University of the District of Columbia
First Annual International Urban Sustainability Summit: Food Sovereignty, Security and Justice
Saturday, April 16, 2011 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
at the University of the District of Columbia Auditorium and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20008 / Van Ness-UDC Metro (Red line)
To register: http://www.law.udc.edu/event/sustain
Plenary Sessions: UDC Auditorium
Workshops: UDC David A. Clarke School of Law and other rooms across campus
Admission is Free!
EVENT OVERVIEW:
The University of the District of Columbia’s (UDC) College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) celebrates Earth Day by hosting the inaugural "International Urban Sustainability Summit”; the 2011 theme being "FOOD- Sovereignty, Security and Justice”. The Summit will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011, from 8:00 am – 5:30 pm, on UDC’s Van Ness Campus.
The International Urban Sustainability Summit is timely, as it will bring together experts, grassroots leaders and members of the community who are interested in exchanging information and finding out more about fair and equal access to healthy food options in the urban environment. The day-long event will feature a collective of diverse speakers, presenters and workshop leaders who will provide a broad understanding of urban sustainability issues. Additionally, the venue will feature "Green” exhibitors providing information on cutting edge resources, best practices, community involvement and the latest Green products. The event will provide for great networking and it will inform, engage and empower attendees to act.
The featured keynote speaker for the occasion is "Green” innovator and 2008 MacArthur Fellow, Will Allen, founder of Growing Power - a model urban sustainability program. Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations.
Schedule and Speakers appear below. Register for the Summit by clicking on "Register for this event" above.
Exhibit space is available for grassroots, nonprofit, government and business groups. See more.
Schedule for Saturday, April 16, 2011
Location:
University of the District of Columbia
Van Ness Campus – Building 46, Main Auditorium and Building 39, Law School
4200 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
· 8:00 am Registration & free Continental Breakfast
· 9:00 am Welcome and Opening of the Morning Session
Action Summit Moderator: Iveracottis Short, D. Min., Summit Chair
Action Summit Openings: Barbara Jumper, VP Real Estate and Facilities
Nature of the Occasion: Gloria S. Wyche-Moore, Ph.D.
· 9:15 am Morning Keynote Presentation - Mr. Will Allen
Mr. Will Allen will present on his extensive body of work in the area of Urban Agriculture and take questions from the audience
· 10:30 am Panel #1 – National and International Food Sovereignty
40 minutes of moderated dialogue followed by 20 minutes of questions from the audience
Moderated by Joe Libertelli, UDC School of Law
- Carlton Eley – EPA
- Bill Freese – Center for Food Safety
- Nora Pouillon – Restaurant Nora
- Samuel Hancock –The EmeraldPlanet
- Makani Themba-Nixon – The Praxis Project
- Kathy Ozer – National Family Farm Coalition
· 11:30 -11:45 am Coffee Break in Auditorium Lobby
· 11:20 am Featured Guest Speaker - Dr. Rovenia Brock
· 11:45 – 12:45 Pre-lunch keynote Speaker Dr. Rovenia Brock – Auditorium
- 12:45 – 1:45 Lunch – Free, served in auditorium lobby, seating throughout the University campus. Please take time to network with conference attendees and visit the vendor booths located in the lobby of the auditorium.
· 1:45 – 2:45 Concurrent workshop sessions
Bill Freese, Center for Food Safety
The Failed Promise of Biotechnology
Building 38, Window’s Lounge, Second Floor
Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project
Food Justice in Living Color
Building 39, Room 201
Larry Chang, EcolocityDC
Localization: From Grassroots to Edible Forests
Building 44, Room A03
William Hare, UDC
Cooperative Extension Service and Urban Agriculture in the District of Columbia
Building 39, Room 204
Tambra Stevenson, Creative Cause
Healing the Soul of the City: Faith, Food & Freedom For All
Building 39, Room 205
Mark and Suzi Lilly, Farm to Family
Real Food Security
Auditorium
2:45 – 3:00 Break, and transition back to the Auditorium 3:00 – 4:00 Panel #2 – Strengthening Our Local Food System 40 minutes of moderated dialogue followed by 20 minutes of questions from the audience
Moderated by Joe Libertelli, UDC School of Law
- Bread for the City
- Kevin Hornberger – Library of Congress
- Larry Chang – EcolocityDC
- Carole Morison – DelMarVa Poultry Justice Alliance
- Tanikka Cunningham – DC Healthy Solutions
- Margaret Morgan Hubbard – ECO City Farms
4:00 – 5:00 Afternoon Keynote: Will Allen speaking on practical steps to increase urban agriculture in the Washington, DC metropolitan area
Questions from audience moderated by Vinnie Bevivino,
5:00 -5:15 Acknowledgements and Summit Closing: Dr. Iveracottis Short
Featured Key Note Speaker:
Will Allen, 2008 MacArthur Fellow and Founder of Growing Power
Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations. In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather than embracing the "back to the land” approach promoted by many within the sustainable agriculture movement, Allen's holistic farming model incorporates both cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting. Through a novel synthesis of a variety of low-cost farming technologies – including use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture, and heating greenhouses through composting – Growing Power produces vast amounts of food year-round at its main farming site, two acres of land located within Milwaukee's city limits. Recently, cultivation of produce and livestock has begun at other urban and rural sites in and around Milwaukee and Chicago.
Will Allen earned a B.A. (1971) from the University of Miami. After a brief career in professional basketball and a number of years in corporate marketing at Procter and Gamble, he returned to his roots as a farmer. He has served as the founder and CEO of Growing Power, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1995 and has taught workshops to aspiring urban farmers across the United States and abroad. (Source: MacArthur Foundation website (www.macfound.org), John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 140 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60603-5285 USA Phone: (312) 726-8000)
Featured Guest Speaker:
Dr. Rovenia Brock - "Dr. Ro”, Acclaimed Nutrition Expert
Rovenia M. Brock, PhD, a.k.a. Dr. Ro, is an award-winning nutritionist, fitness expert, lecturer, media personality, and author of "Dr. Ro's Ten Secrets to Livin' Healthy”.
An articulate and charismatic media pro, Dr. Ro is known and loved by millions of television and radio fans. Named by More magazine as one of the nation's top five nutrition experts, Dr. Ro is currently a Nutrition Contributor to NPR, and Nutrition Advisor to The Today Show. She is host of the "Livin' Healthy with Dr. Ro” series aired on TV One and frequently seen on The Today Show.
She hosted Black Entertainment Television's Heart & Soul, the first-ever national health and fitness television show for African American women, and was the Nutrition Counselor for ABC News' "Lifetime Live” and the Weekly Nutritionist to NBC's Morning Show in Washington, DC. Dr. Rovenia Brock has been featured and quoted widely in print venues, including Ebony, O magazine, Essence, and Self and in many major daily newspapers.
Presenters and Workshop Leaders:
Carlton Eley – Mr. Carlton Eley is a Senior Environmental Specialist at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). He is an environmentalist, urban planner and lecturer. In his work towards normalizing environmental justice during the planning process, Carlton Eley has become the EPA's leading expert on the topics of equitable development. Mr. Eley will speak on smart growth and urban areas.
Bill Freese – Mr. Bill Freese is a Science Policy Analyst with the Center for Food Safety (CFS). An expert on agricultural biotechnology for over a decade, Bill Freese debunks myths about genetically engineered crops. He is a highly sought after lecturer and published writer. His efforts often focus on science and societal implications. His 2002 comprehensive report on genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops helped initiate public debate on "biopharming”. Mr. Freese will discuss debunking myths about genetically engineered crops and the "promise” to feed the world.
Samuel Lee Hancock – Dr. Samuel Lee Hancock, CM is the President and Executive Director of The EmeraldPlanet, a world-wide environmental and economic development movement headquartered in Washington, D.C. The international non-profit is dedicated to identifying at least 1,000 best practices for sustainable, environmental and economic development. The Emerald Planet features its own weekly television program entitled "The EmeraldPlanet,” focused on the best of the best in practical environmental, economic and civil society. Broadcast via Channel 10 in Fairfax, VA, "The EmeraldPlanet” is simulcast to 532 stations around the country. At least 150 of the weekly simulcasts go out to major American markets. Dr. Samuel Hancock will present on "Peace for Power.”
Kevin Hornberger – Mr. Kevin Hornberger is a Facilities Operations Specialist with the Library of Congress (LOC), the nation's largest library and oldest federal institution. Mr. Hornberger facilitated meaningful institutional change in the day-to-day practices of the historic library as he implemented the LOC's effort to pulp all of its food waste, disposable cutlery and containers. The new process is a first step in creating resourceful compost for later use in local farming. A graduate of the University of the District of Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Science, he is also responsible for identifying and securing the services of green vendors working with the LOC. Mr. Kevin Hornberger will discuss composting food waste and organic matter at the Library of Congress as he presents "From Garbage to Garden: Recycling Postconsumer Food Waste and Reducing Landfill Waste.”
Carole Morison – Ms. Carole Morison, a memorable character from the documentary "Food, Inc.,” exposed the food, labor and environmental damages exacted by industrial farming. She is co-founder of Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance and works as an agricultural consultant specializing in local food systems, advocating for the rights of family farmers. Ms. Morison will speak about the journey of a chicken farmer and the ill effects of concentrated animal feeding operations.
Makani Themba-Nixon – Ms. Makani Themba-Nixon is Executive Director of the Praxis Project, a non-profit organization helping communities use media and policy advocacy to advance health equity and justice. She currently works on a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation initiative – Policy Advocacy on Tobacco and Health (PATH), created to build tobacco control policy and advocacy in community of colors; as well as numerous tools and resources that help people translate local problems into progressive, effective policy initiatives. Ms. Themba-Nixon is the former Director of the Transnational Racial Justice Initiative, an international project to build capacity among advocates to more effectively address structural racism and leverage tools and best practices around the world. Ms. Makani Themba-Nixon will discuss her efforts in helping communities use media and policy advocacy to advance health equity and justice.
Nora Pouillon – Ms. Nora Pouillon, a crusader for clean food since the early 70's, is the founder of the nation's first certified organic restaurant. Restaurant Nora opened in Washington, D.C. in 1979 setting the standard for healthy, delicious and creative organic food design. Ms. Pouillon's goal was to show people that healthy, clean food tastes delicious. Her efforts have resulted in a campaign for organics and more sustainable lifestyles. She was instrumental in establishing the first producer only Fresh Farm Market in the nation's capitol; an important part of her effort to connect local farms, growers and producers with the urban population. She provided the initial framework for the farm to table movement of today. Ms. Nora Pouillon will speak about an experiential journey in organic cuisine, a "new American” woman and restaurant entrepreneur.
Larry Chang – Mr. Larry Chang is an environmental designer, publisher, life counselor and the Founder of EcolocityDC which seeks to address environmental, economic and social sustainability issues. He has been introducing the transition model to the Washington region and is particularly focused on urban sustainability through farming and international community development. Mr. Chang will speak about community response to food security as he presents "Localization from Grassroots to Edible Forests”.
CAUSES: Providing a sustainable bridge from college to the world
The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences
University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008
Ph. 202-274-7124 Fax: 202-274-7016 Email: CAUSES@udc.edu
www.udc.edu/CAUSES
