Food bank conference encourages residents to rethink community food systems

The Greater Lansing Food Bank recently hosted a conference to spur conversation and grow local knowledge on how the food systems works in the community. "Growing Our Food System: Nourishing Our People II” was the second such event organized but the group.

According to excerpts from the article:

Residents of Greater Lansing interested in alternative methods of growing, distributing, processing, selling and consuming food were offered the opportunity to listen to speakers and discuss issues at a citywide conference Thursday.

“Growing Our Food System: Nourishing Our People II” was an all-day conference hosted by the Greater Lansing Food Bank at the South Washington Office Complex, 2500 S. Washington Ave., in Lansing. This is the second time the food bank has hosted such a conference.

Link said many sessions offered at the conference discussed topics such as food safety, education of youth in the food system and connecting food growers with institutions. The event also featured lunch and a speech from keynote speaker Judy Wicks. Wicks, a leader in the local living economies movement, has co-founded many businesses and organizations which use sustainable business practices, including what is now known as Urban Outfitters.

The event likely helped many people who attended sessions offered at the conference see the community’s food system in a new way, said Ann Rausher, director of the Greater Lansing Food Bank’s Garden Project.Michelle Napier-Dunnings, a local business owner who works with local, state and national food systems on a regular basis, said Wicks and other speakers at the conference gave attendees new ways to look at the issues being presented and helped motivate people to make positive changes to how they interact with the food system.

Link said he received a lot of positive verbal feedback about the conference and that there likely would be more such conferences in the future.

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