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The Colorado Food Summit
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Patience Kabwasa
Executive Director of Food to Power
Thursday, Dec 7
4:15pm
Session: Bridge Builders: examples and lessons from across Colorado
Location: Auction Arena
Track 1
Bringing Policy Down to Earth
A useful 101 for any food system stakeholder looking to be a more effective advocate. Learn foundational food and ag policy concepts and frameworks, how policy is affecting our ag and food systems, and practice skills to enable individual and collective impact. Come with the questions you’ve always wanted to ask but have never felt comfortable asking (because you thought you should already know the answer).
Track 2
Key Factors in Food and Agriculture
Building resilient food systems require a deep understanding of how interdependent stakeholders truly are. Hear from experts across the food system discussing how connectivity and scalability can help address the biggest challenges and opportunities facing communities in Colorado.
Track 3
Young Leaders: sponsored by the CO Department of Agriculture
Discover the Young Leaders track at the 2023 Colorado Food Summit. Join young people from across the state! Supported by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, this event is designed to encourage you to learn about our food and farming systems. From the basics like food systems 101 to the essentials like managing food waste, you’ll learn what it takes for systems as large as food and farming to function and how they involve all of us, from scattered cities to grass-strewn rural communities and everyone in between. We will discuss problems and opportunities surrounding our food and farming systems, how they impact government decisions, and how our personal actions and stories can uplift and motivate each other to create positive change within our community food and farming systems.
Track 4
Putting our money where our mouth is: Connecting Supply and Demand
Connecting supply and demand for Colorado food products is at the crux of initiatives across the state. Join for engaging and interactive sessions to identify practical action steps stakeholders can take across the state to assure the food grown is consumed in our state. Sessions will explore different supply chains including food access programs and institutional procurement.
Track 5
Effective Approaches to Addressing Hunger
The nature of work on hunger, food security, nutrition security and food apartheid continues to grow and evolve alongside our shared understandings of the root causes to addressing underlying inequality and injustice in our food system. Locally Convened by the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, these sessions center the experience and expertise of directly impacted stakeholders and elevate innovative and community-driven solutions to reducing stigma and fostering equitable, healthful, and delicious access to nutritious foods for all Coloradans.
Pre summit convenings - at CSU Spur - Hydro Building
9:00 - 11 am
Mountain
COFSAC Meeting
COFSAC members only

Location: CSU Spur – Hydro Building
Willow Creek classroom

10:00 - 2 pm
Mountain
Farm to Loading Dock Support
Coordinating "farm to..." initiatives in Colorado
Farm to Loading Dock Ticketholders Only
Summit Events - at stockyards event center
2:00 pm
Mountain
Event Registration Opens
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Mountain
Facilitated Small Table Introductions
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Location: Show Arena

4:15 - 5:00 pm
Mountain
Welcome and Bridge Builders: examples and lessons from across Colorado
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Welcome – Becca Jablonski and Monique Marez
Language Justice - Community Language Cooperative
Land Acknowledgement - Yaz Perez
Bridge Builders - Brandon Francis, Julie Moore, Jay Linx, Tash Mitchell, Devon Peña, Taylor Drew, Patience Kabwasa

Location: Auction Arena

5:15 - 8 pm
Mountain
CO Proud & EAT Denver Happy Hour
Food and drinks from independent restaurants featuring products grown and raised in Colorado.

Location: Show Arena

stockyards event center
8:00 am
Mountain
Morning Joint Session
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• Welcome video by Mark Rose
• “State of the Colorado Food System”
         • Speakers: Commissioner Kate Greenberg and State Director Armando Valdez

LOCATION: Show Arena

9:15 am
Mountain
Breakout 1
Track 1: Bringing Policy Down To Earth
WORKSHOP Telling Your Story: How to Connect, Talk, and Influence Media & Elected Officials
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This workshop will demonstrate how to take your idea or passion and transform it into a compelling story. Watch as two experts work with stakeholders to craft a policy brief and a media story. Time will be dedicated for participants to workshop their own stories to craft impactful narratives. An emphasis will be placed on how to effectively address the most pressing challenges facing food and agriculture in our state in a landscape of increasing digitalization and polarization. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to elegantly define and communicate their story to enact policy change. LOCATION: East Breakout

Speakers: Clare Brock, LeAnna Warren, Paolo Ziacita, Katie Wallace

Track 2: Key Factors in Food and Agriculture
Sponsored By the Colorado Health Foundation
Coalition Building to Support Mental Health
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Social connection is the number one protective factor in supporting individual mental health. This workshop will discuss the role of community connectedness in supporting mental health, including how coalition building plays a key role in supporting positive mental health outcomes. The panel will present and discuss examples of coalition building from across the state and how they can improve. LOCATION: Auction Arena

Speakers: Brizai Cortes, Tammie Delaney, Beatriz Garcia-Waddell, Maureen Hearty, Danielle Varda, Clinton Wilson

Track 3: Young Leaders: Sponsored by the CO Department of Agriculture
OPTION A: From Soil to Supper: A Holistic View of Colorado’s Food System
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Where does our food come from? This session aims to provide a more holistic view of the Colorado Food System by giving a nod to as many facets as possible, from the production of food, to the distribution of food and everything in between. Participants will get the opportunity to learn about three entities of the food system from leading experts and a chance to network with these experts and their peers to get a broader understanding of production, processing and transportation. LOCATION: Classroom 1

Speakers: Lara Bailey, Greg Carlin, Sarah Jones, Al Stone

OPTION B: Pinpoint Your Potential
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What challenges and opportunities does your food system face? Join us for an interactive session to learn about the elements of food systems and mapping local food systems across Colorado with other young leaders. Get ready for a time to learn, engage, and be inspired to take action in your community!
LOCATION:  Classroom 2

Speakers: Jonathan Cable

Track 4: Putting our money where our mouth is: Connecting Supply and Demand
“Road Mapping” Farm to School: Lessons from California
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Sponsored by U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Hear how California developed their Farm to School road map and discuss what the applicable takeaways are for Colorado and how Colorado’s regulations, resources, infrastructure, and more make Colorado unique. LOCATION: Show Arena

Speakers: Nick Anicich

Facilitor: Erika Edwards

Track 5: Effective Approaches to Addressing Hunger
Understanding Our Collective Power, Roles and Responsibilities
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There are multiple players in Colorado’s food system with varying degrees of power, resources, and influence. This session begins with hearing about what initiatives are currently happening in the state by four partners with large amounts of power and privilege, The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, Colorado State University, Hunger Free Colorado, and Nourish Colorado. This will be followed by a discussion on the roles and responsibilities of different types of groups across the state: from individual advocates, communities and coalitions to these four statewide organizations. The focus of this session is to align our goals, understand who is working on what, and identify ways to effectively support one another on a community and statewide level. LOCATION: West Breakout

Speakers: James Pritchett, Marc Jacobson, Joël McClurg, Wendy Moschetti

Facilitator: Elizabeth Ryan

10:30 am
Mountain
Break
10:45 am
Mountain
Breakout 2
Track 1: Bringing Policy Down To Earth
What the “Right to Farm” Means in 2023: Contextualizing the Right to Farm with Indigenous Food Sovereignty
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How do we protect agricultural space in Colorado while addressing the injustices that facilitated their development? As Colorado agricultural production faces increasing challenges from suburban encroachment, growing competition for water, and rising resistance to food processing and manufacturing, this session will explore what new tools or policies can help maintain, expand, or improve our approaches to agricultural production. These strategies will be contextualized as communities across the state begin to take steps to right wrongs resulting from forceable removal of Indigenous peoples, slavery, historic disinvestment, and general extractive and racists practices. We will hear from experts in land conservation, food sovereignty, and Indigenous water rights.LOCATION: East Breakout

Speakers: Shannon Francis, Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, Gregor MacGregor

Track 2: Key Factors in Food and Agriculture
Useful Tech that Scales
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Sponsored by COBank

This session will discuss and analyze technological innovations across the food system and how these tools can be best used to support Colorado farmers, ranchers and communities. Examples from agriculture, food processing, commercial kitchens, and marketing will answer, what is scalable technology and why is it important? How do we prepare the next generation to inherit our food system? Location: West Breakout

Speakers: John Abizaid, Mimi Bestwick, Nicholas Chambers, Hailey Edmondson, Steven Lupien, Mindy Montgomery

Track 3: Young Leaders: Sponsored by the CO Department of Agriculture
OPTION A: Sourcing your Colorado specialty
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Description: Discover the commitment to authentic quality in an interactive workshop and panel involving the practices and importance of locally sourced produce.Identify methods and resources that encourage you to eat with the seasons and benefit from the nutrients of produce at their peak in your everyday life. Discuss with Colorado experts on their contribution to the sustainability of the community’s food supply and how they guarantee valuable resources for their consumers. LOCATION: Classroom 2

Speakers: Daniel Asher, Lauren Ames, Perdita Butler, Geonna King

OPTION B: Collaborating Through Community

This session aims to highlight previous and current efforts to expand food access and equity in Colorado through knowledge and connection building both regionally and topically among participants. In this session we seek to explore our ties to food systems and ways we can get involved.
LOCATION:  Show Arena – Open To Youth Participants Only

Speakers: DaZha Creal, Jay Linx, Yaz Perez

OPTION C: How to Navigate Food Waste & Scrappy Cooking
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Our session begins with a presentation, which covers details regarding food waste around Colorado. Several interactive and sensory activities will take place throughout the session to engage the audience. Following the presentation/activity, the idea of “scrappy cooking” will be introduced through a pamphlet with various resources. Our goal is to spread awareness on the presence of food in Colorado and share ideas regarding ways to mitigate food waste in an accessible way.
LOCATION:  Classroom 1

Speakers: Miguel Torres, Angelique Pino, Taliah Martinez

Track 4: Putting our money where our mouth is: Connecting Supply and Demand
WORKSHOP: Developing a Colorado Farm to School Road Map: How to Get More Colorado Products into Schools
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Sponsored by Instacart
Even with the unprecedented amounts of resources available for farm to school in the state, why is it still so hard for Colorado schools to source local food?! Share your input about how we can come together to uncover the real, underlying reasons why farm to school isn’t the “easy choice,” and prioritize system-wide solutions that are bigger than any one individual organization’s work alone. Help us design a farm to school road mapping process that honors all voices, energizes rather than bores us, and doesn’t result in a document that sits on a shelf – a process that best leverages our collective skills, experiences, and expertise to support farmers, ranchers, supply chain businesses, schools, and kids. LOCATION: Show Arena

Speakers: Andrea Alma (USDA FNS) and Jess Wright (Nourish Colorado)
Facilitator: Casey Jaquez
Table Facilitators: Krista Garand, Justin Carter, Kathryn Ardoin, and Elliott Smith
Track 5: Effective Approaches to Addressing Hunger
Beyond Free Food: Changing the Status Quo on Hunger Relief
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If we are to sustainably and effectively solve hunger in our communities, we must go beyond the traditional models of the charitable food system. In this panel, we will unpack the systemic causes of hunger that often go ignored and hear from those who are pioneering the way Colorado addresses hunger. LOCATION: Auction Arena

Speakers: Amber Lansing, Andrea Loudd, Mo Vanwalleghan

Facilitator: Justice Onwordi

12:15 pm
Mountain
Lunch

Location: Show Arena

1:30 pm
Mountain
Breakout 3
Track 1: Bringing Policy Down To Earth
WORKSHOP: From Community Food and Agricultural Advocacy to City and State Policy
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Sponsored by Denver Department of Public Health and Environment

Join us for a conversation with partners who have helped to move from idea to policy to implementation. Hear about innovative approaches to building a multi-cultural inclusive campaign, translating community ideas into language built for a state-wide policy, and maintaining an engaged stakeholder commission. Speakers will share lessons from the Boulder Sugary Beverage Tax, the Healthy School Meals for All, and the Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids Initiative.LOCATION: East Breakout

Speakers: Lauren Howe, Amelia Hulbert, Liza Marron, Ashley Wheeland

Track 2: Key Factors in Food and Agriculture
Sponsored by Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Water Conservation Board
Connecting local needs with statewide resources
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Communities across the state are becoming keys to shaping vibrant food systems. This session will take a deep dive into an example from the San Luis Valley, exploring how stakeholders from six counties came together to promote food systems-led economic development while facing limited resource availability. LOCATION: Auction Arena 

Speakers: Ynke de Koe, Jim Ehrlich, Nora Flynn, Patrick Garrett, Amanda Laban, Sarah Stoeber, Kat Papenbrock, Kathy Underhill

Track 3: Young Leaders: sponsored by the CO Department of Agriculture
Colorado Food System Jeopardy Challenge
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Description: Get ready to put on your thinking caps! In this final session, participants will get the opportunity to review everything learned throughout the Food Summit in the Youth Leaders Track in a high-energy Jeopardy game. Topics will be taken from each session from the day and put into competitive categories. The winners of this challenge will be going home with their very own 2023 Food Summit prize.
LOCATION: Classroom 1, Youth Participants Only

Speakers: Jorey Billings, Sydney Cure, Mylo Lovejoy 

Track 4: Putting our money where our mouth is: Connecting Supply and Demand
WORKSHOP: Matching State Resources with Infrastructure Demand
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Sponsored By Western SARE

Money to support built infrastructure seemingly abounds, but is it enough? During statewide listening sessions, it became clear that demands span both hard and soft infrastructure. During this session, hear updates about efforts to increase support on hard infrastructure such as meat processing capacity and food hub networks, as well as soft infrastructure such as technical assistance training and accessing and leveraging state and federal resources. Participants will be invited to guide next steps and provide insights as to how these initiatives can better serve their organizations and communities. LOCATION: Show Arena

Speakers: Dave Carter, Holly Conn, Brian Coppom, Sarah Rhodes

Track 5: Effective Approaches to Addressing Hunger
Moving Through the Mess Together: How Food Coalitions Are Fumbling Forward Towards More Equitable Local Food Systems
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Coalition work is messy and the impacts can be difficult to decipher. Join the Civic Canopy (a statewide capacity building team) to engage with food coalitions from across Colorado who are implementing holistic approaches and diverse stakeholders, cultivating grassroots leadership, addressing root causes, and uplifting innovative solutions from the community. Then, join the conversation with a “fishbowl” discussion around what is and isn’t working for food coalitions in your community…or maybe inspire you to start your own. LOCATION: W Breakout

Speakers: Kale McMonagle, Morgan Schmehl

3:00 pm
Mountain
Regional discussions and next steps

During this session, you will be invited to connect with others from your region. You will be asked to identify and share next steps to continue to strengthen food and agriculture in your community.

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LOCATION: Show Arena

Facilitators: Brian Coppom and Libby Christensen

3:45 pm
Mountain
Wrap Up
Young Leaders Track
What’s Next: Featuring Karina Branson and Franklin Cruz

LOCATION: Show Arena

4:00 pm
Mountain
Adjourn
pre summit convening
farm to loading dock support
dec 7 / 10 - 2 pm / CSU Spur - Hydro Building

Join us for this pre-summit event to provide input on a Colorado farm to loading dock technical assistance landscape assessment. There is an unprecedented amount of state and Federal financial and human resource support for “farm to…” efforts in the state and we need to get organized! We invite those involved in getting food and agricultural products from the farm to institution – producers, ranchers, distributors, food service directors, non-profits.

Colorado proud/Eat Denver
Happy hour
dec 7 / 5:15 - 8 pm / stockyards event center

Join us for a Colorado Proud / Eat Denver happy hour featuring independent restaurants with products grown and raised in Colorado.

Thank you to our 2023 Sponsors!

grain chain

Colorado Potatoes

Ardent Mills

RFMU

CoBank

Bobos

Pork

hunger

FR

natually Boulder

Instacart

COFSAC

cda

Food Bank Rockies

CO Health Foundation

Denver Health

NW Rocky Center

Colorado Proud

scraps

CO natural Resources

fsi

Summit Leadership

Given the focus on leveraging food policy, we our planning committee is made up of representatives from each of the state’s food policy councils/coalitions, which are in turn representative of the diversity of Colorado’s food systems.

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Stay Up to Date

We invite anyone connected to Colorado’s food system to be a part of this important discussion. Please add your email here to stay up to date with the latest information about the regional and statewide gatherings.

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