Sustainable Food Systems Initiative
A Multidisciplinary Initiative at the University of Michigan
January 29, 2019 Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge reservation, and the founder of the company The Sioux Chef is committed to revitalizing Native American cuisine. Through his research, he has uncovered and mapped out the foundations of […]
January 22, 2019 Famworkers pick, pack and plant the food that we eat, but they often do not have enough food for themselves and their families. Mónica Ramírez, a prominent migrant rights advocate with more than two decades of experience, […]
January 15, 2019 Jerry Ann Hebron, Lesli Hoey, Devita Davison, Lilly Fink Shapiro, Winona Bynum What are the diverse ways to work towards food systems change? In this first class of the semester, you’ll get a glimpse into various paths […]
April 10, 2018 Congressman Blumenauer will discusses his goals to “Fix the Farm Bill” and reshape national agricultural policy. Blumenauer’s Food and Farm Act calls for a more equitable Farm Bill that supports healthy food access, the environment, and small and mid-size […]
Rachel Bair, Director for Sustainable and Innovative Food Systems, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kami Pothukuchi, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Wayne State University
Kathy Sample, Co-founder, Argus Farm Stop
From farm to fork, America squanders food at an alarming rate. In total, 40 percent of the available food supply is wasted. In a wide-ranging talk, Jonathan will discuss the underlying causes of U.S. food waste and the implications of this problem before focusing on the many solutions–both personal and society-wide.
March 13, 2018 In this panel session, speakers discuss policy and its impact on community health. The distinguished speakers are: Winona Bynum, RDN, PMP, CSM, Executive Director, Detroit Food Policy Council Alicia Cohen, M.D., M.Sc., Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan Medical School […]
March 6, 2018 While digging a well by hand for seven months a metaphor emerged —both for agriculture and for life in general. The grueling process of breaking up rocks in the search for water in the most precarious conditions […]
February 20, 2018 The same inequities and systemic barriers that exist in the broader food system also impact the first food environment and, therefore, the most vulnerable among us–infants. In this presentation, Kimberly Seals Allers combines her experience as an […]
February 13, 2018 Rooted in personal and family experience, Chef Kabui will discuss the role of race in the food movement. He asserts that food is the new instrument of oppression. Chek Kabui’s talk will cover family history, philosophy about a new […]
February 6, 2018 Food sovereignty is about having choices. Choices of where your food comes from, how it is produced, and what it is that you eat. For Indigenous peoples, food sovereignty is about health, justice, and tradition. Winona LaDuke […]
January 30, 2018 In this panel session, Melvin Parsons, Stefanie Stauffer, Greg Willerer, and Olivia Hubert share their perspectives and experience with food production in Southeastern Michigan.
January 23, 2018 This presentation will combine an interactive dive into our food system with a discussion of Community Agriculture. Our interaction will distill out the values inherent in our food system, then I will describe Community Agriculture as the […]
January 16, 2018 Everyone who wants to end hunger, who wants to eat good, clean, healthy food, needs to understand capitalism. This talk will address how our food system and capitalism co-evolved. Using political economics we will discuss why—even as local, […]
January 9, 2018 The 2018 Food Literacy for All course is co-led by a leadership team of Catherine Badgley (UM faculty), Malik Yakini (Detroit Black Community Food Security Network), Lilly Fink Shapiro (UM Sustainable Food Systems Initiative) and organized in partnership […]
April 4, 2017 One dominant element of the American spirit is positive-ism. How much time do social cause leaders spend promoting the positive, as distinct from opposing the negative? How much energy is invested in being for, not against, making […]
March 28, 2017 Food justice, social justice, environmental justice, food sovereignty—and entire language has developed around how we want to see and live in a better world where fairness and right action prevail. In an extension of these concepts, Michael […]
March 21, 2017 Monica White examines the work of Black sharecroppers and tenant farmers of the late 1960s who fought for the right to participate in the food system as producers and to earn a living wage in the face […]
March 14, 2017 With over 12 million workers, the restaurant industry is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the US economy, but also the lowest paying. Restaurant workers in Michigan toil for a little over $3 an […]
