This list of some of the conferences happening soon is from the Wallace Center’s newsletter, which I encourage everyone to sign up for.

EVENTS AND WEBINARS

April 29 Homefront to Heartland: A Conference for Women in Agriculture; Nashville, TN

Conference topics include marketing and financing, advocacy tools, diet and utilizing new technology.

May 5 National Good Food Network (NGFN) Webinar on Fair Food

Register for the upcoming NGFN webinar where Oran Hesterman, President and CEO of Fair Food Network, will discuss his soon-to-be-released book Fair Food: Growing a Healthy Sustainable Food System for All from 3:30-4:45pm EST.

May 5 Local and Sustainable Meat & Poultry: Making the Shift in Institutional Purchasing; Clarksville, MD

This regional conference will bring together a variety of stakeholders to identify barriers and possible solutions and strategies for establishing new institutional purchasing practices for local sustainable beef, pork and poultry. The conference will be held from 7:30am – 3:00pm at the Ten Oaks Ballroom and Conference Center in Clarksville, Maryland. An agenda is coming soon. This initiative is funded by a grant from the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP) within USDA Agricultural Marketing Service with matching funds from the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.

May 19-21 Community Food Security Coalition Conference; Portland, OR

The CFSC’s “Food Policy from Neighborhood to Nation” conference will include field trips, short courses and workshops focused on local and state level food policy issues.

May 31 Healthy Corner Store Network Webinar “Low-cost strategies for Bringing Healthier Foods into Small-scale Stores”

This webinar, sponsored by the Community Food Security Coalition, will be held May 31 from 1:00 pm – 2:15pm EST and cover low-cost methods for introducing, displaying and promoting healthy foods in corner stores and other small-scale retail stores.

June 6 Illinois Public Health Association Sustainable Food Systems Workshop; Lombard, Illinois

The Food and Nutrition Section of the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA) will host a workshop at their 2011 IPHA Annual Meeting, “Sustainable Food Systems Building the Foundation for Prepared Communities.” The keynote speaker will be John W. Boyd, Jr. President of the National Black Farmers Association, and a panel discussion will cover international food systems and Illinois statewide food issues.

June 2-4 School Food FOCUS Annual Conference “Transforming School Food” Denver, Colorado

At this three day conference at the Inverness Hotel in Denver, participants will “tour Denver schools, gardens, and other food facilities, learn about the new School Food FOCUS Strategic Plan, discover best practices and learnings from the field, meet and sample food during the School Food Showcase from vendors providing wholesome options for school food service, including Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, collaborate in workshops and roundtables that get to the heart of food systems change, participate in a dialogue with USDA representatives, a unique chance to voice concerns and be heard, become familiar with emerging regional school food hubs across the country”.

October 3-4 Consumer Federation of America National Food Policy Conference; Washington, DC

The National Food Policy Conference is for those involved in agriculture, and food and nutrition policy to explore the critical food policy issues with policymakers, advocates and scientists. Major speakers include cabinet members and leaders on food and agriculture policy on Capitol Hill.

November 4-8 Community Food Security Coalition’s 15th Annual Conference; Oakland, CA

This four day food systems networking and educational event will include presentations, workshops, networking opportunities, local grown food, and field trips around the San Francisco Bay area.

November 8-11 Policy Link’s Equity Summit 2011; Detroit, MI

Registration is now open for Policy Link’s Equity Summit “Healthy Communities, Strong Regions, A Prosperous America” to discuss sustainable and equitable development and the relationship between access to jobs, transportation, education, health, and housing.

November 11-12 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) Annual Conference; Albany, NY

NESAWG, a network of 12 Northeastern states that focuses on regional food system development, will have their annual “It Takes a Region” conference that will draw on the success of their 2009 & 2010 conferences to discuss distribution logistics, research, messaging, access & nutrition, and advocacy in relation to the 2012 Farm Bill.