7th Annual ThinkFOOD Conference is Coming

The Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock will convene its first-ever virtual conference centered on practical takeaways for eating, shopping, and thinking about food in a greener, more sustainable way.

A media release from Bard College at Simon's Rock reports the 7th Annual ThinkFOOD Conference will be streamed on Zoom on Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4. A free, special preview event—'Kombucha and Building Community as Makers' will be held on Friday, Oct. 2. Conference tickets are $20 for access to all sessions or $10 for the keynote only. The conference is free for students. You can get more information and registration details by going here.

This year’s theme, 'Eating to Save the Planet,' will offer interactive sessions from experts in and around the Berkshires on how healthier eating can lead to the improved health of our planet. Brian Donahue, author of A New England Food Vision: Healthy Food for All, Sustainable Farming and Fishing, Thriving Communities and Associate Professor of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, will give the keynote address.

"With signs of food insecurity and climate change all around us, we want to reach for solutions,” said Professor Maryann Tebben, head of The Center for Food Studies at Simon’s Rock. “As an educational institution, Simon’s Rock has a responsibility to teach and model sustainable practices to empower the next generation. ThinkFOOD 7 hopes to connect individuals with practical ways to have a smaller impact on the planet and invites attendees to think collectively about big-picture changes we can make for the future.”

A series of panels and talks comprising local experts, scholars, and practitioners in the food and agriculture fields will offer an insider’s view on everything from greener shopping to sustainable food sourcing, waste disposal, access to food during the COVID-19 pandemic, regenerative agricultural practices, food justice, environmental law, and more.

The conference will provide attendees timely and actionable insights to become more responsible producers and consumers of food while illuminating how greater equity, justice, and community engagement in our food systems can help mitigate the increasingly dire impacts of climate change and inequitable food distribution.