FEED BACK, Move Forward Summit Program

FEED BACKMOVE FORWARD 4th Annual Summit

www.craigardan.org

responding to 2020 February 24th 1pm-4pm 25th 8am-5pm

How do we create a fair food system? How do we build an equitable future for the North Country? And how do we move our region toward stronger and more accessible, inclusive, nutritious, and just systems for everyone?

CRAIGARDAN

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“In the space between chaos and shape there is another chance.”

— Jeanette Winterson, The World and Other Places: Stories

CONTENTS ABOUT CRAIGARDAN + FEEDBACK

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SPEAKERS + PRESENTERS

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AGENDA

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DAY 1 AFTERNOON DETAIL

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DAY 2 MORNING DETAIL

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DAY 2 AFTERNOON DETAIL

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IN TWO DAYS We will bring creative, scholarly, and frontline perspectives together into dynamic conversation.

This year’s theme reflects the urgency of inequities that 2020 laid bare and the challenges we must meet in 2021.

Day 1 we partner with the Racial Equity Institute — an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders who have devoted themselves to the work of creating racially equitable organizations and systems — to lead us in developing the tools to challenge patterns of power and grow equity.

Together we will address the intersections of food justice, racial equity, healthcare, and education in our rural region.

Day 2 we welcome Karen Washington as our keynote speaker. Since 1985, Ms. Washington has worked to make New York City a better place to live and grow. As a farmer and food justice activist, she feeds people body, mind, and spirit.

We will seek to engage active dialogue between presenters and participants, to identify obstacles, recognize successful initiatives, and engender collaborative networks.

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FEED BACK MOVE FORWARD

CRAIGARDAN Craigardan occupies the Indigenous lands and waters of the Kanienʼkehá:ka people, keepers of the Eastern Door of the Six Nations Rotinoshoni.

We acknowledge that Kanienʼkehá:ka people still safeguard the mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes of Kohserà:ke, as their ancestors had done for millennia.

We bring our minds together as one as we give our greetings and our thanks to the Kanienʼkehá:ka people and their relatives among the Six Nations for being on their land today.

We affirm our obligations to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.

We honor the Great Law of Peace and Indigenous treaties that made these life-giving spaces a shared “dish with one spoon” with Wabanaki and Anishinaabe peoples who have held these lands as sacred since time immemorial.

We recognize our Indigenous neighbors at Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, Ganienkeh Territory, Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Mohawks of Kanesatake, Oneida Indian Nation, Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi, the Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, and the Abenakis at Odanak as the original stewards of the land and their past, present, and future connections to their sacred spaces within the Adirondack Park.

We accept responsibility for deceptive land sales and broken treaties that enabled non-Native settlers to establish a farm on this Indigenous land more than two centuries ago.

We commit ourselves to healing the intergenerational traumas of colonization, racial discrimination, and environmental degradation through mutually beneficial alliances with our Indigenous neighbors to build sustainable systems that integrate the needs of human communities with the integrity of the natural world.

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4th Annual Summit

RESPONDING TO 2020

MISSION Craigardan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective.

To fulfill our mission, Craigardan supports local, national, and international artists, chefs, craftspeople, farmers, scholars, and writers through residencies, social justice initiatives, and other programs.

As a founding partner of the Food Justice Working Group, Craigardan co-organized three prior FEED BACK summits which

we continue today — expanding our exploration of dynamic systems and how to create positive change in our region.

with the Craigardan staff and board.

SPONSORS + PARTNERS

Thank You to Dan Rivera of Triple Green Jade Farm for photographing our previous three summits at The Wild Center. All photographs used in this program are in remembrance of our previous gatherings and in honor of the work that we continue to do together virtually — even during times of crisis.

Thank You to our incredible roster of sponsors and partners who have made this event possible, affordable, and accessible to all.

CORE TEAM Thank You to our core planning team members including Racey Henderson, Tatiana Abatemarco, Lynn Trizna, Nancy Gildersleeve, Brittany Christenson, Courtney Shaler, and Jori Wekin; along

PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEO

This year's virtual summit will be recorded and the video will be available to all participants after the event.

BOARD Lanse Stover, President

Mary Barringer

Andrea Volpe

David Speert, Vice-President

Allison Eddy

Frances Westley

Lorene Garrett, Treasurer

Catherine Haskins

Kate Moses, Secretary

Loren Michael Mortimer

STAFF

CONTACT

Michele Drozd, Executive Director

www.craigardan.org // info@craigardan.org 518.242.6535 9216 NYS Route 9N, Elizabethtown, NY 12932

Janelle A. Schwartz, Co-director TaraMarie Perri, Co-director

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS KAREN WASHINGTON Rise & Root Farm Farmer and Food Justice Advocate ERIN WATSON, PHD Weaving Change, LLC Principal Associate and CEO

PRESENTERS + FACILITATORS

TATIANA ABATEMARCO Bennington College

TZINTZUN AGUILAR-IZZO + BLAKE LAVIA Talking Wings Collective

ANN BENNETT Workshare Warriors at Bittersweet Farm

CATHERINE E. BENNETT Workshare Warriors at Bittersweet Farm

BRITTANY CHRISTIANSON Adk.Action

LEHUANANI DEFRANCO Uprooted & Rising

MICHELE DROZD Craigardan

CALLIE FISHBURN Bennington County Regional Commission in S. Vermont

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NANCY GILDERSLEEVE Adirondack Health Institute

ERIN GRIFFIN The Wild Center

RACEY HENDERSON Reber Rock Farm

KRISTA HESDORFER Hunger Solutions New York

MISHA MARVEL Hunger Solutions New York

MB MITCHAM Cornell Cooperative Extension

LOREN MICHAEL MORTIMER, PHD Indiana University

TARAMARIE PERRI Craigardan

LINA PUERTA Visual Artist

ELIZABETH SOBOL Saratoga Performing Arts Center

CHARLIE REINERSTEN The Wild Center

JANELLE A. SCHWARTZ, PHD COURTNEY SHALER Craigardan Adirondack Health Institute

LYNN TRIZNA Pitney Meadows Community Farm

JOSH STEPHANI Comfort Food Community

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JORI WEKIN Hub on the Hill

AGENDA AT A GLANCE DAY 1 // WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH // VIA ZOOM

AFTERNOON 1pm - 4pm GROUNDWATER SESSION Racial Equity Institute

DAY 2 // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH // VIA BEVY

MORNING 8:00 - 9:00 am

REGISTRATION Booths and Networking open Information on how to navigate the day 8:30 - 8:450 am AWAKEN Spine stretches, Tai Chi, breath, and eye preparation 9:00 - 9:15 am WELCOME REMARKS Michele Drozd, Craigardan Brittany Christianson, AdkAction 9:15 - 9:30 am FOOD + CLIMATE CHANGE Help Shape The Wild Center’s Upcoming Exhibit on Climate Change Solutions 9:30 - 10:30 am OPENING KEYNOTE Karen Washington, “Moving Beyond COVID” 10:30 - 10:45 am GATHER Shoulder/hip relief, Tai Chi, breath and eye focus 10:45 - 11:15 am SPECIAL SESSION Erin Watson, PhD, “Using Systems Thinking to Pursue Food Justice and Equity in Wellbeing” 11:15 - 12:15 am MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS Session A: The Art of Social Practice Session B: Landscapes of Inequity Session C: A Holistic Approach to Food Security Education Session D: Adirondack Food System Network 8

AFTERNOON 12:15 - 12:30 am RESTORE Gentle twists, Tai Chi, breath and eye relaxation 12:30 - 1:15 pm LUNCH Q+A With Karen Washington 1:15 - 2:00 pm AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS Session E: Expanding Food Access amid COVID-19 and Beyond Session F: Workshare Warriors: A Non-Monetary CSA Model Session G: Weaving A New Narrative Session H: Who Cares for the Caregiver?

2:00 - 2:15 pm -BREAKBooths and Networking open 2:15 - 3:05 pm CLOSING KEYNOTE Erin Watson, PhD, “Disrupting the Status Quo to Enhance Systems Change” 3:05 - 3:20 pm CLOSING REMARKS Bronwyn Starr, NYS Health Foundation Racey Henderson, Reber Rock Farm 3:20 - 4:30 pm BOOTHS + NETWORKING Booths and Networking remain open

ALL DAY BOOTHS + NETWORKING including: Adirondack Food System Network Adirondack Foundation Adirondack Health Institute ADKAction Food Justice Mapping Project A Visible Tapestry: In the Studio with Lina Puerta Pitney Meadows Community Farm The Wild Center Three Talking Wings Films

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DAY 1 AFTERNOON 1:00 - 4:00 pm

GROUNDWATER PRESENTATION The Racial Equity Institute (REI)

The Racial Equity Institute is an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders who have devoted themselves to the work of creating racially equitable organizations and systems. REI will lead us in developing the tools to challenge patterns of power and grow equity.

In this special 3-hour, pre-summit session, REI organizers will use stories and data to present a perspective that racism is fundamentally structural in nature. By examining characteristics of modern-day racial inequity, the presentation introduces participants to an analysis that most find immediately helpful and relevant. The Groundwater metaphor is designed to help practitioners at all levels internalize the reality that we live in a racially structured society, and that that is what causes racial inequity. The metaphor is based on three observations: • racial inequity looks the same across systems, • socio-economic difference does not explain the racial inequity; and, • inequities are caused by systems, regardless of people’s culture or behavior.

Embracing these truths helps leaders confront the reality that all our systems, institutions, and outcomes emanate from the racial hierarchy on which the United States was built. In other words, we have a “groundwater” problem, and we need “groundwater” solutions. Starting from there, we begin to unlock transformative change. **PLEASE NOTE: This special session will take place on ZOOM. Separate (free) registration with REI will be required and information will be sent out to participants prior to the event. Due to limited seating, this session is only available to the first 100 summit participants who register.

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DAY 2 MORNING 8:00 - 9:00am

REGISTRATION Information on how to navigate the day Booths and Networking open

Visit and speak with representatives from regional organizations and initiatives, and experience the work of our artist-presenters. Booths are open and available all day.

8:30 - 8:45am

AWAKEN Spine stretches, Tai Chi, breath, and eye preparation (TaraMarie Perri)

9:00 - 9:15am

WELCOME REMARKS Michele Drozd, Craigardan Brittany Christianson, AdkAction

9:15 - 9:30am

FOOD + CLIMATE CHANGE W!LD Center presentation: “Food & Climate Change: Help Shape The Wild Center’s Upcoming Exhibit on Climate Change Solutions” (Erin Griffin, Charlie Reinersten)

Learn about The Wild Center’s upcoming climate change solutions exhibit, and find out how you can help shape the exhibit design process.

The Wild Center is designing a solutions-focused climate change education experience, including an interactive Solutions exhibit that will open in June 2022. Based on the uniquely positive approach to climate change in Project Drawdown — a solutions-based roadmap for addressing and reversing climate change with existing technology — Solutions will immerse visitors in practical, regionally-relevant climate solutions.

Join us as we explore the intersection between food and climate solutions, and share your knowledge and experience to help shape our upcoming climate solutions exhibit. We want to know what climate solutions interest you the most, and what you would like to see, learn, and experience when we open the Solutions exhibit in June 2022.

9:30 - 10:30am

OPENING KEYNOTE Karen Washington, “Moving Beyond COVID”

Since 1985, Karen Washington has worked to make New York City a better place to live and grow.

As a farmer and food justice activist, she feeds people body, mind, and spirit. As a longtime member and former board president of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, she has fought for justice and fostered resilience in her borough and beyond through the power of

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organized community. And she brings her fierce, compassionate leadership — as well as her commitment to develop others—everywhere she goes. As a community gardener and board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, she works with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens. As an advocate and former president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, she stands up and speaks out for garden protection and preservation. And as a co-founder of the La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, she helped launch a City Farms Market, bringing fresh vegetables to the Bronx community. In 2010, she co-founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization supporting Black growers in both urban and rural settings. She is a board member of Why Hunger, a grassroots support organization, and Farm School NYC, which leads workshops on growing food and food justice across the country. She is also board president of Greenworker Cooperatives, which builds and sustains worker-owned green businesses to create a strong, local, and democratic economy rooted in racial and gender equity.

Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors of Soul Fire Farm. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of their 100 most influential African-Americans in the country. And in 2014, she was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award. Since retiring from physical therapy in 2014, she has been a co-owner and organic grower at Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York. She stands on the shoulders of her ancestors and sows seeds of love, healing, and liberation for future generations.

10:30- 10:45am

BREAK // GATHER Shoulder/Hip Relief, Tai Chi, Breath and Eye Focus (TaraMarie Perri) Booths and Networking opportunities remain open

10:45 - 11:15am

SPECIAL SESSION Erin Watson, PhD: “Using Systems Thinking to Pursue Food Justice and Equity in Wellbeing"

Promoting food justice and equity in wellbeing in the Adirondack region requires new ways of thinking and doing that enables us to tackle the systemic root causes of local problems. This opening session provides a practical guide participants can use throughout the conference to embed systems thinking into their conversations and problem-solving processes.

Erin Watson is the founder of Weaving Change, an evaluation and consulting firm helping communities to promote systemic equity through engagement. She received her Ph.D. in Community Psychology from Michigan State University. Her work centers on how organizations and communities can use systems thinking and participatory action-learning to design, implement, and evaluate transformative change efforts aimed at promoting equitable outcomes for children and families. She has consulted with and provided professional development to hundreds of organizations, public sector agencies, community coalitions, and foundations around their efforts to

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promote place-based change, service delivery system reform, strategic alignment, and collaborative capacity. Her systems change frameworks have been adopted by communities, coalitions, funders, and government agencies around the world.

11:15 - 12:15pm

MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS Breakout Session A: The Art of Being Socially Engaged (Lehuanani DeFranco, Michele Drozd, Lina Puerta, Elizabeth Sobol)

Individual artists and art institutions have long been at the forefront of environmental, civil, and food justice movements through social engagement, social practice and activism. This panel shares the perspectives and experiences of two artists — one visual and one performing artist; and two organizations — one large and one small, who are using their work, voices, connections, and spaces to support their communities, raise awareness, and catalyze change.

Lehuanani DeFranco is a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) protector for Indigenous rights and a Brooklyn-based dancer. She works with Uprooted & Rising to end higher education’s support for Big Food and white supremacy in the food system. She is currently campaigning for the University of California to divest from the Thirty-Meter Telescope in order to protect Mauna Kea from desecration. Lehuanani is also the Production & Research Associate with Roadwork Center, an organization formed in 1978 to build multi-racial coalitions through women’s culture by focusing on the intersection of arts and BIPOC- and LGBTQIA-led social justice movements.

Michele Drozd received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and worked under various artists including Petras Vaskys and Laszlo Fekete studying design, mold making, and sculpture. She spent six years producing sculptural and architectural tile with tile-maker Marie Baron in Philadelphia, PA and Albuquerque, NM before traveling the world and finding her home in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. With her husband and fellow artist, Michael Intrabartola, she became intensely interested in entrepreneurialism, the revitalization of small rural towns, food and agriculture, art, education and historic preservation — and the connections between them. Three businesses and three nonprofits later, she is thrilled to now serve as executive director of such an important and timely organization. Michele is the co-founder of Craigardan.

Lina Puerta was born in New Jersey, raised in Colombia and lives and works in New York City.

Puerta holds an MSEd in Art Education from Queens College/CUNY and has exhibited internationally. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at KODA, in NYC and has also been honored with the 2019/2020 Artist-in-Residency at the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art and Storytelling, 2017; NYFA Fellowship in Crafts/Sculpture, 2017 Artist-in-Residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, the 2016 Dieu Donné Workspace Residency, Artprize-8 Sustainability Award, 2015

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Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant, 2015 Kohler Arts Industry Residency (WI), 2014-15 Keyholder Residency at the Lower East Side Printshop, 2013-14 Smack Mellon Art Studio Program, 2014 Materials for the Arts Artist Residency, 2013 Wave Hill Winter Workspace, and the 2010 Emerging Artist Fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park in New York. Exhibition venues include the Ford Foundation Gallery, El Museo del Barrio, The 8th Floor, Smack Mellon, Wave Hill, and Geary in New York City; 21C Museum Hotels in Louisville, KY and Bentonville, AR; and Pi Artworks in London.

Puerta's work has been written about in Hyperallergic, The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, and Artnet News among others.

Elizabeth Sobol joined the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) as President and CEO in October 2016 after decades of artist management and recording industry experience in both the classic arts and mainstream entertainment. Over the course of her four years at the helm of SPAC, Elizabeth has utilized her compelling programming instincts and unique ability to break down barriers between classical and mainstream music genres to attract younger and more diverse audiences to SPAC. Under her leadership, SPAC's education program has gone from serving 5,000 to 50,000 students throughout the Capital Region and beyond. Admired for her collaborative spirit, she has spearheaded partnerships with organizations such as Caffè Lena, MiSci, Opera Saratoga, Saratoga Shakespeare Company, Skidmore College, Pitney Meadows Community Farm and many others. She has also fostered cultural tourism partnerships with business and community and state organizations including the New York State Parks Recreation & Historic Preservation, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Discover Saratoga, The City of Saratoga and I LOVE NY. Prior to joining SPAC, Sobol served as the President and CEO of Universal Music Classics and Managing Director of IMG Artists in North/South America. During Sobol’s nearly three-decade tenure at IMG Artists, she nurtured the careers of the music world’s most renowned artists including Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Emerson String Quartet, James Galway, Evgeny Kissin, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Steve Reich.

As President & CEO of Universal Music Classics (UMC), Sobol successfully ran the American home for the Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Mercury Classics and ECM imprints, along with the UMC label, which Sobol oversaw from Universal’s New York headquarters. Sobol’s vision for the label included a commitment to the best that "classics" stands for: music rooted in the classical tradition, while also encompassing a variety of genres including contemporary, jazz, and world and a focus on US-based artists and repertoire. UMC’s releases included artists as diverse and compelling as Andrea Bocelli, Rufus Wainwright, Hilary Hahn, Sting, Tori Amos, Keith Jarrett, Anoushka Shankar, Black Violin and Time for Three.

Breakout Session B: “Landscapes of Inequity: Mapping Systemic Racism in the Adirondacks” (Loren Michael Mortimer, PhD) Racialized landscapes of the Adirondack region undergird historic structures of inequality. From the legacies of slavery to the seizure of Native American land, to a modern political economy dominated by tourism and mass incarceration, systemic racism has deep roots in the Adirondack Park. The region’s overwhelmingly white demographics — an average of 95% in Adirondack counties compared to a 57% share of the population state wide — reflect historical processes and policies that restricted Black and Indigenous peoples from full participation in the region’s civic

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and economic life for more than two centuries. Confronting racial inequity in the Adirondacks requires community-wide interrogation of the history of intentional policies and ingrained prejudices that created a regional identity predicated on white privilege.

Loren Michael Mortimer holds the 2020-2021 American Council of Learned Societies Emerging Voices Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program on Race, Migration, and Indigeneity at the Indiana University Bloomington. He received his PhD in History with a designated emphasis in Native American Studies from UC Davis in 2019. He specializes in the Indigenous environmental history of the lands and waters that comprise the present-day Adirondack Park and St. Lawrence River watershed.

Breakout Session C: "A Holistic Approach to Food Security Education” (Tatiana Abatemarco, Callie Fishburn, MB Mitcham, Josh Stephani) This panel will present three educational approaches to addressing food insecurity in rural areas.

By illustrating each of these case studies, the presenters hope to inspire others to take on similar efforts in their home communities and organizations. The three presentations will be followed by time for discussion with the audience. In the first presentation, “Returning to Rural Roots: Fostering Community Through Food, Learning, and Fun,” MB Mitcham of Cornell Cooperative Extension will discuss recent research and programming efforts geared toward addressing food insecurity and nutrient-poor dietary practices of residents from a lower socioeconomic bracket. In the second presentation, Josh Stephani will discuss, “Expanding Food Education and Access For Rural Residents” and the food education programming delivered by Comfort Food Community in Washington County, NY. Lastly, Tatiana Abatemarco and Callie Fishburn will present, “Asset Mapping a Community Food System: A Case Study from Bennington, VT,” which is a demonstration of the digital asset map they created to help address food insecurity in Bennington County.

Tatiana Abatemarco is an interdisciplinary scholar and educator who works in environmental humanities and sustainable food systems. She uses an ecofeminist frame to explore grassroots, holistic approaches to food justice.

Callie Fishburn currently serves as the AmeriCorps VISTA member at the Bennington County Regional Commission (BCRC) in Southern Vermont. Originally from Frederick, Maryland, she graduated from Hood College in 2018 with a degree in environmental science and policy. Prior to joining AmeriCorps and moving to Vermont, she served in a regional service year program focused on Chesapeake Bay conservation. During that year of service, she worked to advance racial equity in the environmental field, and developed a series of diversity, equity and inclusion policies for her host organization. As an AmeriCorps VISTA member, she splits her time between community and economic development projects with the BCRC and working with Bennington College on food security projects.

MB (Marybeth) Mitcham holds undergraduate degrees in the biological and human development sciences, a MPH with a primary concentration in human nutrition, and is completing her dissertation for her PhD, focusing her research on interpreting the experiences of rural residents in public

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health education. When not working, she can be found scrambling all over the anorthosite (or the ice coating the anorthosite) of the Adirondack High Peaks or making and rabidly consuming eggplant bacon.

Josh Stephani has a background in environmental and agricultural education and is currently the Community Health Coordinator for Comfort Food of Washington County, where he operates a variety of programs including medically-tailored produce prescription pilots. He holds undergraduate degrees from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s from George Mason University. Additionally, he is a PhD student at Antioch University New England in Environmental Studies, where he concentrates on farmers markets, food systems, and food banks.

Breakout Session D: “Adirondack Food System Network - Build Back Better Together” (Nancy Gildersleeve, Racey Henderson, Brittany Christenson) Covid-19 threw our food system into the lime-light as grocery store shelves went empty, food insecurity rates increased, and demand for local food skyrocketed. This session will provide an overview of why our food system matters and will propose a new initiative — The Adirondack Food System Network — to build our food system back stronger in the wake of Covid-19. We will discuss the vision, mission and goals of the Network and share ways that you can get involved to create a regional food system that is resilient, just, environmentally responsible, and supports improved human health.

Nancy Gildersleeve is the Executive Director of Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program Operations and the Fulton Population Health Network (PHN) at AHI. In conjunction with executives from partner organizations, she is responsible for the quality and financial outcomes for the Fulton County region’s PHN. In addition to her DSRIP Operations and PHN role, Gildersleeve oversees the Adirondack Rural Health Network (ARHN), Population Health Improvement Program (PHIP), HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Planning Program (RCORP) grant, DSRIP Workforce, Telehealth, Performance Reporting, Performance Improvement, Community Engagement, and DSRIP Project Managers. Gildersleeve earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Community and Human Services from The State University of New York. She previously served in numerous leadership roles for the corporate offices of the Capital District YMCA, most recently blending association advancement and operational roles to create health equity and address chronic health issues in the community.

Racey Henderson is an entrepreneur and consultant who has her hands in the dirt and dirt on the brain. She, her husband and two children own and run Reber Rock Farm in Essex, NY, a diversified grass-based livestock and maple farm. She is active in local food system advocacy in the Adirondacks, and is co-founder of a small craft business, Ndara, based in the Central African Republic. She learned to farm in Peace Corps in Mauritania and at Essex Farm in Essex, NY. She has worked for the UN, the US government and many international non-governmental organizations.

Locally she has worked for the Essex Farm Institute, Adk Action and Lakeside School. She is an

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Essex County Farm Bureau board member. She has a B.A. from American University and has a MALD/MS from The Fletcher School and The Friedman School at Tufts University.

Brittany Christenson spent her early childhood in the redwood forest of Northern California and transversed I-90 as she got older; spending her high school and college years in the Rocky Mountains. She moved to the east coast for love and grad school — one of which worked out. After devoting herself to sustainable agriculture in her 20's, Brittany joined AdkAction as Executive Director in 2016. Since then, Brittany has led the organization to new heights, pioneering many new projects including the Farmacy, Emergency Food Packages, and Plein Air Festivals and significantly advancing others, including the Pollinator Project and Reducing Road Salt. She received her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She serves as the Treasurer of Keeseville Community Development Corporation, Coordinator of the Adirondack Road Salt Working Group, Steering Committee Member of the Essex Farmland Protection Plan, and CoFounder of the Well Fed Essex Collaborative. Brittany lives with the love of her life, Lucas, son Njorth, and daughter Lucia on 30 wooded acres on a dead-end road in Keeseville, NY.

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DAY 2 AFTERNOON 12:15 - 12:30pm

BREAK // RESTORE Gentle Twists, Tai Chi, Breath and Eye Relaxation (TaraMarie Perri) Booths and Networking opportunities remain open

12:30 - 1:15pm

LUNCH WITH KAREN WASHINGTON Q&A with keynote speaker Karen Washington

1:15 - 2:00pm

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS Breakout Session E: “Expanding Food Access amid COVID-19 and Beyond” (Brittany Christenson, Krista Hesdorfer, Misha Marvel)

AdkAction will share lessons learned from its Emergency Food Packages project that helped to stabilize markets for farmers and provide fresh, nutritious meals and ingredients to families in need of extra food support due to the pandemic. After delivering over 65,000 meals, the program transitioned into a longer-term effort designed to outlive the pandemic. Now, families can purchase the Food Packages with SNAP benefits and take advantage of pricing incentives like Double Up Food Bucks and AdkAction's new Fair Food Pricing. Hunger Solutions New York will share the latest participation findings and actionable strategies to expand access to USDA’s undertapped nutrition assistance programs — including SNAP, WIC, school meals, summer meals, CACFP, and the new Pandemic-EBT program — during and beyond the pandemic, to alleviate hunger and inject millions of federal dollars into local communities in the North Country and statewide. Learn about ways schools and community-based organizations can leverage program flexibilities available during COVID-19, resources and best practices to alleviate barriers to participation, and upcoming opportunities for policy advocacy to strengthen our nation’s largest anti-hunger programs.

Brittany Christenson spent her early childhood in the redwood forest of Northern California and transversed I-90 as she got older; spending her high school and college years in the Rocky Mountains. She moved to the east coast for love and grad school — one of which worked out. After devoting herself to sustainable agriculture in her 20's, Brittany joined AdkAction as Executive Director in 2016. Since then, Brittany has led the organization to new heights, pioneering many new projects including the Farmacy, Emergency Food Packages, and Plein Air Festivals and significantly advancing others, including the Pollinator Project and Reducing Road Salt. She received her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She serves as the Treasurer of Keeseville Community Development Corporation, Coordinator of the Adirondack Road Salt Working Group, Steering Committee Member of the Essex Farmland Protection Plan, and Co-

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Founder of the Well Fed Essex Collaborative. Brittany lives with the love of her life, Lucas, son Njorth, and daughter Lucia on 30 wooded acres on a dead-end road in Keeseville, NY. Krista Hesdorfer serves as a Child Nutrition Programs Specialist at Hunger Solutions New York. She is a resource for organizations, schools, and advocates to increase awareness of and participation in federal nutrition assistance programs. She conducts statewide outreach, provides technical assistance, and conducts administrative and legislative advocacy to protect and strengthen the programs, with particular focus on summer, afterschool, and child care meal programs. She joined Hunger Solutions New York in 2016, following several years of working to connect families with SNAP through the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program.

Misha Marvel has been an anti-hunger advocate for over two decades working with a food bank in NJ and then communities in NYS to expand their capacity to provide their members access to affordable and nutritious food through USDA nutrition assistance programs. She joined Hunger Solutions New York in 2003 and has conducted outreach, policy analysis and administrative and legislative advocacy to strengthen and protect SNAP, SFSP, CACFP, and WIC. Misha serves on the WIC Association of NYS board of directors and lives in the capital region with her husband and two terrific teenagers.

Breakout Session F: “Workshare Warriors: A Non-Monetary CSA Model” (Ann Bennett, Catherine E. Bennett) America’s current cheap-food policies have led to the disconnection of communities, the foods they consume and the land and growers on whom they rely. Now more than ever, those connections must be rejuvenated and the farmers supported. Ann, Brian and Catherine Bennett of Bittersweet Farm in De Peyster, New York, have established the Workshare Warrior CSA, an entirely non-monetary program that works within a financially impoverished community. This program creates lasting connections and supports a small farm’s well-being despite the fact that many members could not participate financially in a traditional CSA. Members sign a standard CSA agreement, but instead of pre-paying a set price, they schedule a weekly two-hour time slot during which they come to the farm, assist with and learn about crop and farm production, and leave with a share of diverse farm products, from produce to meats to value-added.

In presenting their Workshare Warriors CSA, Ann and Catherine will discuss how and why they established said program, triumphs and pitfalls they have encountered, and how to implement a non-monetary CSA on your own farm, ensuring people of all backgrounds can become a part of the growing and eating of local, healthy food.

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Ann Bennett began farming in 1985, after receiving her degree in photography. In 1999, she and her family moved to New York to farm full time, where she raised her two children while running what was then St Lawrence County's only certified organic transplant operation. She is currently striving to develop a non-monetary CSA and her own line of value-added, farm based products, Dragonfly Herbs. In her down time, she enjoys driving her daughter and husband insane.

Catherine Bennett is the plant-protecting, insect-hugging, passionate Soil Keeper the capitalists warned you about. On one hundred and fourteen acres, she strives to rejuvenate and restore native and endangered tubers, connect her community to the land, and teach others to do the same. She enjoys writing, eating copious amounts of heirloom popcorn, and working with her oxen.

Breakout Session G: “Weaving a New Narrative: Planting the Seeds and Stories for Our Regenerative Future” (Blake Lavia, Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo) The filmmakers and artists, Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo and Blake Lavia from the Talking Wings Collective, will discuss the importance of sharing stories of regenerative growth. While most of our mental space is taken up with looming (and present) catastrophes, we are rarely presented with constructive solutions to the current crisis. Around the world, there are countless people who are fighting and succeeding to create a sustainable and just future for their communities. In our region, and beyond, the people who are striving to create a food sovereignty community are an example of this transformative process.

All media and art is a form of storytelling. It is how we shape the world and the reality we live in, weaving our actions into a collective tapestry. Blake and Tzintzun will share stories that create a new narrative, a narrative that can fuel our struggle. They will illustrate their approach to media/art production, and give hands on advice about how everyone can tell/nurture stories of resistance and change.

Their presentation itself will be structured around millennia old storytelling traditions, and will invite ample audience participation/collaboration. Together, let us plant the stories of our regenerative future.

Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo (they, them, their) is a P'urépecha/LatinX/Mediterranean visual creator, media producer and organizer. Tzintzun views every artform as an act of storytelling, a tool to weave communities together. Their work is a humble attempt to tell the stories of a new shared reality; stories that can serve as bridges, linkages for the people who are fighting to create a regenerative future. In recent years, Tzintzun has collaborated with their art and life partner, Blake Lavia under the Talking Wings Collective.

Blake Lavia (all pronouns) is a multimedia artist and community organizer. Their art practice dances between filmmaking, writing, photography, animation and mixed media illustration. From documentary filmmaking to novel writing, their work focuses on societal issues, cultural memory and our current climate crises. In recent years they collaborate with the multimedia artist Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo under the Talking Wings Collective.

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Breakout Session H: “Who Cares for the Caregiver? Updating our SelfCare Practices” (TaraMarie Perri, MFA) Simple movement and touch are essential to our well-being. It is highly recommended that those interested in gathering for this breakout session also join in the 15-minute breaks — awaken/ gather/restore — offered throughout the morning program. Explore a mix of gentle stretching, tai chi, breathing coordination and eye care; each session will include different practices so attend all three for a full experience to take home. This session is open to anyone who serves as a caregiver, has recently been called to lend a hand, or has a loved one who is a caregiver and needs support.

Navigating boundaries and challenges in our family and work environments and experiencing drastic limitations on community gatherings and resources are some of the unexpected ways 2020 tested us, and how 2021 will continue to do so. Caregivers have been leading by example throughout. Our health workers, teachers, activists, community leaders, farmers, eldercare staff, mental health providers, holistic health practitioners, social workers and parents are experiencing unprecedented demands on their energies, time and skills. With an abundance of opportunities to serve driven by their vocation to do so, they are also encountering diminished access to the restorative time and personal care they desperately need for balance, rest and recovery to effectively continue their work. Increased levels of burnout, depletion and mental health imbalance are real consequences and a cause for concern. Together, we will gather with focused questions to grow awareness around this shift as it runs parallel to the pandemic. We will also explore how 2020 dismantled the systems and activities we trusted to rejuvenate our spirits, what new discoveries in creativity and work/life balance are being made instead, and why we are now collectively awakening to the need to step into the role of caregiver. How do we update old practices and include real and nourishing forms of self-care to benefit us, those who depend on us and our communities at large?

TaraMarie Perri is a teacher-practitioner of dance, performance, classical yoga, contemplative arts and sciences, kinesiology and holistic health therapies. For more than two decades, her research has been nurtured by interdisciplinary collaborations with performers, artists and makers in-studio, onstage and outdoors. She seeks out experiential learning environments which foster introspection, connections with others and living in harmony alongside the natural world. In addition to her new role at Craigardan, TaraMarie is faculty at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and maintains private practices in Brooklyn and upstate NY. Concurrent with her early years in performing arts and education, she worked in healthcare IT and observed the systemic imbalances embedded in healthcare. Around that same time, her personal path of Yoga study that began as a young adult had grown into a teaching vocation and dovetailed with her professional studies. In 2009, TaraMarie founded Perri Institute for Mind and Body to gather and mentor an international community of teachers and holistic health practitioners with the mission to increase awareness and guide access to supportive tools for well-being. The curriculum established a comprehensive educational environment integrating eastern and western traditions of practices with research opportunities in the arts, sciences and humanities. Graduates currently work with individuals and communities in medicine, women’s health, social work, physical therapy, childhood education, higher education, art therapy and psychology, among other disciplines. TaraMarie earned an MFA

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in dance performance and choreography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, a BA in liberal arts and visual arts history from The College of the Holy Cross, MA and performed professionally with ballet, modern, dance theater and theater/film companies in NY, PA and MA.

2:00 - 2:15pm

BREAK Booths and Networking opportunities remain open

2:15 - 3:05pm

CLOSING KEYNOTE Erin Watson, PhD: “Disrupting the Status Quo to Enhance Systems Change”

Too often the strategies we design to bring about systems change unintentionally take on some of the same qualities of the systems we’re trying to change. Avoiding this pitfall requires intentionally looking for ways to design strategies in ways that disrupt the status quo and lead to more transformative outcomes. This interactive session provides actionable ideas, real-world examples, and practical tools to help foster more creative, disruptive thinking for social good and systems change.

Erin Watson is the founder of Weaving Change, an evaluation and consulting firm helping communities to promote systemic equity through engagement. She received her Ph.D. in Community Psychology from Michigan State University. Her work centers on how organizations and communities can use systems thinking and participatory action-learning to design, implement, and evaluate transformative change efforts aimed at promoting equitable outcomes for children and families. She has consulted with and provided professional development to hundreds of organizations, public sector agencies, community coalitions, and foundations around their efforts to promote place-based change, service delivery system reform, strategic alignment, and collaborative capacity. Her systems change frameworks have been adopted by communities, coalitions, funders, and government agencies around the world.

3:05 - 3:20pm

CLOSING REMARKS Bronwyn Starr, NYS Health Foundation Racey Henderson, Reber Rock Farm

3:20 - 4:30pm

NETWORKING Booths and Networking opportunities remain open

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

AND OUR KEYNOTE SPONSORS:

WITH THANKS TO ALL OF OUR IMPORTANT SPONSORS: ADIRONDACK FOUNDATION PITNEY MEADOWS COMMUNITY FARM

CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ADIRONDACK NORTH COUNTRY

THE PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE CENTER FOR

ASSOCIATION

SUSTAINABILITY

GREATRANGE

THE ADIRONDACK LAND TRUST

JOHN BROWN LIVES!

ASGAARD FARM AND DAIRY STEWARTS SHOPS

NORTH COUNTRY SCHOOL AND CAMP TREETOPS

BLUE MOUNTAIN CENTER

ESSEX COUNTY FARM BUREAU

ADIRONDACK HARVEST

THE HUB ON THE HILL

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