Past Trainings
January 24-25, 2020
Shaping State Policy Through Local Mobilization, Little Rock, AR
Mark Winne and Karen Bassarab led a session about the state of state food systems legislation at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group annual conference. The session highlighted examples of state legislation that support local food systems efforts and efforts to mobilize local coalitions to engage in state policy issues.
January 21, 2020
Resident Food Equity Advisors as a Civic Engagement Strategy Workshop, Baltimore, MD
Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab partnered with Holly Freishtat and Alice Huang (Baltimore City Food Policy Initiative) to host a workshop exploring the creation and evolution of the Resident Food Equity Advisors model for the creation of resident-informed policy. Funded by the Urban-Driven Innovations for Sustainable Food Systems project, participants from cities across the US met in person to learn about the model, hear about other resident engagement projects, and discuss how to adapt this model.
December 9-11, 2019
Three Decades of Food Policy Councils: Lessons from the Field, Savannah, GA
Anne Palmer and Mark Winne led a workshop session with Laureen Husband (Operation New Hope) and Dawn Plummer (Pittsburgh Food Policy Council) at the 2019 Community Food Systems Conference on the evolution of food councils and effective strategies for community inclusion and advocacy. The session highlighted how to apply a systems approach to better understand the community context and policy priorities of FPCs.
December 5, 2019
Placing North Carolina in the National Context: Lessons Learned from Food Councils Across the US, Rocky Mount, NC
Raychel Santo led a workshop at the North Carolina Food Council Gathering on of how food policy councils are advancing a variety of policy initiatives and elevating equity and community leadership in the policy process. The session explored how the examples could be used or modified in North Carolina.
November 14, 2019
Food Policy and Food Policy Councils, Alexandria, LA
Karen Bassarab and Elisa Muñoz-Miller (New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee) led a workshop for the Louisiana Food Fellows on the role of food policy councils in food systems policy change and the process of determining appropriate policy solutions to food systems problems.
October 28, 2019
Redesigning the table: Using equity and systems for collective action and Placing the Ohio Food Policy Network in context: An Overview of Food Policy Councils across North America, Columbus, OH
Anne Palmer and Raychel Santo hosted a co-learning and sharing workshop at the Ohio Food Policy Summit on how to integrate equity and systems practices into food policy councils’ organizational structures and policy work. They also shared specific, tangible examples of how food councils are applying systems thinking and equity commitments in practice.
September 3-5, 2019
Feeding Democracy: Equipping Residents to be Food Systems Policy Leaders, Raleigh, NC
Karen Bassarab facilitated a panel discussion at the Closing the Hunger Gap Conference featuring Alice Huang (Baltimore Food Policy Initiative), Winnie Huston (DC Greens) and Clare Fox (Los Angeles Food Policy Council) talking about strategies to build the advocacy capacity and amplify the voices of community members for food systems policy change.
August 28-29, 2019
Building Equity Through Strength Workshop, Alexandria, LA
Mark Winne and Karen Bassarab co-hosted a workshop with Andy Fisher (Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance) and New Entry Sustainable Farming Project on how to grow support for food systems change through collaboration and federal funding. Attendees explored elements of successful and productive partnerships, how to align efforts for collective action, how to effectively win USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants, and funders’ considerations for investing in food systems projects.
June 26-29, 2019
Food policy councils as strategies for finding a home in the wilderness, Anchorage, AK
Anne Palmer participated on a panel with Gail Feenstra (University of California, Davis) and Elizabeth Hodges Snyder (Alaska Food Policy Council) on the politics of food system change at the joint annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society.
May 7, 2019
Reducing Food Insecurity through Local Food Policy Council Community Advocacy, Hunt Valley, MD
Karen Bassarab participated in a panel discussion with Heather Bruskin (Montgomery County Food Council), Dan Fiscus (Western Maryland Food Council), Holly Freishtat (Baltimore Food Policy Initiative) and Sydney Daigle (Prince George’s County Food Equity Council) at the Maryland Community Action Partnership Human Service Conference. The panel discussed the role of food councils as partnership models to help reduce food insecurity.
April 12, 2019
Building a Sustainable Food Future for Western Maryland
Anne Palmer, Mark Winne and Caitlin Misciazek led a presentation at the 2nd annual conference of the Western Maryland Food Policy Council to discuss the state of the food system in Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties.
March 29, 2019
Food policy work at the state level: examples from the U.S., Dover, DE
Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab led a presentation during the Delaware Farm & Food Planning and Networking Seminar on current legislative initiatives led by food policy councils to increase access and affordability of healthy food through initiatives aimed at consumers and incentive programs for producers.
January 24, 2019
Connecting community and building capacity in the Southeast, Little Rock, AR
Karen Bassarab and Mark Winne co-hosted an interactive conversation with Jared Cates (Community Food Strategies) about what is needed for communities in the Southeast to increase their capacity to address community food security, sustainability, and equity. This event at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference explored the current state of food systems in the Southeast and engaged attendees in conversation about problems and solutions to food systems issues in the Southeast.
October 22, 2018
Elevating Equity in the Food Policy Process, East Lansing, MI
Karen Bassarab and Raychel Santo co-hosted a workshop with Kibibi Blount-Dorn (Detroit Food Policy Council) at the Michigan Good Food Summit on how to elevate equity in policy. The session highlighted examples of how food policy councils are incorporating equity into their organizational structure and policy work.
October 24, 2018
Pennsylvania Statewide Food Policy Council Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
CLF senior advisor, Mark Winne, and the FPN project team facilitated a meeting of organizations and local food policy councils in Pennsylvania to discuss the formation of a state food policy council.
October 26-27, 2018
Navigating the dynamics of supporting food chain workers on food policy councils, Philadelphia, PA
Raychel Santo co-hosted a workshop session with Suzanne Adely (Food Chain Workers Alliance) and Dawn Plummer (Pittsburgh Food Policy Council) to explore ways in which FPCs could support food chain workers as part of their efforts, as well as how to overcome potential challenges of doing so.
October 5, 2018
Let’s All Come to the Table: Building community one table at a time, Nashua, NH
Anne Palmer was the keynote speaker at a community dinner hosted by Greater Nashua Food Council to celebrate the local food system in Nashua, NH. Anne’s presentation was on “The Power of Collaborating for Food System Change: Food Councils Trends, Opportunities and Achievements.”
September 18, 2018
Open & Local Gathering, Montana
Raychel Santo participated in a panel discussion about local food system collaborations and what structures allow them to thrive at a gathering for an emergent coalition in the Gallatin Valley of Montana, Open & Local.
April 25, 2018
How Food Policy Councils can Support Farm to School Initiatives Short Course, Cincinnati, OH
Mark Winne and Raychel Santo hosted a half-day preconference session at the National Farm to School Network Conference on the value of FPCs in advancing food systems policy, particularly how FPCs work on Farm to School efforts, and opportunities for Farm to School advocates and FPCs to work together to enhance each other's agendas.
December 5, 2017
Food Policy Council Pre-conference, Boston, MA
The FPN project team hosted a one-day workshop for food policy councils at the Community Food Systems Conference. Sixty-five food policy leaders spent the day conversing and reflecting on the state of food systems policy, exploring the relationship between local and state FPCs and learning about a new tool to assess the capacity of an FPC to work on advocacy and policy.
June 27, 2017
Recovering Food in the Chesapeake Region: Policies, Resources and Innovations, Silver Spring, MD
The FPN project team and Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic co-hosted a workshop on policies to reduce food waste and increase food recovery. This workshop presented exciting new food recovery resources and opportunities for policy reform to support food waste reduction in the Chesapeake region.
June 28, 2017
Fundraising for Your Food Council, Silver Spring, MD
The FPN project team welcomed Shelley Rae Rudick (Vice President of The Taft Organization and member of the Montgomery County Food Council) to lead a workshop on how to harness the basic principles of fundraising, marketing and communications to advance the goals of a food policy council.
May 17, 2017
Cultivating Food System Leadership for Racial Equity, Philadelphia, PA
The FPN project team welcomed Kristin Schwab (Philly food justice educator) and Esteban Kelly (US Federation of Worker Cooperatives) to facilitate a daylong interactive workshop designed to help food policy councils in the Chesapeake region understand how to better integrate racial equity in their organizational structure, partnerships, and policy making.
May 18, 2017
Values-based Food Procurement, Philadelphia, PA
The FPN project team and the Center for Good Food Purchasing co-hosted a daylong workshop on values-based food procurement for food policy leaders and institution representatives involved with purchasing food or setting policy related to food procurement to examine the existing procurement and supply chain landscape, and discuss the potential for enhanced regional collaboration around procurement.
November 2016
Food Policy Councils Short Course: Putting Local and State Food Policy into Action, Hartford, CT
Mark Winne, Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab facilitated a pre-conference workshop at the 2016 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference on tools and strategies to increase effective selection and utilization of local and state food policies for food systems change.
November 2016
Food Policy Councils: Getting Started and Moving Forward, Hartford, CT
Mark Winne, Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab presented a session at the 2016 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference about developing and operating new food policy councils as well as enhancing the performance of existing ones.
April 12-14, 2016
Chesapeake Food Policy Leadership Institute, Reisterstown, MD
The FPN project team along with experts in local, state and federal food policy offered a second training for emerging and established food policy councils in the Chesapeake region. This training focused on leadership development to advance policy change, including assessment of policy options, storytelling, how to work with policy makers and evaluation.
November 2015
Food Policy Councils: Engaging the Community and Building Diversity, Saratoga Springs, NY
Mark Winne and Anne Palmer facilitated a workshop session on engaging a diverse community in food systems policy work at the 2015 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. Participants spent time in small groups devising their own strategies to promote engagement and inclusivity.
September 2015
Getting Started with a Food Policy Council Short Course and Local and State Food Policy: Putting it to Work for You, Portland, OR
Anne Palmer, Mark Winne and Paula Daniels hosted a one-day short course on how to develop a food policy council or enhance the performance of an existing food policy council at the Closing the Hunger Gap conference. In addition, Mark Winne and Anne Palmer led a workshop session on local and state policy strategies to address hunger and provided examples of policy changes that have been implemented at state and local levels.
January 14-15, 2015
Food Policy Councils: Building the Southeast Region's Food Policy Capacity, Mobile, AL
Anne Palmer, Mark Winne, and Paula Daniels (Founder of the LA Food Policy Council) hosted a pre-conference training for 20 food policy leaders from the region at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. This training walked attendees through the process of food systems policy change, from analyzing data to identifying and prioritizing policy solutions to evaluation of the implementation of policy solutions.
November 11-12, 2014
NESAWG Annual Conference, Saratoga, Springs, NY
Mark Winne and Anne Palmer led a food policy council workshop at the 2014 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference.
October 5-8, 2014
Chesapeake Region Food Policy Leadership Training Institute, Reisterstown, MD
CLF staff and visiting guests with extensive experience in local, state and federal food policy offered this training to improve the capacity of new and existing food policy councils and similar organizations in the Chesapeake region. The training focused on leadership development to influence food policy development and implementation, including organizational development, policy interventions and policy strategies, and communication.
July 2014
New England Food Policy Council Convening, Leominster, MA
Mark Winne co-facilitated a meeting of over 50 people representing over 20 food policy councils from across the six New England states to share their interests and concerns about the region's food policies. This was the first time that New England's FPCs had met "face-to-face.”