Full Day Trainings
Farm to Institution Boot Camp
In this two-part workshop participants will learn the fundamentals of developing successful and high impact farm to institution initiatives from the ground up from leaders from the worlds of K-12, Health Care, and Higher Education. Part 1 of the workshop (Farm to Institution 101) provides a crash course in the key concepts and terms, strategies and considerations, tools and best practices for establishing and growing successful ‘good food’ initiatives for institutional dining. Part 2 (Measuring Farm to Institution Impact) is a deep dive into the role of definitions and metrics in the success of farm to institution initiatives. Drawing on the work of a USDA AM cooperative agreement with the National Farm to Institution Metrics Collaborative, we will explore strategies and tools available for tracking and reporting purchasing and impact. Part training, part working/feedback session, participants will have a hand in shaping the future of farm to institution metrics.
Presenters: Dr. Lilian Brislen, Executive Director of The Food Connection, University of Kentucky, Hannah Leighton, Research & Evaluation Manager, Farm to Institution New England, Jen Obadia, Eastern U.S Regional Director, Health Care Without Harm
Food, Health, Jobs: Building Organizational Capacity for Urban Agriculture Programs
Join the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest team and local urban agriculture experts for a workshop designed to provide training for organizations interested in growing or expanding urban agriculture work. Workshop will focus on best practices in urban agriculture, providing opportunities for participants to design or build upon urban agriculture programs. Participants will have opportunities to speak with well-seasoned urban ag professionals from Chicago and New Orleans (and beyond), engage in hands-on learning activities, network and share ideas with colleagues, and receive resources and tools to support urban agriculture program development in their own contexts. In partnership with the US Botanic Garden.
Please note: the schedule for this workshop will be Monday, March 9th 1:00-5:00 (at nearby offsite location…transportation and snacks provided), Tuesday, March 10th 8:30am-5:00 (at conference hotel). Participants are also encouraged to register for tour day (fees covered by USBG funding) on Wednesday, March 11th 8:00am-12:00pm to get the full workshop experience.
Presenters: Eliza Fournier, Program Director, Windy City Harvest Chicago Botanic Garden, Kelly Larsen, Operations Director, Windy City Harvest Chicago Botanic Garden, Angela Mason, Senior Director, Windy City Harvest Chicago Botanic Garden
Let’s Meet About Meat
Does your Food Hub struggle with year-round sales? Protein can be the solution. Hear from Jessica Roosa, a Food Hub owner in Indiana that worked for years to make produce work in the operation just to find there was a solid business to grow in meat processing and distribution. Jessica now leads other Hubs and farmers in establishing a meat product lines, working with processors to understand their language, establishing relationships along the value chain, and marketing meat to a variety of buyers.
Presenters: Jessica Roosa, Owner/President – This Old Farm Meats and Processing, Lucas Roosa, Farm to Fork Manager, This Old Farm (Slaughter Team Lead)
Unlocking the Economic Development Finance Toolbox for Food Systems
This session will introduce attendees to the foundations of development finance and CDFA’s toolbox approach to enhance their knowledge base of the roots and basic principles of the field. Attendees will learn about the concepts of building a comprehensive financing strategy with the variety of development finance tools available, including bonds, tax credits, tax increment financing, special assessment districts, revolving loan funds, and more. Creative food system financing case studies will be presented alongside the fundamentals of development finance. This information will give attendees the insight and practical information needed to critically understand how food projects can be used as an economic development driver and how development finance tools and programs can be leveraged to support local food systems.
Presenters: Toby Rittner, President & CEO, Council of Development Finance Agencies, Allison Rowland, Coordinator, Research & Technical Assistance, Council of Development Finance Agencies