Governor's Food and Agriculture Summit

Agenda

March 22-23, 2007
Red Lion Colonial Inn
Helena, MT


Thursday, March 22, 2007

8:00 am - Registration Opens

9:00 am - Summit Welcome

  • Anna Whiting-Sorrell, Governor’s Policy Advisor on Families
  • Video: Montana’s Food System in Change

    Governor's Address
  • Introduction – Ross Racine, Rancher, Intertribal Agriculture Council
  • The Honorable Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana

9:45 am - Summit Agenda Overview

  • Barbara Rusmore, Summit Facilitator

Table Activity: Summit Participant Introductions and Break

10:30 am - Keynote: (Not) making a living in rural America: Rights-based food systems and sustainable livelihoods. (Title subject to change)

  • Molly Anderson, national researcher and educator on the science and policy of food systems; her current focus is on federal policies to increase economic opportunities for farms, ranches and rural communities while increasing access to healthy food.

11:30 am - Identifying Our Concerns
Table group activity focused on identifying Montana food systems issues

  • Barbara Rusmore and Beki Brandborg, Conference Facilitators

Noon - Lunch and Speaker: Closing the Gap between Local Agriculture and Healthy Communities

  • Bill Yellowtail, Endowed Chair, Native American Studies, Montana State University and the Rural Landscape Institute

1:00 pm - Field to Fork: Mapping Our Food System

  • Dr. Alison Harmon, Montana State University

1:45 pm - Understanding Montana’s Food System: Facts and Trends Related to Food Production and Food Access

  • Josh Slotnick, Instructor, UM Program in Ecological Agriculture and Society (PEAS); Director of the PEAS and Garden City Harvest Farm
  • Dr. Paul Miller, University of Montana

2:30 pm - Break

3:00 pm - Innovative Private and Public Approaches to Changing the Food System

  • Sharon Thornberry, Director of the Oregon Food Bank - Oregon’s food policy program and increasing Food Stamp participation
  • Molly Anderson, Rural Access to Montana Grown Food
  • Don Addy, Montana State University Extension, Fort Belknap Reservation

4:00 pm - A Shared Vision for Montana’s Food System: Table Discussions

  • Barbara Rusmore and Beki Brandborg, Facilitators

4:45 pm - Summary: From Understanding the Problem to Finding Solutions -- Tomorrow’s Challenge

  • Hank Hudson, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

5:00 pm - Reception

6:30 pm - Dinner on your own: Specific area restaurants will be serving "Montana-grown" menu items.  See registration table for information on these participating restaurants.

DAY 2: Friday, March 23, 2007

7:00 am - Registration Opens

8:00 am - Welcome: Creating Options and Choices for Agriculture in Montana

  • Nancy Peterson, Director, Montana Department of Agriculture

8:15 am - Montana Innovations and Examples

  • Crissie McMullen, Grow Montana - Going Local: Farm to Cafeteria Programs in Montana
  • Bruce Smith, MSU Dawson County Extension - Farm to Table: Economic Development in Eastern MT
  • Rick Robinson, President, Healing Tree - Kid’s Café: Better nutrition for children in Lame Deer, MT

9:15 am - Introduction to Working Group Process

  • Barbara Rusmore and Beki Brandborg, Summit Facilitators

9:45 am - Working Group Session 1: Identifying and Prioritizing Actions for Change in Montana’s Food System

  • Summit participants break out into working groups of 15 individuals. Each group will work toward identifying five actions with the greatest potential for positive impact on the Montana food system. Facilitators within each working group guide discussion and recording of group work.

11:15 am - Break

  • Participants move to main conference room and post written recommendations from working groups on wall

11:30 am - Lunch

12:15 pm - Summation of Working Group 1 Sessions

  • Barbara Rusmore and Beki Brandborg, Summit Facilitators

12:45 pm - Working Group Session 2: Recommendations and Action Plans

  • Summit participants break out into 7-10 groups to develop recommendations and specific action steps to bring forth from summit, based upon priority areas identified in Working Group Session 1.

1:45 pm - Break and participants return to main conference room

2:15 pm - Reporting from Recommendation and Action Plan Groups

2:45 pm - Conclusions

  • Joan Miles, Director of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

3:00 pm - Conference Adjourns