“Transforming the Food System: A Conversation with Two Leaders”
Tuesday, March 10
12-1 pm (Michigan Union, Anderson Room)
Jahi Chappell and Danielle Nierenberg are internationally known leaders in sustainable food systems
**Co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Program in the Environment, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Jahi Chappell is trained as an agroecologist and political ecologist. As Director of Agroecology and Agriculture Policy at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), he \ analyzes, coordinates, and develops actions and policies to create a sustainable and democratic food system. Before coming to IATP, he was an assistant professor of environmental science and justice at Washington State University. He has worked with and consulted for Via Campesina, the Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security of Belo Horizonte (Brazil), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the urban agriculture nonprofits Growing Hope (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Growing Gardens (Portland, Ore.). He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. IATP is an international non-profit based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1986, IATP was launched as part of a global justice movement in support of family farmers and sustainable food systems and in opposition to corporate control of the world’s resources. IATP advocates for food, energy and farming systems that strengthen local communities, pay farmers and workers fairly, enhance the environment, and produce healthy food for all.
Danielle Nierenberg is the co-founder and President, Food Tank, a non-profit organization focusing on creation of global networks of people and organizations to change the food system. She has a masters degree in Food, Agriculture, and the Environment from Tufts University. She worked on the staff of the Worldwatch Institute for many years before starting Food Tank. She has written or edited several reports on the state of the food system. She traveled widely in the global South to meet with farmers, policy makers, and scientists to document sustainable practices in local food systems, summarized in the book, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet. She will participate in the 2015 TEDxManhattan event, “Changing the way we eat,” on March 7, 2015.
Food Tank has a vigorous social media presence, with 124,000 newsletter subscribers from around the world. Food Tank has 20 institutional partners, including Bioneers, the Global Forum on Agriculture Research, and the United Nations Environment Program. Food Tank staff compile and write assessments of the food system, convene events and meetings (the 2015 summit in Washington DC occurred in January), and maintain a website with diverse perspectives and resources about sustainable food systems.
