First Post-Inauguration Bipartisan Food Policy Summit

 Food Tank Summit at GW University February 2nd

by Annette Nielsen 

 Food Tank, in partnership with The George Washington University (GWU), will hold a one-day summit entitled “Let’s Build Better Food Policy,” Thursday, February 2, 2017 from 9 am to 5 pm in GWU’s Jack Morton Auditorium.

Danielle Nierenberg, President and founder, Food Tank, welcomes the 2016 DC Summit attendees. Photo by LightMan Photography.

Journalists and advocates will moderate interactive panel topics including the Future of the Farm Bill, Creating Resiliency in the Food and Agriculture System, Local and Regional Food Systems, and Global Food Security and Change. This popular event brings together over 35 expert speakers and panelists across all sectors of the food industry – business, government and elected officials, farmers, producers, chefs, unions, nonprofits and more.

2016 Bright Spot in the Food System Honorees, Stephen Ritz of the Green Bronx Machine(with Danielle Nierenberg) and Karen Washington of Rise & Root Farm. Photo by LightMan Photography.

Attendees at the third annual DC Food Tank Summit will hear from noted thought leaders such as Chuck Abbott, Food and Environment Reporting Network (FERN); Chef José Andrés, ThinkFoodGroup; Allison Aubrey, NPR; Eliza Barclay, Vox.com; Tim Carman, Washington Post; Shenggen Fan, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Matt Herrick, US Department of Agriculture (USDA); Roger Johnson, National Farmers Union (NFU); Kathleen Merrigan, The George Washington University; Gerald Nelson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Danielle Nierenberg, Food Tank; Marc Oshima, AeroFarms; Kip Tom, Tom Farms; Eric Trachtenberg, McLarty Associates; Ambassador Darci Vetter, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and Malik Yakini, Detroit Black Community Food Security.

Nora Pouillon (right) with Food Tank guests at her eponymous restaurant at the 2016 Food Tank Summit dinner. Photo by LightMan Photography.

Backstage interviews will be conducted on Facebook Live, while the entire event will also be broadcast on a free livestream at FoodTank.com. More than 15,000 people from around the world streamed the last Food Tank Summit in Chicago, while there were one million organic views on Facebook Live.

 Following the Summit, all attendees are invited to a reception hosted by Restaurant Nora (America’s first certified organic restaurant). The Food Tank Summit dinner features a three-course dinner designed by the First Lady of organic dining, Nora Pouillon. For further  information, including ticket purchase options to the summit, reception or dinner, can be found online here.

Last year’s second annual DC Food Tank Summit, brought together 70+ speakers for a completely sold-out day-time event (400 in-person attendees) from more than 25 states, and more than 30,100 livestream participants from more than 125 countries. This year, Food Tank will also hold inaugural summits in Boston and LA, while expanding globally in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The final 2017 summit will be held in Chicago, IL.