Food Tank, in partnership with the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, Farm-to-Fork Program, and University of California, Davis, is excited to announce the 1st annual Farm Tank Conference at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento on September 22–23, 2016. This two-day event will feature more than 35 different speakers from the food and agriculture field. Researchers, farmers, chefs, policymakers, government officials, and students will come together for interactive panels.
The event will feature interactive panels moderated by top food journalists, networking, and delicious food, followed by a day of hands-on activities and opportunities for attendees.
Food Tank recently had the opportunity to speak with Jon Bansen, an Organic Valley Farmer, who will be speaking at the summit.
Food Tank (FT): What inspired you to get involved in food and agriculture?
Jon Bansen (JB): My interest in biology and love of nature.
FT: What do you see as the biggest opportunity to fix the food system?
JB: Consumer-driven demand of different products.
FT: What innovations in agriculture and the food system are you most excited about?
JB: It’s food. It’s not technology. It should be about the biology, not the innovation.
FT: Can you share a story about a food hero that inspired you?
JB: My father would be my food hero. Even before organics were around he refused to spray pesticides in the fields where the cows were going to eat.
FT: What drives you every day to fight for the bettering of our food system?
JB: The survivability of our planet.
FT: What’s the biggest problem within the food system our parents and grandparents didn’t have to deal with?
JB: Large agribusiness and the pesticides that come with it.
FT: What’s the first, most pressing issue you’d like to see solved within the food system?
JB: The corn and soybean based monoculture.
FT: What is one small change every person can make in their daily lives to make a big difference?
JB: Their food choices.
FT: What’s one issue within the food system you’d like to see completely solved for the next generation?
JB: It would have to be the issue around monocultures of corn and soybeans, and the pesticides; it’s all intertwined and tied to our broken food system.
FT: What agricultural issue would you like for the next president of the United States to immediately address?
JB: Subsidies to the corn and soybean monoculture system.
To find out more about the event, see the full list of speakers, and purchase tickets, please click HERE. Interested participants who cannot join can also sign up for the live-stream HERE.
To join us at Food Tank’s São Paulo, Brazil, Summit in October 2016, please click HERE. To join us at Food Tank’s Chicago, IL, Summit November 16, 2016, please click HERE.
Want to become a sponsor of the Food Tank Summit? Please click HERE.
Want to suggest a speaker for one of the Summits? Please click HERE.
Want to watch videos from previous Food Tank Summits? Please click HERE.
Sponsors for this year’s Food Tank Summit in Sacramento include: Almond Board of California, Annie’s Inc., Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, Blue Apron, Clif Bar & Company, Driscoll’s, Fair Trade USA, Farmer’s Fridge, Food and Environment Reporting Network, Inter Press Service (IPS), Niman Ranch, Organic Valley, and VegFund. More to be announced soon.
Join the discussion using #FoodTank across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
