Choose from outdoor workshops, in-person workshops, or Zoom workshops. Consult the workshop schedule for details.
In-person events will be held at the Fisher Science Center on the Simon’s Rock campus. Masks are required indoors.
The Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents our 8th annual ThinkFOOD conference with in-person and virtual workshops on Saturday, October 2, with a special preview workshop on Friday, October 1. ThinkFOOD 2021 will help you eat, garden, and think about food in a more sustainable way. We'll offer interactive sessions with practical takeaways from experts in and around the Berkshires and beyond.
Emily M. Broad Leib, Clinical Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School and author of the “Blueprint for a National Food Strategy” will give the keynote address.
The conference is free for all students. Tickets are $25 for access to all sessions or $10 for keynote only; lunch tickets are $10. Discount tickets available; please email for details. ACE credit is available for Simon’s Rock students.
Devan Arnold from Sassafras Landcare discusses designing a pollinator garden outside the Fisher Science Center at ThinkFOOD 2019
Speakers from Soul Fire Farm and Greenagers at lunch at the 2018 Conference
“Composting: Making Garden Gold” with Ronald Kujawski, horticulturist
Presenting options for a composting structure, kinds of materials to compost, how to assemble materials in a compost pile, the management of a compost pile, and ways to use finished compost for gardening.
Registration desk open at the Fisher Science Center
outdoor workshop
Workshop 2: Michael Downey, State Forester: Agroforestry: Realizing the Greatest Good for Nature, Climate and Farm
Workshop 3: Deb Roque, Justamere Tree Farm: “Why I left a conservation career to buy a farm”
outdoor workshop
Workshop 4: Annie Novak, rooftop gardening, Growing Chefs.org
outdoor workshop
Workshop 5: Jeff Jourdain, Jourdain Forest Management, on silvopasturing
Workshop 6: Shamu Sadeh: Building Identity, Community and (Re)newed Spirituality at the Adamah Farm
in-person workshop
Conference Lunch provided by Simon’s Rock Dining Services
outdoor dining available
Workshop 7: Leda Meredith, author and ethnobotanist: Foraging Wild Edible Plants of the Northeast in Autumn [begins at 1:15pm]
outdoor workshop
Workshop 8: Will Conklin, Greenagers and April Hill Conservation Center: Reconnecting Forestry and Local Agriculture: Extending Sustainability to Local Timber Resources and Supply Chains
Workshop 9: (recommended for students) Diamonique Lundy and Kheyyon Parker of SoLo’s Food, alumni of BHSEC Newark: Eating to Live
in-person workshop
Keynote Speaker Tom Seeley of Cornell University at ThinkFOOD 2019
Panelists at ThinkFOOD 2020’s Virtual Conference
By Emily M. Broad Leib, Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School. Author of the “Blueprint for a National Food Strategy”
For more information, contact Maryann Tebben, Director of the Center for Food Studies and faculty in Languages and Literature, at mtebben@simons-rock.edu.
“We want to empower attendees to learn more about Berkshire-local and regional initiatives aimed at softening our impact on the planet in the realms of agriculture, forestry, food service, and feeding ourselves.”
-Professor Maryann Tebben,
Center for Food Studies at Simon’s Rock
Interested in the 2020 conference? Watch the videos here:
ThinkFOOD 2020: Eating to Save the Planet
Panel 1: View Recording
“Shop and Eat Green” with Alana Chernila of Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Steve Browning
and Laura Rodriguez of Prairie Whale, and Nicole Galambos of Vanguard Renewables
Panel 2: View Recording
“Rethinking the Farm” with Jennifer Phillips, Assistant Professor, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Mo Constantine ’18, Masters of Sociology at Brock University, and Will Conklin, Director of Greenagers
Panel 3: View Recording
“Food Justice” with Jess Vecchia, Co-Director, Roots Rising in Pittsfield, MA, Ibrahim Ali, Co-Executive Director, Gardening the Community, Springfield, MA, and Laurie Beyranevand, Director, Center for Agriculture & Food Systems, Vermont Law School
Keynote Address: View Recording
Brian Donahue: “A New England Food Vision: Linking Food Justice, Healthier Eating, and Sustainable Farming”
Thank you to our sponsors, who helped make this conference possible:
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures
Great Barrington Agricultural Commission
Guido's Fresh Marketplace
Berkshire Grown
The Nutrition Center
Cheeses from local farms at the 2017 conference.
Student participant at ThinkFOOD 2019 workshop