The Real Food Campaign will gather people together to learn about nutrient-dense production, to discuss nutrient-dense marketing, to organize into an effective alliance of interests, and to assert a presence and priority in markets, farming, food industry, government, research, and education. Nutrient-dense is no fixation on food, but a bottom-to-top restructuring of society—how we farm, how we sustain soil, how we shop, how we create true wealth, how we contain true wealth.
Advancing this initiative needs a national organization to establish unity and uniformity for reliable, reasonable standards, product identity and promotion practices. The shortest, quickest route to form a national organization is to hold a national conference.
Thus, in fall 2010, after farm harvest, Real Food Campaign's Nutrient-Dense Project will hold a first North American conference on Nutrient-Dense Food & Farming, whose first purpose is to found a national nutrient-dense organization. This will bring together farmers, consumers, retailers, processors, and support services to explore and ratify their common concern to set a new, higher, nutritional standard for food quality.
It's time to not just talk about preventitive health care. It's time to roll up our sleeves to train farmers and build businesses to deliver the authentic, edible reality to American plates and palates.
Organizing this event without a national organization requires volunteers to step into action and undertake the complex chores involved. Real Food Campaign will provide leadership and support, but individual citizens and grassroots initiative must make this event a reality.
A 2010 Conference Task Group will steer conference plans and coordinate volunteer teams. This Task Group's work by regular conference calls. The first conference call is after mid-January. To be included in these conference discussions, contact David Yarrow.
Current plans are for a 2-day conference the first weekend of November in Wisconsin. However, the date and location are negotiable, and are movable as the planning process proceeds.
The conference will have three tracks of activities:
Education Workshops: both days, speakers and panels will inform the diverse interests about steps ahead to set a higher quality standard and deliver that food to consumers.
Organization Development: behind the scenes, Task Groups will meet to finalize their preparations and presentations.
Business Meetings: the first evening, a Founding Members Meeting will review the Task Groups' work, and ratify structures, leaders and program priorities. The second day, the new organization will hold meetings, and three newly selected Boards—Standards, Certification and Marketing—will hold Public Hearings to listen to comments on issues and the work ahead.
A special priority at this early moment of this new movement is to train producers in principles and practices to grow nutrient-dense food. A conference can provide an introduction and overview, to be followed by lengthy training sessions in the fields about the details of methods and materials. Nonetheless, this first-ever conference must enroll farmers as nutrient-dense producers and consolidate this key interest group in support of the developing Standards, Certification, Marketing, and Research.
www.RealFoodCampaign.org
