August 12-13, 2009
Purpose: In response to the rapidly increasing interest in locally-grown foods and farmers markets, Iowa State University Extension and Town/Craft are hosting a Local Food Systems Roundtable. Invited guests are planners, policy makers and leaders in Iowa’s current foods system efforts. The goal of the roundtable is to help leaders better understand how a city or region can develop a high-value local and/or regional food system. Speakers will address (1) how locally-grown foods impact economic development, (2) how to improve access of all community residents to locally-grown fresh foods and (3) how to incorporate local land-use strategies that preserve open space for local food production.
Agenda
Keynote: Michael Shuman, Vice President, Enterprise Development for the Training & Development Corporation, Bucksport, ME
Food: The Next Great Stimulus & How Iowa Can Accelerate It
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Michael Shuman, an attorney and economist, has written, co-written, or edited seven books, including most recently, The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). In recent years Shuman has been promoting local- economy concepts through a variety of projects, such as creating a small-business venture capital fund in New Mexico, launching a community-owned company in Salisbury (MD) called Bay Friendly Chicken, and organizing university- government-business collaborations in St. Lawrence County (NY) and in the Katahdin Region (ME). He has had article published in New York Times, Washington Post, Nation, Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Parade, and The Chronicle on Philanthropy. His books and articles have explored people, practices, and policies in the fields technology, national security, citizen diplomacy, municipal foreign policy, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and business development. From 1998 to the present, Shuman has worked as a contractor, sometimes independently and sometimes through the Green Policy Institute and Community Ventures, with economically disadvantaged communities to create sustainable small businesses. Shuman received an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University in 1979 and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1982.
Keynote: Mark Olinger, Director, Department of Planning & Community & Economic Development, City of Madison, WI
Land Use Strategies to Improve Local Food Systems: Supporting Access to Food Choice, Livable Neighborhoods & Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Madison, Wisconsin
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As director of the Department of Planning & Community & Economic Development of the City of Madison, Mark Olinger oversees the activities of several divisions, including Economic and Development, Building Inspection, Planning, Community Development Block Grant, Community Services, Housing Operations and Senior Center. Olinger also serves as the executive director of the Community Development Authority, which not only oversees the public housing and Section 8 programs for the City, but acts as the City’s redevelopment authority. Olinger’s urban planning experience falls in land-use planning, design, affordable housing and neighborhood initiatives. Formerly, Olinger served as a planner with the City of Dayton, Ohio, where he was responsible for transforming a once largely abandoned neighborhood to a showcase of revitalization and rebirth—and a winner of a HUD Secretary Award in 2004. Olinger has a Bachelor’s degree from New York University and a Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Keynote: Matt Russell, State Food Policy Project Coordinator, Drake Agricultural Law Center
Local and Regional Foods: Policy and Institutions
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Matt Russell is the State Food Policy Project Coordinator at Drake Agricultural Law Center. His projects have included institutional purchasing, research into Iowa’s evolving pork industry, Farm to School efforts, and the nexus of healthy eating and regional food systems. Currently he coordinates the Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign and works with farms, businesses, government agencies, and non-profits to develop opportunities for Iowa grown foods. Matt grew up on an Iowa family farm, received his B.A. from Loras College in Dubuque, and studied for the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois. He earned an M.S. in Rural Sociology from Iowa State University, with a concentration in community food systems. Matt and a partner operate Coyote Run Farm and market fresh produce, eggs and meat at farmers markets and other local outlets. He also serves on the board of the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture. Matt has worked as an organizer for Iowa Citizen Action Network and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. He taught sociology at Des Moines Area Community College and high school at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
My Month of Eating Local: A Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
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Presenter: Rob Marqusee, Woodbury County Rural Economic Development Director
Economic Forces and Trends Impacting Local Foods
Presenter: Meghan O’Brien, ISU Extension Program Specialist, Department of Economics -
Panel Discussions
- Food Miles
- Building capacity for local and regional food systems in Iowa: the Regional Food Systems Working Group
Panelist: Richard Pirog, Marketing and Food Systems Initiative Leader, ISU Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
- Economic Market Potential
- Local Food as Economic Recovery
Panelist: Ken Meter, President, Crossroads Resource Center of Minneapolis
- Land-use Planning and Zoning
- Local Food Systems as a Subject of Community Planning
Panelist: Gary Taylor, ISU Extension Planning and Development Specialist and Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Regional Planning
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