Target Audience: 4th grade and older

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy. For more information on the movie, go to http://www.freshthemovie.com/

Target Audience: (Pre-K thru 3rd Grade)

Presented by the Hispanic Health Council, Fernando’s Farm puppet show helps kids understand the links between the food they eat, its agricultural origin, and encourages accessing food from local farmers. The program is funded by USDA SNAP-ED Program. This presentation is bilingual. 

There will be a second showing of the puppet show at 11:00 AM.

Presented by the Hispanic Health Council, Fernando’s Farm puppet show helps kids understand the links between the food they eat, its agricultural origin, and encourages accessing food from local farmers. The program is funded by USDA SNAP-ED Program. This presentation is bilingual. 

There will be a second showing of the puppet show at 11:00 AM.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are now present in the majority of our food.  Serious questions about the environmental, animal and human health effects of GMOs suggest that we question this novel technology.  Learn more about GMOs, the organic farmers’ lawsuit against Monsanto and GMO labeling efforts in Connecticut.

Target Audience: 4th to 8th grade

Presenters: Kim Gill, Sustainable Farm School
                    Kurt Love, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education, CCSU

Participants will be broken down into three categories: Sustainable Food, Sustainable Energy, and Sustainable Transportation. Given their category, students will discuss
and create \self-sufficient food, energy, and transportation systems. They will use recycled materials and found objects to construct their system and work together to
place them in context of one another's designs, thus envisioning our sustainable world.

Target Audience: 4th - 8th grade

Really now, what is a Cheeto?  What exactly are they made of?  And where in the world does that glowing orange powder come from?   Well leave it to our Common Ground Students to help you answer that question and more. The journey an appleand a cheeto take before they reach our stomach will be explored, and the knowledge of the benefits of eating healthy will be passed on.  In telling this story we will make the connection to living sustainability. If you would like to be enlightened in such a way come and be amazed by the information these students have to offer.

Presenter: Jacob Werblow, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education, CCSU

Target Audience: 4th-12th grade

Drawing on information learned in the movie and that by the presenter, participants will engage in an interactive workhop to redesign current school lunches.

Emily Brooks:  How Marketing Influences Sustainable Decisions

Local author and founder of Edibles Advocates Alliance.Emily nurtures social entrepreneurs who support local agriculture, sustainable farming, and sustainable food systems, and specializes in supporting organizational needs such as business planning, inbound marketing support, strategic planning, grant writing assistance, social media market positioning, online brand niche, nonprofit development & grant funding strategies, project management, and the systemic creation and implementation of strategic plans. 

For more information on Emily Brooks, go to: http://www.ediblesadvocatealliance.org/about-emily-brooks/

Book signing by Emily Brooks will follow lunch.

This art exhibition features the work of CCSU art students in Adam Niklewicz’s Illustration I class. Informed by Emily Brooks' cookbook Connecticut FARMER & FEAST, and the movie FRESH!, these small acrylic paintings address the subject of sustainable farming and the role of healthy, organic local foods. With their art these students aspire to capture the essence of the issue of sustainability.

For more information on the movie: http://www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org/

A mother and daughter team with a background in art, architecture, and education explores sustainable systems design in regard to food sources.  Looking at both small and large scale case studies, the presenters take into account the principles of permaculture as well as aesthetics, collaboration, and intention when designing food systems.

Welcome Address: CCSU President Dr. Jack Miller

Commissioner Daniel Etsy, Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Commissioner Esty will be giving a talk on Connecticut energy and environmental policies related to food and agriculture, followed by a Town Hall style Question & Answer session with audience members.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Dr. Charles Button, GESAC Chair and Associate Professor of Geography
Central Connecticut State University