ThinkFOOD Conference

Field and Forest, October 1 – 2, 2021

THANKS TO ALL WHO ATTENDED!

View Zoom recordings for sessions on Composting, agroforestry, Silvopasturing, local forestry, and the Keynote address

See full descriptions below

ThinkFOOD 2022 Details coming soon!

ThinkFOOD 2021 looks to nature for sustainable ways of feeding ourselves and softening our impact on the planet. Our workshop themes include sustainable eating from home gardens, food entrepreneurship, urban gardening, ethical foraging,agroforestry, and Berkshire-local agricultural initiatives.

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.

Register online by October 1 or email thinkfood@simons-rock.edu.

Register to attend the Conference

thinkfood panel

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

Program

Read full workshop descriptions

Read speaker bios

Friday, October 1

Special Preview Event!

“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.

View Zoom recording

Saturday, October 2

Registration: 9:30 a.m.

Registration desk open at the Fisher Science Center

Workshops: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Workshop 1: Tom Ryan, DCR Service Forester: Mushrooms at Simon’s Rock

outdoor workshop

Workshop 2: Michael Downey, State Forester: Agroforestry: Realizing the Greatest Good for Nature, Climate and Farm

View Zoom Recording

Workshop 3: Deb Roque, Justamere Tree Farm: “Why I left a conservation career to buy a farm”

outdoor workshop

Workshops: 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Workshop 4: Annie Novak, rooftop gardening, Growing Chefs.org

outdoor workshop

Workshop 5: Jeff Jourdain, Jourdain Forest Management, on silvopasturing

View Zoom Recording

Workshop 6: Shamu Sadeh: Building Identity, Community and (Re)newed Spirituality at the Adamah Farm

in-person workshop

Lunch: 12:15 - 1:15 p.m.

Conference Lunch provided by Simon’s Rock Dining Services

outdoor dining available

Workshops: 1:30 - 2:15 p.m.

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

View Zoom Recording

Workshop 9: (recommended for students) Diamonique Lundy and Kheyyon Parker of SoLo’s Food, alumni of BHSEC Newark: Eating to Live

in-person workshop

Tom Seeley at ThinkFOOD 2019

Keynote Speaker Tom Seeley of Cornell University at ThinkFOOD 2019

Zoom Session at ThinkFOOD 2020 Panelists at ThinkFOOD 2020’s Virtual Conference

Keynote Address! 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

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”

View Zoom Recording

Online registration closed

Register to attend the Conference

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”