Get Your Calendars for These Events
Leading with 9/28 ReGenerate IL webinar on regenerative ag-health connection
Save These Dates and Register for These Events
I’m happy to say that more and more folks in the local food community are giving us a heads up about their upcoming events, which we are happy to share. I’m pretty sure there are even more out there, and I’m more likely to find out if you tell us than if I have to stumble upon them on the web.
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ReGenerate IL 9/28 Webinar on Soil-Food-Health
I am always happy to share events focused on building a better food system. I am especially happy to let you know about ReGenerate Illinois’ free webinar, “Making the Regenerative Ag-Human Health Connection” — Tuesday, September 28 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (with an optional happy hour chat from 5:00-5:30).
That’s because I’ve been helping plan this event as a member of ReGenerate Illinois’ Leadership Council.
If you’re a Local Food Forum reader, you probably have heard that regenerative farming practices build healthier soils. These soils produce healthier plants that turn into healthier food, while promoting environmental sustainability.
There are also medical and nutrition professionals who are working to persuade people to eat better, for general health and to prevent diet-related diseases.
And there’s a vibrant community of “farm to table” chefs, marketers and healthy food advocates working tirelessly to build a better food system.
What’s not as obvious is how these multi-faceted efforts are inter-related. And that is the topic of "Making the Regenerative Ag-Human Health Connection.” The guest speakers represent our farming, medical, nutrition, research, culinary and food education communities.
• Caitlin Arens, Partnership Manager, Pilot Light food education nonprofit
• Dave Bishop, Owner, PrairiErth Farm (Atlanta, Illinois)
• David LeZaks, Senior Fellow, Croatan Institute
• Erin Meyer, Executive Director, Basil’s Harvest nonprofit
• Japhia Ramkumar, MD, Internist, UICOM, Urbana Champaign (UIUC COM)
After each presents on their own work, there will be a lively discussion on how they all work together... and how we can best amp up these interactions.
Click the button below to register.
Farm Aid — From The Comfort of Home — on 9/25
Great news from Farm Aid, the nonprofit that works year-round to build a system of agriculture that values family farmers, good food, soil and water, and strong communities. If you can’t make it to Hartford, Connecticut on September 25 for Farm Aid 2021, you can watch it — the whole darn thing — for free on the web.
Whether you’ve been to a Farm Aid concert or are a first-timer, you’ll want to clear your calendar for that Saturday night. The lineup is headlined by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, who will share the stage with Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, Bettye LaVette, Jamey Johnson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Allison Russell, Particle Kid, Ian Mellencamp and Wisdom Indian Dancers.
Click the button below to learn how to access Farm Aid online.
And if you are a farmer, rancher, farm advocate, or part of a farm or food organization, take a deep dive on the issues we all care about at Farm Aid’s four-hour Town Hall Zoom meeting. This takes place on Friday, September 24 from noon to 4 p.m. central. Participants will include U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, other leading USDA officials, and U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Tina Smith of Minnesota.
Click the button for more info and a registration form.
MOSES Organic Field Day in Wheaton on 9/18
Join MOSES (Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service) this Saturday, September 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., for an Organic Field Day at Sustain DuPage Garden, 1926 N. Main St. in west suburban Wheaton.
According to MOSES, Sustain DuPage Garden is an educational nonprofit that “focuses on promoting sustainability in DuPage County, IL.”
Come and see how they utilize their organic, urban-sized market garden as a teaching space to promote sustainable food and agricultural practices, while supporting native wildlife, inspiring political change, and building community in the Chicago suburbs.
The field day will feature their four “Food Hub” organizers, who will explain how their inter-related food and agricultural-based projects engage and connect their community to local foods as well as to the land it comes from. As a completely volunteer-led organization, this is all accomplished sustainably through donated time and goods. This inspiring model is easily adaptable to different communities and spaces.
Click below to learn more and register for the event.