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ThinkFOOD Conference
Saturday, November 16
Food is Health
Location: Fisher Science Center at Simon’s Rock.
The Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents our 11th annual ThinkFOOD conference on Saturday, November 16. ThinkFOOD will give you new perspectives on food as part of a healthy community and world. We’ll offer interactive sessions with practical takeaways and new ideas from experts in the Berkshires and beyond.
Marion Nestle, award-winning author and professor emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, will give the keynote address.
The conference is free for all students. Tickets are $25 for access to all sessions, $15 for half day, or $10 for keynote only; lunch tickets are $12. Discount tickets available; please email for details.
email thinkfood@simons-rock.edu
Ready to join us? Conference Registration is now open!
Panel discussion on “Farmers Making It Work” at ThinkFOOD 2023
Speakers from Soul Fire Farm and Greenagers at lunch at the 2018 Conference
Program and Schedule
Speaker Bios and Panel Descriptions here
Saturday, November 16
Registration: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Registration desk open at the Fisher Science Center
Panel 1: 9:30 – 10:45 am
[Speakers subject to change]
Healthy Production
- Jamie Nadler (co-founder and farmer) and Madison Warren (co-founder and chef), Dancing Greens Farm in Monterey, MA
- Dan Carr from Beavertides Farm (Falls Village, CT)
- Rose Arruda, Urban Agriculture Program Director at Massachusetts Dept. of Agricultural Resources
Clark Auditorium [in-person/Zoom]
Panel 2: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Healthy Communities
- Sunder Ashni, Visionary, Seed Saver and Steward, Mumbet's Freedom Farm (Sheffield)
- Cherri Sanes, Executive Director/Founder of Extra Special Teas (Great Barrington/Housatonic)
- Luca DiMambro, CSA Manager and Ad Kim, Harvest Manager, Rock Steady Farm (Millerton, NY)
Lunch: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Conference Lunch provided by Simon’s Rock Dining Services
Panel 3: 1:00 – 2:15 pm
Healthy Bodies
- Deb Phillips, nutritionist, Director of the Southern Berkshire Rural Health Network (Great Barrington)
- Joshua Faller, Program Director at Just Roots (Greenfield)
- Tu Le, chef/farmer/community leader (Williamstown/North Adams)
- Steve Browning, chef/entrepreneur (Great Barrington)
Keynote Speaker Tom Seeley of Cornell University at ThinkFOOD 2019
Panelists at ThinkFOOD 2020’s Virtual Conference
Session on fair land access at ThinkFOOD 2022
Keynote Address: 2:30 – 3:30 pm
Marion Nestle, award-winning author and professor emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University.
Food Politics 2024: From Agriculture to Public Health
(Dr. Nestle will join us via Zoom.)
Clark Auditorium [In-person/Zoom]
Register here to attend the Conference. Registration is open until November 15
For more information, contact Maryann Tebben, Faculty and Director of the Center for Food Studies and the Center for Food and Resilience, at mtebben@simons-rock.edu.
“Healthy food impacts everyone. Our region is full of examples of how to make healthy eating a part of life for more people and how these efforts can create healthier communities.”
— Professor Maryann Tebben,
Center for Food and Resilience at Simon’s Rock
Conference Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors!
Funding provided by:
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, Berkshire Grown
Promotional partners:
From the 2023 conference:
Making Local Farming Work, November 2023
Session 1: Land Access for Farmers
Jamie Pottern, American Farmland Trust; Kali Lucey, Land For Good; Lily Massee, Community Land Trust; Mackenzie Greer, Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Session 2A: State and Federal Initiatives for Local Farmers
Tricia Wancko, Massachusetts Agriculture Innovation Center (MAIC) at the Franklin County CDC; Faith Shaeffer, National Young Farmer's Coalition; Kelly Coleman, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture
Session 2B: Local Meat Processing
Katie Adkins, Plymouth Meats, Terryville, CT; Jake Levin, Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, Great Barrington, MA; Dan Carr, Berkshire Agricultural Ventures
Session 3: Farmers Making it Work
Elizabeth Keen, Indian Line Farm in Egremont, MA; Jen Salinetti, Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham, MA; Sarah Chase, Chaseholm Dairy Farm in Pine Plains, NY; Sunder Ashni, Mumbet's Freedom Farm in Sheffield, MA; Maeve Wilber, Greenagers/April Hill in S. Egremont, MA
Keynote Address: Massachusetts Agriculture: Building a Resilient Future
Ashley Randle, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources View Recording
Additional Resources
Devan Arnold from Sassafras Landcare helps attendees design a pollinator garden outside the Fisher Science Center at ThinkFOOD 2019
Student participant at ThinkFOOD 2019 workshop