The Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center has compiled a list of events in April to keep you engaged and up-to-date on the latest discussions about food justice and policy. If you have an event you would like to add to our list, please email us at info@nycfoodpolicy.org
Tackling Child Undernutrition at Scale: Insights from National and Subnational Success Cases
Organized By: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Exemplars in Global Health
When: Thursday, April 1, 9:30-11 AM EDT
Length: 90 minutes
About: In this free online webinar, IFPRI General Director, Johan Swinnen, and IFPRI Senior Research Fellow, Purnima Menon, will be joined by a panel of speakers for a discussion on childhood undernutrition. The event will bring together research from IFPRI’s Stories of Change and Exemplars in Global Health, using lessons from these two global research programs to provide insight into solutions to child undernutrition across the world.
Registration: Here
Farm Tour for Kids at The Battery Urban Farm
Organized By: The Battery Conservancy
When: Thursday, April 1, 3-4 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: Get your family out of the house and into the spring sunshine for a kid-friendly, in-person tour of the vegetable garden at The Battery Urban Farm in downtown NYC. The tour is intended for families with children under the age of 13. COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place.
Registration: Here
The Kitchen Without Borders: Recipes and Stories from Eat Offbeat’s Refugee and Immigrant Chefs
Organized By: The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)
When: Thursday, April 1, 7-8 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: Eat Offbeat founder Manal Kahi will be joined by chefs Mariama, Nisran, and Rachana, to discuss the work of Eat Offbeat and launch their new cookbook, The Kitchen Without Borders. Launched in 2015, Eat Offbeat is a catering and meal delivery service staffed by chefs hired through the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Join the webinar to learn more about their work and speak with the chefs. Read more about Eat Offbeat from the NYC Food Policy Center here.
Registration: Here
Food Talk Live with Dani Nierenberg
Organized By: The Food Tank
When: Thursday, April 1, 2 PM EDT and Friday, April 2, 2:30 PM EDT, more dates to follow
Length: Ongoing event, each session is roughly 30 minutes to one hour.
About: Join the Food Tank’s Dani Nierenberg for an ongoing live series featuring guests from across the food industry discussing important food news. The April 1st event will feature Pete Ritchie, Executive Director of Nourish Scotland, and Chantal Clement, Deputy Director of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), and the April 2nd session will feature Dr. Mark Hyman in conversation about his new book, The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World.
Registration: You can find links to tune in live to each session here, or you can listen to past sessions on Apple Podcasts.
Biomigrations: Food Sovereignty, Security, and Justice in the Americas
Organized By: The Berkeley Food Institute, The Graduate Assembly, Multicultural Community Center, Native American Studies Department, Othering and Belonging Institute, Latinx Research Center, and Center for Latin American Studies
When: Friday, April 2, 12–5 PM PST, and Saturday, April 3, 10–3:30 PM PST
Length: 10.5 hours over two days.
About: This free two-day conference will explore food sovereignty, food justice, and food security, connecting scholars, community members, and artists in a discussion that centers on the work and experiences of black and Indigenous communities and human relationships with the land and the nonhuman world.
Registration: Here
Edible Education 101 Online Course
Organized By: UC Berkeley and the Edible Schoolyard Project
When: New sessions each Wednesday through April 28 (previous lectures from January available on the Edible Schoolyard Project website)
Length: Ongoing, weekly sessions through April 28
About: Edible Education 101 is a hybrid free public lecture series and for-credit class. Organized by the Edible Schoolyard Project and UC Berkeley, the semester-long course was created by Alice Waters, renowned founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant and the Edible Schoolyard Project. The course, now in its tenth year, features lectures from individuals working to increase food justice, including chef and cookbook author, Bryant Terry, and 5th generation family farmer, Nikiko Masumoto. The theme for this year’s course is Seasons of Social Justice.
Registration: Each week a new lecture from the course is posted on the Edible Schoolyard Project website; link to view them here
Developing Sustainable Fiscal Policy for the Food System: UN Food Systems Champions Network Panel Series
Organized By: The Food Tank, the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the Global Alliance on the Future of Food
When: Tuesday, April 6, 9 AM EDT and Tuesday, April 27, 9 AM EDT
Length: Not available
About: Hosted by The Food Tank’s Danielle Nierenberg and Ruth Richardson, this free event is part of a virtual monthly panel series featuring members of the UN Food Systems Champions Network. The theme for the April 6th session is “Developing Sustainable Fiscal Policy for the Food System, ” and will feature Gabriela Cuevas Barron (Inter-Parliamentary Union), Lasse Bruun (50by40), and Vijay Kumar (Rythu Sadhikara Samstha), and the April 27th session is titled “Investing in a More Resilient Food System,” with panelists to be announced soon.
Registration: Here
Punishment & Profit: Food & Commissary
Organized By: The Green Space
When: Tuesday, April 6, 7-8 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: Prison food service corporations generate $4 billion in annual revenue, not including sales from prison commissary stores, and yet, institutional prison meals are often poor quality and devoid of nutrition. Join The Green Space for an exploration of the commercialization of prison food and food-service atrocities in prisons and jails. The event will feature Bianca Tylek, Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to dismantle the prison industry and expose the commercialization of the criminal legal system.
Registration: Here
Examining the State of Community-led Development Programming
Organized By: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Movement for Community-led Development
When: Wednesday, April 7, 9:30-11 AM EDT
Length: 90 minutes
About: This free policy webinar will dive into food-based, community-led development (CLD) programs, examining the Movement for Community-led Development’s State of CLD Programming report, which was developed from a study of 173 community-led programs in 65 countries and holds key suggestions for improving the implementation and sustainability of community-led programs across the globe.
Registration: Here
Advocating for Food and Nutrition Policy as a Pillar of Public Health
Organized By: The College of Public Health at Temple University
When: Wednesday, April 7, 12-1 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: Join the College of Public Health at Temple University for a webinar discussing the links among food security, nutrition status, and health. The session will explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on public discourse around public health, and will discuss current efforts to advance food and nutrition policy and improve public health. This session is part of the College of Public Health’s National Public Health Week 2021 event series and is open to the public free of charge.
Registration: Here
Eat the Rainbow: Growing Food at Home in Urban/Suburban Environments
Organized By: Out Professionals
When: Thursday, April 8, 7-8:30 PM EDT
Length: 90 minutes
About: In this virtual event, created by the country’s leading LGBTQ networking organization, participants will learn innovative and sustainable ways to grow food at home with little or no prior experience. Led by Mary Wetherwill, CEO and Co-founder of Green Food Solutions, the event will also discuss the benefits of hydroponic farming and will explore ways to empower local food systems in urban and suburban areas.
Registration: Here
Food for Thought | The Green Space X MOFAD Presents: Caribbean Chinese Fried Rice: An Afro-Asian Diaspora Story
Organized By: The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) and The Green Space
When: Thursday, April 8, 8-9:30 PM EDT
Length: 90 minutes
About: Join MOFAD and The Green Space in collaboration with the Afro-Asia Group and Junzi 君子 Kitchen for an online event exploring Afro-Asain foodways. The session will include a lecture, conversation, and cooking demo featuring Cornell University Professor Tao Leigh Goffe and Chef Lucas, who will discuss the crossroads of Black diaspora and Asain diaspora cuisines, tracing the hidden history of Asain and Black disaporic peoples who worked together on plantations throughout the Western Hemisphere, unpacking the history of fried rice in the Caribbean, and cooking up two varieties of the dish in a cooking demo.
Registration: Here
Family Farm Volunteer Day at The Battery Urban Farm
Organized By: The Battery Conversancy
When: Saturday, April 10, 9 AM to 12 PM EDT
Length: Three hours
About: Participants in this in-person event will join staff to carry out spring farm tasks including, planting, spreading mulch, harvesting, and more. The event is recommended for families with children 5 years and up, though younger siblings are welcome. COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place.
Registration: Here
Within Reach: Zero Hunger Conference
Organized By: The Deaton Institute for University Leadership in International Development at the University of Missouri
When: Monday, April 12, 8:30 AM to 6 PM CDT; Tuesday, April 13, 9 AM to 4 PM CDT; Wednesday, April 14, 9 AM to 6 PM CDT; and Thursday, April 5, 9 AM to 3:30 PM CDT
Length: Four days.
About: The Institute’s inaugural conference, whose theme is Zero Hunger, will explore food security through presentations and panels featuring renowned World Food Prize Laureates, international food security powerhouses including Catherine Bertini and Roger Thurow, scientists, business executives, and more. The event is geared towards students but open to all.
Registration: Here
Women in Food Security Leadership Panel
Organized By: The Deaton Institute for University Leadership in International Development at the University of Missouri
When: Wednesday, April 14, 10-11 AM CDT
Length: One hour
About: This panel on women in food security leadership will be moderated by The Food Tank’s Danielle Nierenberg, and will feature panelists Barbara Stinson, President of the World Food Prize Foundation; Tjada McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps; and Katie Fitzgerald, COO of Feeding America. The event is one of the many highly anticipated sessions to be included in the Institute’s inaugural Within Reach Conference. The event is geared towards students, but open to all.
Registration: Here
Can I Eat That? A Monthly Storytime with Joshua David Stein
Organized By: The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)
When: Saturday, April 17, 1-1:30 PM EDT
Length: 30 minutes
About: Join acclaimed writer Joshua David Stein for a family-friendly virtual storytime featuring books about food. The event is recommended for children 3-7 years old and is part of a monthly series. Joshua David Stein is the author of children’s books and cookbooks, including children’s titles Can I Eat That? and What’s Cooking?, and his forthcoming cookbook, Cooking for Your Kids.
Registration: Here
Climate Starves: Hunger & the Climate Crisis
Organized By: The World Food Program USA
When: Wednesday, April 21, 12-1 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: Join the World Food Program USA for an exploration of the impact climate change has on global food systems and hunger, and proposed solutions for strengthening community resilience to climate shocks. The event will be moderated by Femi Oke, an award-winning international journalist, broadcaster and co-founder of the booking agency Moderate the Panel, and will feature a panel discussion.
Registration: Registration opening soon, information here
Seed Stories: Indigenous Seed Saving, Sovereignty, and Stewardship
Organized By: The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)
When: Thursday, April 22, 7-8 PM EDT
Length: One hour
About: This free Earth Day event will trace the historical and contemporary practices of seed saving by Indigenous North Americans. The webinar will include a panel discussion among five Indigenous seed savers on seed-saving stewardship, exploring Indigeneous relationships with the environment, and the complications that go along with preserving cultural practices and honoring sacred traditions.
Registration: Here
International Conference on Growing Urban Agriculture and Food Policy Plan
Organized By: The International Research Conference
When: April 22 to April 23, exact time TBA
Length: Two days
About: The International Conference on Growing Urban Agriculture and Food Policy Plan is an interdisciplinary forum bringing together scientists, researchers, and scholars to present new advances in and research on urban agriculture and food policy. The deadline for submitting a proposal to present has passed, but you can still join the event as a listener.
Registration: Here
Stop Food Waste: Driving Awareness to Fight Food Waste
Organized By: The Food Tank and the Compass Group
When: Wednesday, April 28, 2 PM to 3:30 PM EDT
Length: 90 minutes
About: Join the Food Tank and the Compass Group for a free virtual event featuring more than 25 leaders in discussion about solutions to food waste and food loss. Featured speakers include, Eric Adams, Borough President of Brooklyn; Jean Buzby, USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison; Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Danielle Nierenberg, President of the Food Tank; U.S. Representatives Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and numerous chefs, activists, educators, and more.
Registration: Here
