Hundreds
of local food movement supporters expected to attend
Rhode
Island’s farmers, growers, producers, distributors, retailers, servers and
other small businesses each play a role in our state’s food system, a
burgeoning economic sector with growing momentum behind it.
The
Rhode Island Food Center at the University of Rhode Island is hosting its third
annual Food System Summit, at which hundreds of food system representatives
will join with state and national food system leaders to identify ways to
better support the state’s food economy.
Experts
will discuss the role of food-related businesses, as well as that of state
policy makers and consumers, in the state’s comprehensive Food Strategy, and
its main areas of focus: production, sustaining and creating markets, enhancing
the climate for food-related businesses, food security and food waste.
Where:
University of Rhode Island’s Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, 120
Flagg Road, Kingston.
When:
Friday, January 18, 2019 from 8:45 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (See complete agenda
link with time breakdowns at the bottom of this advisory)
Why: Food and related businesses impact Rhode Island families and our state’s economy. Join us in supporting and celebrating this burgeoning industry and to hear from experts on issues from growing and producing to dealing with food waste, and everything in between.
Who:
Keynote speaker Kathleen Merrigan, executive director, Swette
Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University
and former deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Sue
AnderBois, director of Food Strategy for the State of Rhode Island, and Nessa
Richman, network director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council will also
present at the Summit.
Kenneth Ayers from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Kathleen Gorman from URI’s Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America; Michael Hallock, CEO of RI Mushroom Co. and RI Agricultural Technologies; Leo Pollock, co-founder of The Compost Plant; and Elizabeth Tanner, director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, will participate in a panel discussion.
At the conclusion of the formal program, at approximately 3 p.m., field trips/tours with attendees who have pre-registered will commence at the following locations:
Kenneth Ayers from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Kathleen Gorman from URI’s Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America; Michael Hallock, CEO of RI Mushroom Co. and RI Agricultural Technologies; Leo Pollock, co-founder of The Compost Plant; and Elizabeth Tanner, director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, will participate in a panel discussion.
At the conclusion of the formal program, at approximately 3 p.m., field trips/tours with attendees who have pre-registered will commence at the following locations:
- Matunuck Oyster Farm (South Kingstown)
- Whalers Brewing Co. (South Kingstown)
- Hope & Main (Warren)
- Farm Fresh RI (Providence)
- RI Mushroom & Shaidzon Beer Co. (West Kingston)
- Port of Galilee (Narragansett)
- Farming Turtles (Exeter)
- Earth Care Farm (Charlestown)
The
Rhode Island Food System Summit is hosted by the University of Rhode Island,
with support from URI’s Business Engagement Center and the Rhode Island
Foundation.
