SPEAKERS & PRESENTERS:
April 5, 2008
Scott Codey is a Co-Convenor of the New York City Fair Trade Coalition, an all-volunteer grassroots organization dedicated to raising public awareness and increasing demand for Fair Trade products. Scott is also Director of Advocacy at Citizens Committee for New York City, an organization that supports community organizing and activism in New York City. Prior to moving to New York City, Scott worked at the International Human Rights Law Group in Washington DC and ran a public education campaign for TransFair USA, the fair
trade certification organization in the United States.
Thomas Forster serves as Policy Advisor for the
Community Food Security Coalition www.foodsecurity.org. Thomas has worked closely with sustainable
agriculture, nutrition, anti-hunger and public health
advocates, linking community food security with
anti-hunger, social justice, nutrition, health and
sustainable agriculture provisions in the 2002 Farm
Bill, 2004 Child Nutrition Reauthorization and the
pending 2008 Farm Bill.
After being Policy Director of CFSC for seven years in
Washington DC, Thomas now resides in New York City
where he teaches food policy at the New School and is
actively engaged in 2008 and 2009 UN work on food,
agriculture and nutrition issues.
As co-director of International Partners for
Sustainable Agriculture www.practice2policy.org,
Thomas has worked in Civil Society coalitions since
the Rio Earth Summit (1992) when sustainable
agriculture and rural development (SARD) policy was
first developed by the international community. SARD,
land, desertification and related issues are the
topics for coming sessions (2008-2009) of the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development . Contact
Thomas at 360-421-378.
Fern Gale Estrow, a registered dietician and founder
of The FGE Food and Nutrition Team, is working to
improve health and quality of life using a food
systems approach to building opportunities across
communities of health, education, hunger and
agriculture through program and policy development.
She is currently chair of the Food Systems Network
NYC, policy column editor for the Journal of Hunger
and Environmental Nutrition, member of the New York
City Nutrition Education Network Steering and
Envisioning Committee and consulting network
coordinator to the American Public Health Association
Public Health in Agriculture Policy Project.
April 12, 2008
Tali Weinberg is the program officer at Global Goods Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by creating sustainable access to the US market for community based organizations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Prior to joining GGP, Tali worked as an advocate in Washington, DC on issues of human rights, fair trade, and the environment and as a consultant for the grassroots development organization American Jewish World Service. Tali has lived in India, South Africa, and Uganda working with organizations that addressing human rights, peace-building, and economic development. She has a degree from New York University in Peace Studies and International Development.
Asantewaa Gail Harris, Founder of Community Vision Council is a Brooklyn native currently living in the Village of Harlem. She was recently certified as a Wellness Coach of the 4 Doors to Happiness Health Institute in Boca Raton, Fl. A Solution Builder, Workshop Leader and Cultural Arts Curator, Asantewaa is dedicated to 'healthy choices for healthy living". In 2005, she helped organize the first farmers market in Bushwick, Brooklyn and for a forth season will again bring farm fresh produce to neighborhood residents.
April 19, 2008
Anna Lappé is a Brooklyn-based writer, public speaker, and food activist. She is the co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen with recipes by Bryant Terry and Hope’s Edge, with her mother Frances Moore Lappé. Lappé can be seen as the host for MSN’s Practical Guide to Healthier Living and The Endless Feast, a 13-part series for public television about the connection between food, farming, and community. Lappé is also the cofounder of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, which supports the emergence of living democracy worldwide through popular education and grant making. For more info, see www.annalappe.org
Aaron Woolf: King Corn Director and Producer Aaron Woolf received a Master's in film at the University of Iowa, but got the bulk of his education in the field in Lima, Mexico City, and Los Angeles. In 2000, Aaron directed Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball, and The United States, a WNET-ITVS co-production that won a Rockie Award and aired on PBS. In 2003, Aaron directed Dying to Leave: The Global Face of Human Trafficking and Smuggling, which won a Logie Award and aired on the PBS series Wide Angle. Aaron is the founder of Mosaic Films and an avid mountaineer.
Greg Swartz is the Executive Director, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) www.nofany.org, director@nofany.org (845) 796-8994
After finally making the connection between his love of food and his environmental ethic, Greg Swartz found his way to a farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York State to see where food really comes from. He dove into a 6-month apprenticeship there and that hands-on farm experience launched him into a new life as a diversified vegetable farmer and an organic farm activist. He spent 7 years farming and then in 2007, Greg became the Executive Director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY), a statewide education and advocacy organization fighting to build a sustainable regional food system. He also purchased his own farm this past year and is slowly getting it into production.
