greening Your Farm to Cafeteria Program
  • Rooting the Farmer in the Farm to School Movement
  • Shifting Procurement in Large Urban School Districts

3:15 – 3:45 pm Break
3:45 – 5:15 pm Conference Workshop Session 2

  • Counting Ladybugs: Making the Best Use of Your School Garden Classroom
  • Three Unique Approaches from Three Unique Institutions in Kentucky
  • The 5th Season: Capturing The Abundant Harvest With Simple Food Preservation
  • The Real Food Challenge: Uniting Students for Just and Sustainable Food
  • Local Foods Strengthen Your Local Economy
  • Farmers: Feeding the Community, Leading the Community
  • De-mystifying Media Web Tools: What They Are and How to Use Them
  • 'Buy Local’ - What Does the New Farm Bill Allow and How Will We Take Advantage of the Change?

5:15 – 5:45 pm: Break
5:45 – 6:30 pm: Travel to Portland State University Food for Thought Cafe
6:30 – 8:00 pm: Real Food Community Feast and Food Justice Panel!!

  • Kyra Busch, White Earth Land Recovery Project, White Earth Reservation, MN
  • Meghan Cohorst, Student/Farmworker Alliance, Immokalee, FL
  • Ramon Ramirez, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noreste (PCUN), Woodburn, OR
  • Sam Schabacker, Food and Water Watch, San Francisco, CA

8:00 – pm  Free Night

Saturday, March 21st
Theme: Digging in, Moving Forward

7:30 – 8:00 am: Travel to Doubletree Hotel (Conference Site)
8:00 – 8:30 am: Morning Check-in + Breakfast
8:30 – 10:00 am:  Plenary: Building the Foundations of Local Food
10:00 – 10:30 am: Break
10:30 – 12:00pm: Workshop Session 3: Open Space Session

  • All workshops will be created by summit participants in real time

12:00 – 1:30 pm: Lunch at Portland Farmer's Market (opening day!)
1:30 - 4:00pm:  Field Trips (3 options)

  • Food Works; Oregon Food Bank; Zenger Farm

4:00 – 5:30 pm Workshop Session 5

  • Partnering Farm to School with the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
  • Linking Classrooms and Cafeterias to Elementary and Elders
  • Farm to School: Experiential Education and Curriculum Development
  • Farm to University Dining Staff: Tracking Purchases of and Learning about Real Food
  • Working for Sustainability: Food Service Workers in the Sustainable Foods Movement
  • Greening College Food Service Operations
  • Farm to Institution Procurement and Distribution: Supporting Local Producers
  • Conducting Research and Evaluations Centered on Farm to School: Asking Questions, Study Designs, Developing Tools, Analyzing Results, and Challenges in the Field

5:30 – 6:30 pm Break
6:30 – 9:30 pm Dinner and Keynote: Joan Dye Gussow

Sunday March 22nd
Theme: Wrapping Up, Moving Forward

8:00 – 9:00 am: Breakfast—Wheat Montana, Redwing Donations
9:00 – 9:30 am: Game    
9:30 - 11:45 am: Open Space Sessions
11:45 am – 12:30 pm: Closing Circle
12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm – GOODBYE!!! (travel)

Sponsors

A HUGE thank you to our Northwest Real Food Summit sponsors!

Annie’s
Central Lutheran Church
Lewis & Clark College
Dagoba Organic Chocolate
Divine Chocolate
Hot Lips Pizza
Laughing Planet Cafe
Papa G’s Vegan Cafe
Portland People’s Food Co-op
Proper Eats
PSU Food for Thought Café
Redwing Coffee and Baking
Ruby Jewel
Sage Stowell, summit program art
The Food Project
Wheat Montana

What to bring

  • A sleeping bag and pillow (or equivalent) for sleeping
  • Pocket money for one meal out and bus fare
  • A notebook or pad of paper and pen/pencil
  • Information about your current work or organization to share with others
  • A cultural or traditional family recipe
  • Musical instruments
  • Your enthusiasm and commitment to making real food a reality back in your home community


What not to bring

Any use of drugs or alcohol will not be tolerated at the youth summit and will be grounds for immediate dismissal.  We will be a group of high school and college kids and are going to have a badass time without that junk.

2009 NW Summit Planning Team

Katelyn Hale
Shannon Kuhn
Anand Parikshak
Blake Robbins
David Schwartz