Calendar

RSVP and more information: https://ourevolvingfoodsystem.weebly.com

The two-day UVA Bicentennial Symposium will engage scholars and the University and Charlottesville community to more greatly understand the past in order to more fully envision the future of our food system. The symposium will have two focal points. The first will be looking back, to “reckon with the past” of a food system rooted in and dependent upon enslaved laborers, and the continuing impacts and manifestations of this legacy in today’s food system. The second will be looking forward, to envision a path forward toward food sovereignty where disenfranchised and marginalized communities have agency in all aspects of their food, from production to consumption. More specifically, the path to food sovereignty also includes advancement of food justice, so that people of all colors and income levels have equitable access to affordable, culturally appropriate, healthy foods. Food sovereignty also signifies the need for diversity and inclusion in community processes and decision-making, so that people can autonomously make decisions about their food choices.

The symposium goals are to increase knowledge, awareness and history-telling about the continuing legacy of the slavery-based food system, and to engage all participants in visioning specific ways that UVA can support a healing path to food sovereignty in Charlottesville and beyond, whether through specific partnerships with community organizations, scholarly research, curriculum, applied practice, and also through large-scale procurement to support a sustainable regional food system.

RSVP and more information: https://ourevolvingfoodsystem.weebly.com

The two-day UVA Bicentennial Symposium will engage scholars and the University and Charlottesville community to more greatly understand the past in order to more fully envision the future of our food system. The symposium will have two focal points. The first will be looking back, to “reckon with the past” of a food system rooted in and dependent upon enslaved laborers, and the continuing impacts and manifestations of this legacy in today’s food system. The second will be looking forward, to envision a path forward toward food sovereignty where disenfranchised and marginalized communities have agency in all aspects of their food, from production to consumption. More specifically, the path to food sovereignty also includes advancement of food justice, so that people of all colors and income levels have equitable access to affordable, culturally appropriate, healthy foods. Food sovereignty also signifies the need for diversity and inclusion in community processes and decision-making, so that people can autonomously make decisions about their food choices.

The symposium goals are to increase knowledge, awareness and history-telling about the continuing legacy of the slavery-based food system, and to engage all participants in visioning specific ways that UVA can support a healing path to food sovereignty in Charlottesville and beyond, whether through specific partnerships with community organizations, scholarly research, curriculum, applied practice, and also through large-scale procurement to support a sustainable regional food system.