The Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock welcomes submissions for our fourth annual ThinkFOOD conference to be held on our campus in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on April 8, 2017.

The theme of this year’s conference is Equity and Inclusion in Food. In 2016 we witnessed the development of a policy platform on food from the Movement for Black Lives; a statement by the National Young Farmers Coalition on a path toward a more diverse population of farmers; a national dialogue about the federal minimum wage; a James Beard award to Jarry magazine, a publication “that explores where food and queer culture intersect”; and a presidential election that brought questions about immigration policy to the forefront. The prospect of diversity and equity in food has never been more relevant. We hope to provide a forum for discussion of this theme across a variety of disciplines and perspectives that will allow us to frame food equity in a useful way that can lead to productive solutions. How can we make food equity a universal concern?

We solicit proposals for individual 20-minute paper presentations or 75-minute full panels or roundtables. This is a one-day conference open to the general public, scholars from multiple disciplines related to food, and local and regional experts in the food system.

Send 150-word abstracts or panel descriptions and a brief biography with full contact information to Maryann Tebben, [email protected]. Deadline for submissions: February 1, 2017. We expect to notify accepted participants by February 15, 2017.

Potential topics might include:

• Food policy (food insecurity, access, justice), especially community activism by marginalized groups • LGBTQ+ representations in the food sphere • Gendered food production and consumption • Immigrant/Ethnic foodways: origins and assumptions • Food and labor: agricultural laborers, restaurant and food processing workers, minimum and living wage campaigns • Restaurant culture: Who eats where? How are restaurants exclusive or inclusive? • Migrant/farm labor in our region: the Berkshires, Hudson Valley, and New England

• Diversity in farming (according to the USDA, only 7% of US farmers are people of color)

Conference participants will be expected to make their own travel arrangements. Travel stipends may be possible for those with particular financial need, especially applicants from non-profit organizations. Conference registration fees (including lunch) will be waived for presenters. Hotel information will be available in late February.

More Info