The Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee hosted the Food Security Summit to “put food on the table,” and begin to address many of our region’s most pressing issues — including hunger, poverty, obesity, land use, development and the depletion of natural resources — through their connection to food.
To open the state’s first Food Security Summit on Feb. 16, Mayor Karl Dean addressed the crowd of almost 300 farmers, chefs, retailers, health and service providers, gardeners and interested citizens. The event started a community dialogue about connections between food, farming, health, economic development and the environment.
Listen to podcasts of the sessions:
Health Impacts of our Food System Moderator: Mary Kate Mouser, Director, Children’s Health Improvement and Prevention, Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Panelists: Tracy F. Buck, MS, RD, Director for the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Division for the Metro Public Health Department
Sarah White, State Director, School Nutrition Program, vision of Resources & Support Services, TN Department of Education
Barbara Clinton, Director, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services
Anthony Flaccavento Founder and Director, Appalachian Sustainable Development
Alternative Markets for Accessing Healthy Foods Moderator: Jeff Themm, Director, Nashville Farmers’ Market
Panelists: Will Uhlhorn, Executive Chef, F. Scott’s
Tallahassee May, Turnbull Creek Farm
Paul Bela, Hill and Hollow Farm
Keynote Address Moderator: Joyce Searcy, President & CEO, Bethlehem Centers of Nashville
Keynote Panelists:Anthony Flaccavento, Founder and Director, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Abingdon, VA;
Preston Maring, Associate Physician in Chief, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA
Barriers to Food Access in Middle Tennessee Moderator: Leslie Speller Henderson, Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension
Panelists: Darcy Freedman, MPH, Vanderbilt University Program in Community Research and Action
Sandria Godwin, PhD, RD, Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research, Tennessee State University
Flora Wilson, Organized Neighbors of Edgehill
Environmental Impacts of our Food System Moderator: Sarah Bellos, Co-Founder, Nashville Urban Harvest and ASK Apparel
Panelists: Marcus Kerske, Co-Owner, Gardens of Babylon
Kimberlie Cole, Organic Founder, West Wind Farms
Dave Keiser, Program Director, Cumberland Region Tomorrow
The Power of Policy & The Reality of Food Moderator: Jennifer Hagan-Dier, Assistant Commissioner, Liaison to Department of Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Department of Revenue
Panelists:Dianne Killebrew, Registered Dietitian and Packaging Innovation Specialist Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Dietetic Internship Program
Avi Poster, Community Activist/Education Consultant
Megan Macaraeg, Director, Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice
Contact: Sarah Bellos (615) 322-5638