STAY TUNED.
 
WITH THE UNIVERSITY'S RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS), THE SINE INSTITUTE WILL BE UPDATING EVENT ATTENDEES ON ITS PLANS FOR UPCOMING PROGRAMMING. REGISTRATIONS CAN STILL BE MADE.
 
 
KATHERINE MILLER
VICE PRESIDENT OF IMPACT, THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION
 
Seminar Series
What’s for Dinner?: The Evolution of Food Policy and Advocacy
 

Each seminar is from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Dates and locations vary. Reservations are encouraged, and seating is first come, first seated. These programs are free and open to the public.

 

Address: American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, 20016

Directions/Transportation: https://www.american.edu/about/visiting-campus.cfm

 

- Thursday, January 30 | Mary Graydon Center, Room 200

Guest Lecturer: Chef Tom Colicchio (founder of Crafted Hospitality, founder of Food Policy Action and Top Chef Producer), Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Catherine Boudreau, food and agriculture reporter at Politico Pro.


- Thursday, February 6 | Kerwin Hall, Room 301

Guest Lecturers: Chef Andrew Zimmern, Arcadia Executive Director Pamela Hess and NPR's Alison Aubrey.


- Thursday, March 5 | Kerwin Hall, Room 301

Guest Lecturers: SEIU'S Policy Director Mia Dell and Laura Hayes, Food Editor and Young & Hungry Columnist at Washington City Paper


- Thursday, March 26 - Streamed Online

Guest Lecturer: Chefs Kwame Onwuachi, Amy Brandwein and Christine Cikowski.

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLggLJp00vs


- Thursday, April 9 - Streamed Online

Guest Lecturers: Devita Davison, Executive Director of FoodLab Detroit; Jamila Robinson,​​​​ Food Editor for Philadelphia Inquirer and Vice-Chair of the James Beard Foundation Journalism Committee; Niaz Dorry, Executive Director of the National Family Farm Coalition and Coordinating Director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance.

Please register to receive the Zoom Meeting ID for this event.

 

Synopsis

Food is the single subject that touches every human on the planet. Food is tied to our physical and mental health, the economic strength of local communities, and the protection of our natural resources. Without food, we die (literally).

Food is also a subject fraught with conflict. Governments can weaponize policies designed to support the most vulnerable by restricting their access to a basic necessity. Communities can find themselves poisoned by the food pumped into them by major corporations. Neighbors can stigmatize each other's choices. Food production can set off fights about access to natural resources. Food sustains us but it can also tear us apart.

Tackling the system that grows, harvests, markets and distributes our food and addressing the policies that both contribute to our overall health and safety yet have a stranglehold on local economies should be a national priority, but it isn't. With climate change at a tipping point, wages stagnant across a tight labor market and debates raging about GMOs, aquaculture, regenerative soil (and so much more), the time to focus on food policy is now.

Food studies - especially the intersectionality of politics, policy, economics, business, and racial justice – is an emergent field of study. Few universities are equipped to introduce their students to this truly interdisciplinary field. American has the programs and faculty to help the food justice and activist community take their work to the next level. It is also a place, given it’s proximity to political power, that is poised to open up the conversation around food to beyond what is just delicious.
Register Here