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Past Trainings

October 22, 2018
Elevating Equity in the Food Policy Process, East Lansing, MI
Karen Bassarab and Raychel Santo co-hosted a workshop with Kibibi Blount-Dorn (Detroit Food Policy Council) at the Michigan Good Food Summit on how to elevate equity in policy. The session highlighted examples of how food policy councils are incorporating equity into their organizational structure and policy work.

October 24, 2018
Pennsylvania Statewide Food Policy Council Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
CLF senior advisor, Mark Winne, and the FPN project team facilitated a meeting of organizations and local food policy councils in Pennsylvania to discuss the formation of a state food policy council.

October 26-27, 2018
Navigating the dynamics of supporting food chain workers on food policy councils, Philadelphia, PA
Raychel Santo co-hosted a workshop session with Suzanne Adely (Food Chain Workers Alliance) and Dawn Plummer (Pittsburgh Food Policy Council) to explore ways in which FPCs could support food chain workers as part of their efforts, as well as how to overcome potential challenges of doing so.

October 5, 2018
Let’s All Come to the Table: Building community one table at a time, Nashua, NH
Anne Palmer was the keynote speaker at a community dinner hosted by Greater Nashua Food Council to celebrate the local food system in Nashua, NH. Anne’s presentation was on “The Power of Collaborating for Food System Change: Food Councils Trends, Opportunities and Achievements.”

September 18, 2018
Open & Local Gathering, Montana
Raychel Santo participated in a panel discussion about local food system collaborations and what structures allow them to thrive at a gathering for an emergent coalition in the Gallatin Valley of Montana, Open & Local.

April 25, 2018
How Food Policy Councils can Support Farm to School Initiatives Short Course, Cincinnati, OH
Mark Winne and Raychel Santo hosted a half-day preconference session at the National Farm to School Network Conference on the value of FPCs in advancing food systems policy, particularly how FPCs work on Farm to School efforts, and opportunities for Farm to School advocates and FPCs to work together to enhance each other's agendas.


December 5, 2017
Food Policy Council Pre-conference, Boston, MA
The FPN project team hosted a one-day workshop for food policy councils at the Community Food Systems Conference. Sixty-five food policy leaders spent the day conversing and reflecting on the state of food systems policy, exploring the relationship between local and state FPCs and learning about a new tool to assess the capacity of an FPC to work on advocacy and policy.

June 27, 2017
Recovering Food in the Chesapeake Region: Policies, Resources and Innovations, Silver Spring, MD
The FPN project team and Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic co-hosted a workshop on policies to reduce food waste and increase food recovery. This workshop presented exciting new food recovery resources and opportunities for policy reform to support food waste reduction in the Chesapeake region.

June 28, 2017
Fundraising for Your Food Council, Silver Spring, MD
The FPN project team welcomed Shelley Rae Rudick (Vice President of The Taft Organization and member of the Montgomery County Food Council) to lead a workshop on how to harness the basic principles of fundraising, marketing and communications to advance the goals of a food policy council.

May 17, 2017
Cultivating Food System Leadership for Racial Equity, Philadelphia, PA
The FPN project team welcomed Kristin Schwab (Philly food justice educator) and Esteban Kelly (US Federation of Worker Cooperatives) to facilitate a daylong interactive workshop designed to help food policy councils in the Chesapeake region understand how to better integrate racial equity in their organizational structure, partnerships, and policy making.

May 18, 2017
Values-based Food Procurement, Philadelphia, PA
The FPN project team and the Center for Good Food Purchasing co-hosted a daylong workshop on values-based food procurement for food policy leaders and institution representatives involved with purchasing food or setting policy related to food procurement to examine the existing procurement and supply chain landscape, and discuss the potential for enhanced regional collaboration around procurement.


November 2016
Food Policy Councils Short Course: Putting Local and State Food Policy into Action, Hartford, CT
Mark Winne, Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab facilitated a pre-conference workshop at the 2016 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference on tools and strategies to increase effective selection and utilization of local and state food policies for food systems change.

November 2016
Food Policy Councils: Getting Started and Moving Forward, Hartford, CT
Mark Winne, Anne Palmer and Karen Bassarab presented a session at the 2016 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference about developing and operating new food policy councils as well as enhancing the performance of existing ones.

April 12-14, 2016
Chesapeake Food Policy Leadership Institute, Reisterstown, MD
The FPN project team along with experts in local, state and federal food policy offered a second training for emerging and established food policy councils in the Chesapeake region. This training focused on leadership development to advance policy change, including assessment of policy options, storytelling, how to work with policy makers and evaluation.


November 2015
Food Policy Councils: Engaging the Community and Building Diversity, Saratoga Springs, NY
Mark Winne and Anne Palmer facilitated a workshop session on engaging a diverse community in food systems policy work  at the 2015 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference.  Participants spent time in small groups devising their own strategies to promote engagement and inclusivity.

September 2015
Getting Started with a Food Policy Council Short Course and Local and State Food Policy: Putting it to Work for You, Portland, OR
Anne Palmer, Mark Winne and Paula Daniels hosted a one-day short course on how to develop a food policy council or enhance the performance of an existing food policy council at the Closing the Hunger Gap conference.  In addition, Mark Winne and Anne Palmer led a workshop session on local and state policy strategies to address hunger and provided examples of policy changes that have been implemented at state and local levels.

January 14-15, 2015
Food Policy Councils: Building the Southeast Region's Food Policy Capacity, Mobile, AL
Anne Palmer, Mark Winne, and Paula Daniels (Founder of the LA Food Policy Council) hosted a pre-conference training for 20 food policy leaders from the region at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. This training walked attendees through the process of food systems policy change, from analyzing data to identifying and prioritizing policy solutions to evaluation of the implementation of policy solutions.


November 11-12, 2014
NESAWG Annual Conference, Saratoga, Springs, NY
Mark Winne and Anne Palmer led a food policy council workshop at the 2014 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference.

October 5-8, 2014
Chesapeake Region Food Policy Leadership Training Institute, Reisterstown, MD
CLF staff and visiting guests with extensive experience in local, state and federal food policy offered this training to improve the capacity of new and existing food policy councils and similar organizations in the Chesapeake region. The training focused on leadership development to influence food policy development and implementation, including organizational development, policy interventions and policy strategies, and communication.

July 2014
New England Food Policy Council Convening, Leominster, MA
Mark Winne co-facilitated a meeting of over 50 people representing over 20 food policy councils from across the six New England states to share their interests and concerns about the region's food policies. This was the first time that New England's FPCs had met "face-to-face.”