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NGFN Webinars

Our monthly NGFN interactive webinars give you the opportunity to learn and connect with on-the-ground practitioners and experts. Below you'll find archives of past webinars available for viewing, and information and registration for upcoming webinars.

Please note: NGFN webinars take place the third Thursday of each month, 3:30-4:45 ET (unless otherwise noted).

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2010

 

2009

September 16, 2010: Towards Local and Regional Sourcing - Sysco and Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a $4.6 billion dollar business. Sysco Corporation is the largest broad-line distributor in the United States, worth over $18 billion dollars.
Both of these corporations are working to source more of their food locally and regionally. Driven in part by consumer demand an din part by a corporate commitment to the triple bottom line, these are part of the vanguard of large businesses reversing the trend of the globalized food system.

You will hear about the challenges and successes of these two mega-corporations adjusting their purchasing.

Register to reserve your space

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August 19, 2010: Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center

Please visit the full webinar page for presenter bios, slides and written questions and answers from the presentation.

The Wallace Center, national coordinating organization for the National Good Food Network, is the recipient of the USDA/NIFA Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development (HUFED) Center grant.


This webinar presents the aims and progress of this groundbreaking program. Two sub-grant recipients introduce you to their programs, and in particular how they plan to use their recently-granted funds. Finally we give you the first look at the Wallace Center's plans for accepting submissions for the second round of grants, including our refined program focus.

PRESENTERS

John Fisk and Michelle Frain Muldoon, Wallace Center at Winrock International
Brett Melone, Agricultural and Land Based Training Association (ALBA)
Mike Curtin and Brian MacNair , DC Central Kitchen

 

Other Resources:

Learn more about the HUFED Center.

 

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July 15, 2010: Building Local Government Support for Good Food

Local governments can be powerful partners for changing the food system. As the Good Food and local food movements continue to gain momentum and visibility, local officials are becoming more interested in how these initiatives can help their communities.  Mark Winne, author of “Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty” and top national expert on Food Policy Councils has a wealth of experience to share about local policy work as a tool for food system change.

What are the best ways to approach local officials and build partnerships with them over time?  What types of strategies are most effective for Food Policy Councils and local food policy initiatives? What kind of impacts can they have on the food system and the community?

Mark will give you a crash course on how to be most effective in your efforts, and Paul Hubbard will share successes and lessons learned from the Community Food & Agriculture Coalition in Missoula, MT. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Learn from the successes of others.

Visit the full webinar page for presenter biographies, answers to questions asked during the webinar & presentation slides.

 

 

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June 17, 2010: School Food FOCUS

School Food FOCUS is a national initiative that helps participating school districts with 40,000 or more students to procure more healthful, more sustainably produced and regionally sourced food.

The program director of School Food FOCUS will present an overview of the organization, including services they provide, followed by an in-depth case study of the highly successful Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) project. This case study will be presented from two perspectives - that of the nutrition services purchasing analyst, and also from the community partner, a role that FOCUS contends is crucial to finding success. We'll close the webinar with some perspective on avenues of collaboration between the National Good Food Network and School Food FOCUS.

Presenters

  • Kathy Lawrence, Program Director, School Food FOCUS
  • Jim Groskopf, Nutrition Services Purchasing Analyst, Saint Paul Public Schools
  • JoAnne Berkenkamp, Program Director for Local Foods, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)

 

Visit the full webinar page for presenter biographies, presentation slides, written Q&A.

 

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May 20, 2010: Linking Diverse Communities Through Healthy Food: Examples from Metropolitan Areas 

How can an organization most effectively find long term success when working with diverse communities?

This webinar brings together several presenters who care passionately about both good food and working with diverse cultures. They share how they have found success in different projects, with a focus on illustrating general best practices by using specific examples.You'll hear practical advice from these dynamic thought and action leaders.

Presentations from Karen Washington and Owen Taylor from Just Food, Diana Copeland from the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, and Kolu Zigbi from the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation.

This webinar was brought to you in collaboration with the Community Food Security Coalition.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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May 6, 2010: Building Regional Food Systems, Part 2: Creating Networks and Measuring Impacts

Richard Pirog, Associate Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, presents on two of the Leopold Center’s major projects:

Creating Networks:
Value Chain Partnerships is an Iowa-based network of food and agriculture working groups which brings together a diverse ensemble of producers, processors, and private, non-profit, and government organizations across a variety of market-driven food and agriculture issues. Currently supporting six state-wide and regional working groups, the working groups operate using a community of practice framework, which has been pivotal to their success. Learn about the Value Chain Partnerships, and how the community of practice framework has been so successful in bridging the differences between such a diverse group of participants to deliver benefits to farmers and food business networks and communities.

Measuring Impacts:
A just-released analysis from the Leopold Center* and analyzed by ISU researcher Dave Swenson estimated potential state and regional economic values associated with increased production of fresh fruit and vegetables in a six-state area of the Upper Midwest. Both scenarios in the study showed that reasonable increases in fruit and vegetable production would significantly increase the number of jobs at the farm and retail level compared to current agricultural land use. You’ll hear some details of the findings, as well as the methods used to determine impacts.

* in collaboration with regional partners who participated in the Wallace Center’s Upper Midwest Regional Lead Team

Read the recently released study:press release, or the full report.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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Apr 15, 2010: Building Regional Food Systems, Part 1: Foundational Definitions and the Northeast

What is a regional food system? What makes it different from a local, national or global food food system?

Regional food thinkers Kathy Ruhf and Kate Clancy present some new ideas about regional food systems, along with recent efforts the Northeast has made to understand and strengthen its food system. They will share the results of a large survey of regionally focused food value chains, and talk about how a broad regional network is supporting cross-sector food system development in the Northeast.

Please see the presenters' recently published article "Is Local Enough? Some Arguments for Regional Food Systems" in the latest Choices Magazine.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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Mar 18, 2010: Linking Diverse Communities Through Healthy Food: Examples from the Southwest

The Southwest US is a diverse and culturally rich region with many small farms, but it also has high rates of poverty and food insecurity.  Hear from innovative National Good Food Network Regional Lead Team projects in the Southwest that are linking diverse communities, supporting local economies, and increasing access to healthy food in ways that build on the region’s cultural traditions of the region.

Paula Garcia, Executive Director of the New Mexico Acequia Association will set the context by describing the cultural, social, and agricultural characteristics of the Southwest.

Don Bustos is Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee - New Mexico. A farmer himself (New Mexico farmer of the year in 2006), and board member of the National Immigrant Farming Initiative, Don has a deep understanding of how to support diverse farmers in attaining great success. Don will describe an innovative program that trains beginning farmers to provide food to the Albuquerque Public Schools. This comprehensive model, which involves everything from farm planning to aggregation networks, is being replicated in both rural and urban areas.

Pam Roy, Co-director of Farm to Table in New Mexico and regional Farm to School lead, is a leader and connector of good food programs in the Southwest. Pam will discuss how to create systems change by linking various elements, including on-the-ground food system work, infrastructure development, and state policy advocacy.  She also will address broader food access issues in the region, links with economic development, and the importance of networks in diverse communities.

Janie Hipp is currently a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the USDA in the Office of Tribal Relations, and has served in USDA in several other roles as well. Janie will speak about the USDA resources and grants available for work with Native Americans and other historically excluded and underserved populations.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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Feb 18, 2010: Third-Party Certification

In our current era of long value chains, it is impossible for consumers to know all of the practices used to grow and process the food they eat. Third-party food certifiers can ensure that the food in our food system conforms to standards on a multitude of dimensions.

Scott Exo, Executive Director of the Food Alliance, a premier certifier of good food, will address some of the pros and cons of third party certification. Peter Truitt, president of the renown Truitt Brothers, a certified cannery, and Alison Dennis, Director of Supply Chain Management of The Holland Inc. (better known as Burgerville, its chain of restaurants) will explain why they chose to get certified, their experience going through the process, and most importantly, how it has affected their bottom line. You will also have an opportunity to ask your questions of the panel.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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BONUS WEBINAR:
Feb 11, 2010: Building the Supply of Healthy Foods – Experiences and Tools from the Field

Demand for organic and sustainably produced food has been growing rapidly for nearly two decades.  In the past several years there has been a comparable surge in demand for locally or regional produced food.  For many regions of the country, however, building a supply to meet that growing demand has proven to be very challenging.  In response, a number of innovative organizations and businesses have launched or expanded “value chains” to increase the supply and availability of healthy, sustainably produced foods in their region.

In this webinar, NGFN Advisory Council member Anthony Flaccavento shares the results of a survey of these innovative value chain organizations, highlighting common challenges and strategies employed, as well as unique approaches some have developed.  A sampling of the experiences of nearly two dozen groups, in Appalachia, the Northeast, the Midwest and other regions are offered in the form of short case studies, and a recently completed Tool kit for building value chains will be briefly described.

The National Good Food Network and the Central Appalachian Network co-sponsored this webinar  with support from the Ford Foundation’s Institute for International Education.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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January 21, 2010: Community Food Enterprise

To many, local food is exclusively about proximity, with consumers demanding higher quality food grown, caught, processed, cooked, and sold by people they know and trust. But an equally important part of local food is local ownership of food businesses. An innovative recent report looks at the full range of locally owned businesses involved in food, whether they are small or big, whether they are primary producers or manufacturers or retailers, whether their focus is local or global markets. We call these businesses community food enterprises (CFEs).

A detailed field report on the performance of 24 CFEs, half inside the United States and half international, the project shows that CFEs represent a huge diversity of legal forms, scales, activities, and designs. Are CFEs replicable?  The authors believe the answer is “yes,” especially if the successful strategies revealed in their study are widely communicated and adopted.

To that end, John Fisk, Director of the Wallace Center at Winrock International and CFE co-project director will lay the foundation of the discussion by explaining the origins and underlying assumptions of the study. Lead author and co-director of the study, Michael Shuman, Director of Research and Economic Development at Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), will present the major findings of the work, with a particular emphasis on scaling up good food domestically. To ground the theory with the practical, Mike Lorentz, visionary co-owner of Lorentz Meats (one of the featured CFEs), will present the story of how it is possible to be highly successful while serving the seemingly competing needs of large and small ranchers. In addition to other high praise, his meat processing plant’s commitment to transparency and humane slaughter earned commendation in Michael Pollen’s book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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December 17, 2009: An Introduction to the  National Farm to School Network

The National Farm to School Network aims to bring local and regional food directly from farms to school cafeterias across the country. Learn the latest about the important and synergistic efforts of one of the NGFN’s new partner organizations.

The webinar will cover key aspects of farm to school initiatives that are getting more good food to more students, all over the country. Leaders of the National Farm to School organization will describe their strategies, the network and the services they provide and update us on recent Congressional activity. A representative from USDA’s farm to school “tactical team” will talk about how they are supporting farm to school efforts and how USDA has prioritized the farm to school concept.
 
You’ll also hear a practical case study of the creation and expansion of a farm to school program presented by the lead of that program—once a skeptic!

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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November 19, 2009: Good Food at Retail - Models of Success

Moderator: Warren King, Principal, WellSpring LTD
Panelists: Vanessa Zajfen, Center for Food Justice Occidental College; Ruffin Slater, Weaver Street Market Coop; Mike Orf, Hy-Vee, Inc.

Getting more good food into retail is a priority.  According to USDA-ERS over 90% of the food that Americans consume at home is purchased at retail outlets.

In this month's webinar you'll hear the details on innovative approaches to getting more good food into retail channels of very different kinds, including a mid-size regional retail chain (200 stores), a three-store cooperative and a WIC-only store.   We'll cover topics such as: making connections with local producers and cooperatives, food safety, challenges in starting programs and how our panelists have overcome them, marketing good food in the store, and metrics for measuring success.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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October 15, 2009: NGFN and Food Safety - An Interactive Briefing

Food safety is one of the most critical and fastest moving topics in food systems today. The National Good Food Network Food Safety Coordinator, Steve Warshawer, will lead an interactive briefing with some of the leaders of the charge to ensure that small- and mid-sized producers are treated fairly as new laws are formed.

This Cluster Call will include up-to-the-minute reports from Aimee Witteman, executive director, and Ferd Hoefner, policy director, of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) on current Congressional food safety bills (HR.2749 and S.510), and from Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch (FWW), on the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA) hearings. Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) will present a working alternative to the food safety system being debated by the federal government. There will be time for all of the presenters to answer your questions.

If you are working with producers, buyers or processors, or supporting the interests of local food systems and small- and mid-size producers, you won’t want to miss this Cluster Call.

 Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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September 17, 2009: Programs and Funding Opportunities from the USDA

Participants in the National Good Food Network had a unique opportunity to communicate directly with several key people at the USDA about upcoming funding opportunities. Debra Tropp, Branch Chief, Marketing Services Division, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service moderated a panel of grant managers from across USDA agencies.

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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August 20, 2009: Innovations in Value Chain Infrastructure - Red Tomato

Michael Rozyne, Co-Director, Red Tomato

Red Tomato, a small nonprofit business in Massachusetts, is the marketing agent for a network of 40 mid-size farms in the Northeast. Red Tomato orchestrates their supply into more than 200 supermarkets in the greater Boston area, and as of recently, in the greater NYC metro area. To satisfy farms and deliver high-quality produce to distributors, Red Tomato's value-added strategy is to differentiate products, or decommodify them, through branding, local and farm identity, packaging, variety choice and diversity, eco certification, aggregation, and through intense focus on quality control to maximize flavor and freshness.

Can Red Tomato build a regional supply chain that maintains the highest quality, and satisfies both farmers and consumers alike? This cluster call (webinar) will explore this question as well as some of the contradictions in the system, such as seasonality vs. the year-round supply that is required to compete in the produce industry.

 Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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July 16, 2009: NGFN/Sysco Partnership

The July NGFN Cluster Call features the project leads of the NGFN/Sysco Partnership. First, they’ll share learning specific to the growers’ and buyers’ perspectives, and then talk about ongoing issues around food safety. Afterwards, Joe Colyn, Project Coordinator, will moderate a Q&A session.

Moderator: Joe Colyn, NGFN/Sysco Project Coordinator
Project Manager, Sysco Grand Rapids: Denis Jennisch (Produce Manager, Sysco Grand Rapids)
Co-Project Managers, Sysco Kansas City: Diana Endicott (Owner, Good Natured Family Farms) and Otavio Silva (The Food Conservancy and Buy Fresh Buy Local Kansas City)

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources

 

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June 11, 2009: Aggregation/Distribution: Appalachian Sustainable Development

Anthony Flaccavento discusses the history and context of ASD, focusing on Appalachian Harvest, a model of an "Entrepreneurial Non Profit", followed by Q&A

Watch the recording, and browse other webinar resources


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