Public Forum on Food and Farm Policy on February 23
Organizers with Empower Missouri, formerly the Missouri Association of Social Welfare, and Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri will hold a public forum titled "There’s No Plate Like Home: Health, Food &Power." The event will be Monday February 23, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 100 in the Inman E. Page library at Lincoln University, 712 Lee Drive, Jefferson City, Missouri.
Here are details of the event from the organizers:
This public forum will examine the connections among health, food, farming, and public policy with an aim to promoting local, sustainably-grown food, healthy food choices and availability, and the public policies surrounding these concerns.
We will look at:
One of the forums highlights will be a review of the St. Louis Regional Food Study that encompassed 32 counties in Illinois and 27 in Missouri surrounding approximately a 100-mile radius of St. Louis. This area and the study was dubbed the “The Foodshed.” The data contained in this study is vast and invaluable in understanding the state of food, agriculture and environment in areas of Missouri and beyond.
Sponsored by Empower Missouri (formerly MASW); Empower Missouri Hunger Task Force; and Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri
Speakers include:
Kathleen ‘Kat’ Logan Smith is the Interim Executive Director for Food Works that focuses its work primarily in southern Illinois. In this new position, Kat develops programs and collaborations that connect new and existing growers with the support and education they want. As well, she is responsible for managing the Southern Illinois Farming Network and the Southern Illinois Farm Beginnings® farmer training course, and serves as project coordinator for many other Food Works initiatives.
Kathleen is a long time food and environmental activist. Most recently, she's consulted on research on Missouri permitted livestock operations and conducted outreach to communities on local food systems. While serving as Environmental Policy Director for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE), she edited the 59-county, bi-state St. Louis Regional Food System Study which examined health, food, and farming with an aim to promote local, sustainable food in Missouri and Illinois. Prior to serving as Policy Director, she was Executive Director of MCE from 2006, which prompted her to turn her attention and skills to work on food systems.
Her career path began while earning her Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Oklahoma State University, when Kathleen joined efforts in Oklahoma to address toxic waste sites. Along with her environmental work, she has communications experience as newspaper reporter, public relations coordinator, and communications director for progressive public interest campaigns and causes. Kathleen is devoted to advancing sustainable local food systems that nurture health, the environment, and local economies.
Wes Shoemyer lives on his family farm in Monroe County with his wife Cheryl. As a former state senator and representative, Wes has been a champion and a voice for the independent family farmer in Missouri and around the world.
Wes has received a number of awards for his work protecting sustainable agriculture and rural communities, including the Governor's Advisory Council on Agriculture Award, Concerned Agriculturalist of Missouri Award, the Family Farm Leadership Award from Missouri Farmers Union, the Farm Forum Dedicated Service to Rural America Award, and the Rural Health Clinic Recognition of Service Award. He has done significant work globally with Greenpeace.
Agriculture has always been a fundamental part of Shoemyer's life. He is a recipient of the American Farmer degree from FFA, a member of the National Farmers Organization, the Missouri Farmers Union, NEMO Grain Processors, and the Ozark Mountain Pork Processing Plant.
In 2014 he was a key leader in the fight against the ballot measure, Amendment 1. He formed Missouri’s Food For America, a broad coalition of family farmers, environmentalists, food safety advocates, animal welfare organizations and concerned citizens who recognize the long-lasting, damaging effects of the “Right to Farm” amendment. MFFA continues to work educating on important issues affecting family farming, the environment and sustainability.
Dr. Kamalendu B. (K.B.) serves as a Professor of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and as a State Extension Specialist with Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. He received his undergraduate education in India, M.S. in Plant & Soil Science from Tuskegee University in Alabama, and Ph. D. in Biology (Plant Physiology) from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He was involved in classroom teaching and field research for approximately 15 years, before he got involved in international development work in the mid-1980s. During his 12 plus years stint in Africa, he has served in various capacities in 14 countries.
He presently serves as the Program Leader of the Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program (ISFOP), and as the Co-Coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (NCR-SARE) program for the state of Missouri. He mentors several junior faculty and reviews grant proposals for USDA and other governmental agencies.
The ISFOP is part of Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE), created to help the small farmers and ranchers of Missouri, especially those who are socially disadvantaged and under-served, to raise the level of efficiency on their farms while taking good care of the soil, water and the environment.
Glenn Koenen worked for non-profit organizations for better than 32 years. Most of his career was with organizations providing food and other direct services to struggling families. Glenn was a founding board member and later president of the St. Louis Metro Food Pantry Association. He was also a member of Missourians for Tax Justice and worked on several issue campaigns related to taxation.
In November 2012 Glenn joined the board of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare and became MASW’s Hunger Task Force chair.Glenn has a Master of Arts in English from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and is a magna cum laude graduate in Political Science and Communications from St. Louis University. He and his wife, Peggy, live in Oakville, Missouri.
For more details, contact Barbara Ross, Director of Social Services, Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri-Diocese of Jefferson City, P O Box 104626, 2201 West Main, Jefferson City, MO 65110. Phone: 573/635-7719. Email: bross@cccnmo.org
This public forum will examine the connections among health, food, farming, and public policy with an aim to promoting local, sustainably-grown food, healthy food choices and availability, and the public policies surrounding these concerns.
- the programs and projects that promote healthy, locally-grown food, its access, and its producers and growers in communities throughout Missouri.
- how public policies and the actions of corporations affect our access to locally-grown, healthy food, and the sustainability of agriculture and the environment.
- do we have programs and policies that protect and enrich our air, soils and water, and help sustain the environment in which we all must live?
One of the forums highlights will be a review of the St. Louis Regional Food Study that encompassed 32 counties in Illinois and 27 in Missouri surrounding approximately a 100-mile radius of St. Louis. This area and the study was dubbed the “The Foodshed.” The data contained in this study is vast and invaluable in understanding the state of food, agriculture and environment in areas of Missouri and beyond.
Sponsored by Empower Missouri (formerly MASW); Empower Missouri Hunger Task Force; and Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri
Speakers include:
Kathleen is a long time food and environmental activist. Most recently, she's consulted on research on Missouri permitted livestock operations and conducted outreach to communities on local food systems. While serving as Environmental Policy Director for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE), she edited the 59-county, bi-state St. Louis Regional Food System Study which examined health, food, and farming with an aim to promote local, sustainable food in Missouri and Illinois. Prior to serving as Policy Director, she was Executive Director of MCE from 2006, which prompted her to turn her attention and skills to work on food systems.
Her career path began while earning her Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Oklahoma State University, when Kathleen joined efforts in Oklahoma to address toxic waste sites. Along with her environmental work, she has communications experience as newspaper reporter, public relations coordinator, and communications director for progressive public interest campaigns and causes. Kathleen is devoted to advancing sustainable local food systems that nurture health, the environment, and local economies.
Wes has received a number of awards for his work protecting sustainable agriculture and rural communities, including the Governor's Advisory Council on Agriculture Award, Concerned Agriculturalist of Missouri Award, the Family Farm Leadership Award from Missouri Farmers Union, the Farm Forum Dedicated Service to Rural America Award, and the Rural Health Clinic Recognition of Service Award. He has done significant work globally with Greenpeace.
Agriculture has always been a fundamental part of Shoemyer's life. He is a recipient of the American Farmer degree from FFA, a member of the National Farmers Organization, the Missouri Farmers Union, NEMO Grain Processors, and the Ozark Mountain Pork Processing Plant.
In 2014 he was a key leader in the fight against the ballot measure, Amendment 1. He formed Missouri’s Food For America, a broad coalition of family farmers, environmentalists, food safety advocates, animal welfare organizations and concerned citizens who recognize the long-lasting, damaging effects of the “Right to Farm” amendment. MFFA continues to work educating on important issues affecting family farming, the environment and sustainability.
He presently serves as the Program Leader of the Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program (ISFOP), and as the Co-Coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (NCR-SARE) program for the state of Missouri. He mentors several junior faculty and reviews grant proposals for USDA and other governmental agencies.
The ISFOP is part of Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE), created to help the small farmers and ranchers of Missouri, especially those who are socially disadvantaged and under-served, to raise the level of efficiency on their farms while taking good care of the soil, water and the environment.
Glenn Koenen worked for non-profit organizations for better than 32 years. Most of his career was with organizations providing food and other direct services to struggling families. Glenn was a founding board member and later president of the St. Louis Metro Food Pantry Association. He was also a member of Missourians for Tax Justice and worked on several issue campaigns related to taxation.In November 2012 Glenn joined the board of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare and became MASW’s Hunger Task Force chair.Glenn has a Master of Arts in English from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and is a magna cum laude graduate in Political Science and Communications from St. Louis University. He and his wife, Peggy, live in Oakville, Missouri.
For more details, contact Barbara Ross, Director of Social Services, Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri-Diocese of Jefferson City, P O Box 104626, 2201 West Main, Jefferson City, MO 65110. Phone: 573/635-7719. Email: bross@cccnmo.org
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