Conference Tracks
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Food Systems
Mini-Plenary: MP 1.2: Global and Local Institutions Mobilizing for Food System Changes that Impact Health
Sustainable, secure and equitable food systems are central to health and well being. Efforts to reduce childhood obesity can be strengthened with attention to the fundamental role that food systems play in establishing the availability and cost of certain food. Yet, too often, obesity prevention practitioners fail to incorporate food system changes in their strategic planning. Similarly, food system actors ignore the health implications of the current food system and the benefits that a sustainable system might produce. This panel will explore emerging global opportunities from leaders in the field who are trying to forge integrated strategies across health and wellbeing and food systems.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Gary Cohen, President and Co-Founder, Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth
Speaker submitted biosketch
Gary Cohen is the President and Co-Founder of Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth, which were created to transform the health care sector to be environmentally sustainable and serve as anchor institutions to support environmental health in their communities. He is on the Boards of the American Sustainable Business Council, Health Leads, and Coming Clean. His notable awards include the 2013 Champion of Change Award for Climate Change and Public Health from the White House; and the Game Changer in Healthy Living from The Huffington Post. Mr. Cohen has also received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Frank Hatch Award for enlightened public service, and an Environmental Merit Award from the New England Office of the EPA in recognition of exceptional work and commitment to the environment. He is also an Ashoka Fellow.
Ambassador Betty King, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Commissioner, WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity
Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
Speaker submitted biosketch
Ruth Richardson is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, a new alliance of foundations committed to leveraging their resources to help shift food and agriculture systems towards greater sustainability, security, and equity. With a background and deep expertise in philanthropy, she is the founding principal of Open Blue Consulting which works with both new and more established organizations deeply committed to developing powerful strategies to tackle some of the most pressing global, national, and local problems of our time. Prior to these endeavours, Ruth was the first Environment Program Director at the Metcalf Foundation, which has been a cornerstone of sustainable food systems work in Ontario, Canada. As well, she was the first Director of the Unilever Canada Foundation, the founding Chair of the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network, and has served on the advisory committee of Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation committed to building a regional local food system that supports Greenbelt farmers and agricultural innovation. Ruth is also the Co-Founder of Small Change Fund, a micro-philanthropy platform which aims to build a stronger, more resilient grassroots movement in Canada.
Wendelin Slusser, Associate Vice Provost and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dr. Wendy Slusser is Associate Vice Provost for the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative and HS Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Co-Founder and Medical Director of the UCLA Fit for Healthy Weight program. Dr. Slusser graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University, received her Medical Degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and her Masters Degree in Science from the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University. She completed her internship and residency in Pediatrics at Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Dr. Slusser joined the UCLA faculty in 1996 and over the past 18 years has been a leader in community, school, clinic, and family based programs related to health promotion, infant and child nutrition and physical fitness.
Moderator: Marion Standish, Vice President, Enterprise Programs, The California Endowment
Speaker submitted biosketch
Marion Standish joined The California Endowment with an extensive legal and philanthropic background. As Vice President, Enterprise Programs, she is responsible for managing resources that will support collaboration and alignment across all TCE Departments to achieve TCE’s mission and Building Health Communities goals and outcomes. Standish leads multiple philanthropic partnerships, provides strategic guidance to Impact Investing activities, and works closely with TCE’s Chief Learning Officer to achieve organizational goals. Standish serves as lead officer for the Endowment with the Partnership For A Healthier America, The First Lady’s Let’s Move Initiative, California’s Let’s Get Healthy effort and the National Convergence Partnership. Previously, Standish was Senior Advisor to the President of The California Endowment and the Director of Community Health where she oversaw multiple grantmaking initiatives focused on transforming communities to reduce inequities and improving health. She played a key role in developing and implementing for many TCE signature initiatives, including the Partnership For the Public’s Health, Community Action To Fight Asthma and Healthy Eating Active Communities. Before joining The Endowment, Standish was founder and director of California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), a statewide nutrition and health research and advocacy organization focusing on access to nutritious food for low-income families. Before launching CFPA, she served as director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a statewide advocacy organization focusing on health, education and labor issues facing farmworkers and the rural poor. She began her career as a staff attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, a federally funded legal services program. Standish received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, and both her M.A. and undergraduate degrees from New York University.
Presentations/Handouts
WS 1.4: Collective Action: The Need for Multi-Sectoral Collaboration to Create a Healthy Food System
This session takes a look at organizational and governmental policy working together to reshape local food systems. Explore healthy food policy innovations in small retail, hospitals, and cities. This session will highlight replicable best practices, challenges, and successes in bringing together diverse stakeholders for change.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Nancy Bragado, Deputy Director, Long Range Planning, City of San Diego
Speaker submitted biosketch
Nancy Bragado is the Deputy Planning Director for the City of San Diego. Nancy currently oversees the City’s Long-Range Planning Division. She has over 25 years of planning experience including managing the City’s General Plan Update. In prior years, Nancy served as the planning liaison between the City of San Diego and the former Metropolitan Transit Development Board, where she was involved in regional transit planning and transit-joint development projects. Ms. Bragado has a Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University.
Colin Cureton, Food Systems Director, Community Health Improvement Partners
Speaker submitted biosketch
As the Food Systems Director of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative, Colin works with schools, hospitals, distributors, farmers, and numerous partners to increase the availability of healthy, local food in San Diego County. Prior to this Colin has advanced food systems change through a dynamic range of roles based in community, universities, public policy, consulting, movement building, and philanthropy. He holds a Masters in Public Policy (M.P.P) concentrating in food policy and a Masters in Applied Economics (M.S.).
Kristen Klingler, Senior Public Health Specialist, Minneapolis Health Department
Speaker submitted biosketch
Kristen Klingler is a Senior Public Health Specialist with the Minneapolis Health Department. Ms. Klingler coordinates initiatives that increase healthy food availability in corner stores, food shelves, emergency meal programs and restaurants, with an emphasis on serving low-income populations and communities of color. Ms. Klingler led the development and successful passage of significant amendments to the Minneapolis Staple Foods ordinance, an innovative policy requiring more than 250 licensed food retailers to stock nutritious foods including fresh fruits and vegetables.
Anchi Mei, Senior Program Manager, International Rescue Committee
Speaker submitted biosketch
Anchi Mei, AICP possesses over 10 years of experience in program design, implementation and evaluation with an emphasis on under-served and vulnerable populations. She currently manages one of IRC’s largest, most high-profile programs, including community gardens, incubator farms, farmers’ markets, market incentive projects, school gardens, refugee nutrition education and technical assistance for local procurement and agricultural planning for cities. Previously, she managed urban design and community planning projects for MIG, Inc. Anchi holds a BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University and two Master’s degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture.
Moderator: John Young, Agricultural Commissioner , Yolo County Department of Agriculture
Speaker submitted biosketch
John Young, Yolo County's Agricultural Commissioner, is a firm believer in local food sourcing and is a strong steward of the agricultural resources of Yolo County. He has been working in the food system for 25 years and has extensive experience working with farmers. He was the recipient of a California Specialty Crop Block Grant supporting Yolo County’s farm to school efforts. He is also part of Congressman Garamendi’s Agricultural Taskforce. He seeks every opportunity to forward the interests of Yolo County and its diverse communities, while always striving to protect and promote Yolo County’s agriculture for future generations.
Presentations/Handouts
WS 2.6: Going to Scale with “California Thursdays” - 42 School Districts Serving Fresh Food
This session introduces California Thursdays, a program to serve healthy, freshly prepared school meals featuring California-grown foods. California Thursdays simultaneously addresses obesity, food insecurity, environmental sustainability, and community economics through school food. This session will highlight the 2014 rollout (15 districts serving 190 million meals annually) and the program’s expansion.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Adam Kesselman, Rethinking School Lunch Program Manager, Center for Ecoliteracy
Speaker submitted biosketch
As Rethinking School Lunch program manager at the Center for Ecoliteracy (CEL), Adam works with over twenty school districts to serve more freshly prepared, locally sourced food through California Thursdays, a project of CEL. He is closely involved with national campaigns including School Food FOCUS and Farm to School. Adam founded The Lunch Trust, a consultancy dedicated to crafting a better food system through strategy and innovation. As co-owner of Acre Gourmet, he endeavored to build and support a strong food culture among Bay Area youth. As a restaurant owner and caterer, he supported local producers and highlighted their products.
Bob Knight, Founder, Inland Orange Conservancy and Old Grove Orange, Inc.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Bob Knight is the founder of Old Grove Orange, a food hub of 28 farmers that provides produce to school programs across southern California, including members of the California Thursdays network. A fourth-generation farmer, he was raised in an orange grove in Redlands, California. After working overseas as a telecom executive for over 20 years, he returned to Redlands to manage the family farm and founded Inland Orange Conservancy to protect small orange growers and preserve the citrus-growing heritage of California's Inland Empire.
Wendelin Slusser, Associate Vice Provost and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dr. Wendy Slusser is Associate Vice Provost for the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative and HS Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Co-Founder and Medical Director of the UCLA Fit for Healthy Weight program. Dr. Slusser graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University, received her Medical Degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and her Masters Degree in Science from the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University. She completed her internship and residency in Pediatrics at Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Dr. Slusser joined the UCLA faculty in 1996 and over the past 18 years has been a leader in community, school, clinic, and family based programs related to health promotion, infant and child nutrition and physical fitness.
Moderator: Frederick Espinosa, Food Service Manager, Acquisition & Production, San Diego Unified School District
Presentations/Handouts
WS 3.4: Linking Farms to Schools through Innovative Strategies and Procurement Practices
Often the most challenging aspect of creating a local farm to school program is linking the farms to the schools and creating a common language between the two. In this workshop we will discuss current practices used by school districts, farmers and nonprofits to make those connections and educate students and the communities. When you leave this workshop you will have learned, new strategies in developing local relationships around the food system; be able to describe the function and benefits of working with local producers to improve school meals and benefit the local economy; and be able to establish goals for next steps to increase purchases of locally grown and produced foods.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Matthew Belasco, Director of Child Nutrition Services, Pittsburg Unified School District
Speaker submitted biosketch
Matthew is the current Director of Child Nutrition Services for the Pittsburg Unified School District. During his tenure at PUSD he has led the department in receiving 13 Healthier US School Challenge Awards and a USDA Farm to School grant, which allowed the department to expand school gardens and increase local procurement. Mr. Belasco has initiated and maintained successful collaborations with local and state agencies and community based organizations. Mr. Belasco’s career has also included work at Tracy and Stockton Unified School Districts, Head Start, and private restaurants. Overall Mr. Belasco has over 25 years in the food service field.
Stephanie Bianco, Associate Professor, Assistant Director, Center for Healthy Communities
Speaker submitted biosketch
Stephanie Bianco is Assistant Director at CSU, Chico's Center for Healthy Communities (CHC - formerly CNAP) and Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science. Her area of expertise is program management and food safety training. Currently, Stephanie oversees 20+ CHC programs and her research interests include food addiction and weight management, local policy change via youth engagement and farmer food safety training. She co-authored HACCP Fundamentals, a food safety text and certificate program and has 20+ peer-reviewed publications.
Jake Brimlow, Assistant Professor, California State University, Chico
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dr. Jake Brimlow is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Business in the CSU, Chico College of Agriculture. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from North Carolina State University. His research focuses on improving the profitability and economic resiliency of agricultural producers by identifying and developing market opportunities, particularly for small- and medium-sized producers. Dr. Brimlow has worked on several projects aimed at assessing barriers to local food sales and developing strategies to remove those barriers, including a randomized survey of local growers and development of a regional food hub. Dr. Brimlow’s largest and most recent grant project is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant designed to assess how gaps in food safety knowledge and certification are limiting local intermediated food markets, such as sales between local growers and restaurants, school districts, and hospitals.
Kacie O'Brien, Farm to School Lead, Western Region, USDA Food and Nutrition Service
Speaker submitted biosketch
Kacie is the USDA Farm to School Lead for the Western Region and has worked on school programs at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service since August 2010. Kacie holds a BA from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Health Science focused on child and adolescent health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Moderator: Pamela Lambert, Director Nutrition Services, Oceanside Unified School District
Presentations/Handouts
WS 4.4: A Food Bank Employee, a Farmer, and a Physician Walk into a Bar: Hear How Different Stakeholders are Strategizing to Address Health for Charitable Food Recipients
This session will highlight several local and national initiatives that are linking farm fresh produce to food bank recipients; connecting with diabetes counseling and referral services offered at local food pantries; and developing and using nutrition policies to spark organizational change amongst food bank employees. Panel members include a local farmer, food bank employee, public health anti-hunger advocate and a researcher to showcase how they are uniquely working to address the health of charitable food recipients.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Thaddeus Barsotti was born on his family farm, Capay Organic. Barsotti’s mother, Kathy, started the farm’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and produce delivery program, Farm Fresh To You, in 1992. Today, Farm Fresh To You feeds thousands of California families in Northern and Southern California. A well-spoken and passionate advocate for local and sustainable food systems, Barsotti leads classes for future farmers, participates in panels and is an industry expert on progressive change for food systems. Barsotti spoke at the 7th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference on the topic of “Policy to Planting: Regional Partnerships Building A Local, Viable Food System.”
Elizabeth Campbell, Associate Specialist, Nutrition Policy Institute, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Speaker submitted biosketch
Elizabeth Campbell is a Food Security and Nutrition Consultant. Elizabeth also is a specialist at the Nutrition Policy Institute where she has focused on research and technical assistance related to improving the nutrition quality of foods distributed through the charitable food network. Elizabeth worked for the Food Bank of Central New York for several years and held many positions during her tenure. As the Director of Internal Operations, she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Food Bank including programming, outreach, nutrition education, and warehousing. As the Nutrition Resource Manager, she led the team that developed and implemented the first nutrition policy for donated foods in the food bank network. She is a registered dietitian.
James Floros, President & CEO, Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank
Speaker submitted biosketch
Jim Floros joined the Food Bank from the Burn Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing fire and burn injuries and deaths, where he served as executive director and CEO from 1992 to 2012. Before that, Floros served as director of community relations at the world headquarters of Project Concern International, a development agency that provides clean drinking water and immunizations in the poorest regions of the world.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Michelle Marshall, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian and the Director of Nutrition at Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the U.S. She brings both domestic and international nutrition program and research experience to this role. In her nearly 6 years at Feeding America, Michelle has developed national health and nutrition strategies, built key strategic partnerships with leading health and nutrition research experts and organizations and has led critical shifts in food banking to incorporate a focus on both improved nutrition and health. Prior to joining Feeding America, Michelle worked as a nutrition instructor at Kendall College and as a Dietitian at WIC in Sacramento County. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in International Development from UCLA in Los Angeles and Master’s Degree in Nutritional Science from San Jose State University. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and the American Public Health Association. In 2013, Ms. Marshall was selected as the recipient of the Hunger & Environmental Nutrition award of excellence and served as the Chair of the Academy’s House of Delegates Food and Nutrition Security Task Force
Moderator: Kenneth Hecht, Director of Policy, Nutrition Policy Institute, UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Speaker submitted biosketch
Ken Hecht is the Director of Policy at the Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, where he is responsible for helping to develop research studies and evaluations that are likely to inform and support the development of strong nutrition policy. In 2012-13, he worked as a consultant in Israel for MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and then for the Israeli National Council on Nutrition Security, which was established by the Knesset to develop nutrition policy and recommendations for key nutrition programs for the State of Israel. In 1992 he co-founded California Food Policy Advocates, a statewide nutrition policy and advocacy organization, where he served as executive director until 2012. Before that, he founded and practiced law in the Youth Law Center and Employment Law Center, two legal services organizations.
Presentations/Handouts
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