I'm delighted to announce that ticket sales are open for the 4th Annual Yale Food Systems Symposium on September 30th, 2016 in New Haven, CT at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, focused on the theme of Feeding a Growing World: Perspectives in 2016. We have received a diverse, fascinating bunch of proposals, and the event promises to be a stimulating conversation among academics, practitioners, and community members alike, with some unconventional session formats and of course, delicious food.
We are excited to be welcoming the following keynote speakers to inspire the day’s conversations:
Wes Jackson, President of The Land Institute
Ann Tutweiler, Director General at Bioversity International
See here for their bios and more information on their organizations’ work, and below for a more in depth description of the symposium’s theme.
The Planning Committee hopes you will join this year’s event, and we thank you for spreading the word far and wide to your networks! Ticketsales are limited so please consider purchasing yours soon.
We hope to see you in New Haven in September!
Warmly,
Brianna Lloyd & The YFSS Planning Committee
https://yalefoodsymposium.org/
Fourth Annual Yale Food Systems Symposium
Feeding a growing world – Perspectives in 2016
Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
September 30, 2016
Half a century out from the Green Revolution, our food system is as technologically advanced as ever. Yet our innovations have presented long-term sustainability challenges, while both global hunger and obesity persist. We are now faced with the question of where to go from here–with the knowledge and technology we have obtained and challenges before us, what approaches do we take to feed the world in a manner that is sustainable for both the population and the planet? Stakeholders across the food system as well as scholars hold divergent perspectives on where to focus solutions. A productionist view may point to the need to produce more food through even more advanced technology and seed engineering, while others may take a distributionist view that stresses social justice rather than yields, while still others may seek methods to reduce food waste. Some may focus on the nutritional quality of what we are growing, while others emphasize the need to shift diets to those less impactful on the environment. These and other perspectives vary in the populations they target, including farmworkers, consumers, corporations, or governments. This conference seeks to stimulate conversation among practitioners, scholars, and community members to understand these diverse perspectives and consider collaborative solutions in moving forward as our world population grows, diet-related diseases increase, and natural resources are depleted.
The 2016 Yale Food Systems Symposium (YFSS) will bring diverse scholars and practitioners to work together in action-oriented sessions that address the complex ecological and socio-economic dynamics of feeding the world, including food production, consumption, climate change, and urbanization. We seek a diversity of proposal formats: panels, working groups, roundtables, and papers. We welcome perspectives from the natural and social sciences, from applied disciplines, and from community practitioners. Proposals that bring scholars and practitioners together, work across disciplines, or partner emerging and established researchers are especially encouraged.
