Some events at the ECHO Conference will also take place at the ECHO Farm in North Ft. Myers, pictured here. (Credit: c.s. carnevale)

December 10-12, 2013
Ft. Myers, FL, USA

At the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization‘s 20th Annual International Agriculture Conference, speakers will share practical solutions to agricultural challenges, personal experiences and strategies for improving the lives of millions who daily face the threat of starvation.

Danielle to participate in a plenary session

Registration is required. Register today!

Location:
Crowne Plaza Hotel
13051 Bell Tower Drive
Fort Myers, FL 33907

Gather with women farmers, advocates and landowners from across the US, who are engaged in healthy food and farming, for a unique mix of sharing, learning, field tours, and the best food Midwest women farmers have to offer! The conference is hosted by the Women, Food & Agriculture Network.

Danielle will be a keynote speaker.

Location: Holiday Inn Airport (map)

Learn more and register:  http://www.wfan.org/2013_National_Conference.html

(M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)

September 26 – October 2, 2013
Chennai, India

The ACWW seeks to raise the standard of living of rural women and families through education, training and community development programmes; to provide practical support to its members and help them set up income-generating schemes; and to give rural women a voice at international level through its links with UN agencies.

The organization’s triennial conference includes elections of new board members, voting on resolutions and recommendations, and educational workshops, among other events.

This is only the third ACWW conference to be held in an emerging economy nation.

Danielle to speak at this event!

Registration required. Register today!

September 7-10, 2013
Bologna, Italy

Danielle will be a keynote speaker at this conference!

This conference, the full title of which is “Feeding the planet sustainably: Innovative models of production and consumption for the right to a healthy diet”, is organized in collaboration with the SANA Exhibition. It will focus on innovative global models of food production, distribution and consumption; the right to a healthy, high-quality diet; food security; and environmental sustainability.

Tickets are limited; buy yours today!

There is a lot of information out there about what you should not eat.  From fast food to smothered salads, Lunchables to soda pop – the survey now unequivocally says that the American love affair with “convenient” quick-fix foods is making us overweight, unhappy and broke.

But what can we do to turn this ship around?

There are at least seven habits of  ”good eaters” which we can learn from to improve our own eating, say experts working in nutrition, education and agriculture.

The habits of good eaters

1. Make food a ritual more central to your life

“Good eaters are not afraid of food, nor do they stress over it,” says Evan Wiig, Founder of the Young Farmer’s Guild in Northern California (now under theYoung Farmer’s Coalition).  “Good eaters savor food and celebrate it, and make the acts of obtaining ingredients, cooking and sitting down to eat the highlight of their day, their week.  They share food, talk about food, experiment with food. It’s hard to give such reverence and attention to Skittles and French fries. And it’s hard to care about the health (both personal as well as ecological) of something you don’t love enough to incorporate into your everyday culture.”

2.  Enjoy your food, but eat less

Knowing the right amount of food (calories) to feed your body is also an essential principal in “eating right,” according to Dr. Robert Post, Associate Executive Director at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at theUSDA. “Our message is for people to enjoy food, but to eat less of it.” The American 2000 calorie diet today includes a daily average of 600-800 calories in added sugars and saturated fat, says Post.  That number needs to be closer to 300 calories.  “We want you to enjoy that donut or sweetened beverage, but only occasionally,” Post added. “And everyday choose more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.” Resources for better eating based on the Federal Dietary Guidelines can be found at choosemyplate.gov.

3. Look at food as a way to fill your prescription

Nutritionist Surinder Phull of Vitality TV agrees that it is not just what you eat but how you eat.  But the benefits gained from eating food you enjoy is not just psychological, it is also physiological.
This is because the process of digestion starts even before food enters our mouth, says Phull.  “As soon as we sense food, the brain sends signals to our stomach to release digestive enzymes which breakdown our food. If we don’t find the food appetizing or if we eat when we are stressed then this vital stage may not occur, meaning that we may not absorb those all-important vitamins and minerals.”

“Meals should not be just about filling your stomach or satiating your palate,” says Max Goldberg, Founder of Pressed Organic Juice Directory, adding that people who view food as medicine are “good eaters.”  “Meals should be about giving your body the minerals, vitamins, and nutrients that it needs to perform at its highest capacity.”

3. Plan your vegetables first

Sarah Nelson, Executive Director of Three Squares, a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit providing nutrition education and improved access to healthy food in low-income communities, says “vegetables are often an afterthought, a side dish, something we feel we have to eat so we can enjoy the main event.”  Instead Nelson tries to plan the vegetables first.

“My perspective on the center of the plate changed when I became a vegetarian, and when I started working for a farmers’ market operator. Suddenly vegetables were the main event, on display all around me every day, offered to me by the hardworking men and women who spent their lives growing them. I started to think about dinner in terms of what I’d picked up at the market that day: cauliflower. Tomatoes. Kale. A slight shift in perspective can help make meals healthier, more varied, and as most vegetarians know, cheaper. Once you’ve made your roasted cauliflower, tomato soup, or kale salad, you might find yourself planning what meat or protein would pair best with your vegetable concoction.”

Nelson adds that most of us actually do get plenty of protein in our diets, and could instead devote more time and energy to making sure we get our “five-a-day.”

4. Grow as much as you can

In New Orleans, 27 percent of adults and 42 percent of children live in poverty.  And with a mere 20 supermarkets in the entire city, access to fresh food is limited (let alone access to all the processed food also found in grocery stores).

Sanjay Kharod, the Executive Director of the New Orleans Food and Farm Network, says good eating in this context is difficult challenge. “We are a city filled with “food deserts” and we are also a city that is built on the culture of food.  The way many individuals have dealt with this lack of access to good food is by doing what they and their families and neighbors have done for a long time.  They grow it.  And it is happening everywhere – abandoned lots, backyards, rooftops, and in containers on porches.  Our history history has shown us that when factors have forced us to produce our own food, we can successfully do so.”

Kharod’s advice then is to grow as much as you can.  “If you can’t eat it all then share it with your neighbors.  If you grow a lot then sell or barter it for other food.  Support local growers by buying their produce.  Understand what is in your food; follow Michael Pollan’s advice that if you can’t visualize what an ingredient looks like on the package list, then don’t eat it.  Eat local – it can improve your health and help build your local food economy.

5. Eat more colors

The color of fruits and vegetables is a sign of nutritional content, says Danielle Nierenberg is a co-founder of Food Tank, a think tank offering solutions and environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty.Studies show that fruits and vegetables often contain carotenoids, which create the brilliant colors of a variety of fruits and vegetables and protect our cells from oxidation and cellular damage.  Eggs, for example, have orange-colored yolks which are high in cancer-fighting carotenoids, and, the more brightly colored the yolks are, the more likely they were produced by healthier chickens.  A richly-colored red tomato also has high levels of lycopene, says Nierenberg, which the American Cancer Society reports can help prevent cancer as well as heart disease.

6. Avoid the middle-of-the-store foods

If you have taken a trip to a grocery store lately, it is hard to miss the aisles and aisles of processed foods in the center of the store. But not only are these foods highly manipulated (and often bear no resemblance to the raw materials from which they were created).  They are also products manufactured by multinational companies with little concern for what these products do to your body says Michele Simon, a public health lawyer who has been writing about the food industry since 1996.  Because these companies are owned by shareholders, says Simon, “profit-motive is paramount to societal concerns such as your health or environment.”

7. Eat Dessert Once a Day

Last but of course not least, Sarah Nelson of Three Squares also adds good eaters are sure to eat dessert once a day.

“I am a strong believer in dessert, especially after spending four years in Paris, where beautiful cakes and pastries are never more than a block or two away,” says Nelson.  “But sugar has crept off the dessert tray and into every meal and snack of the day.  From donuts to soda to cookies, sugar is a constant temptation. I try to follow a simple rule: eat dessert once a day. My definition of dessert is anything with added sugar. If I have waffles and syrup for breakfast, that’s my dessert for the day, and I try to savor it as such. If I stop at my coffee shop for a chai latte to warm up a chilly morning, that’s dessert.  An afternoon cookie or after-dinner ice cream cone also count, of course. By treating all treats as dessert, I find I enjoy them more and crave those extra servings of sugar less.

Published on: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethhoffman/2013/05/08/7-habits-of-good-eaters/

The United States suffered its worst drought in at least 25 years in 2012, in an event that affected 80 percent of the country’s agricultural land. Coupled with droughts in other parts of the world, it points up the need to protect what water we have.

This is the third in the series of stories for National Drinking Water Week. The observance was started more than 30 years ago by the American Water Works Association to raise awareness about the need to conserve the world’s water supply.The United Nations started its own program 20 years ago, called World Water Day to emphasize the important role water plays and its scarcity, especially as the world population grows.

“Nearly one billion people suffer from hunger, and more than 2.3 billion live in water-stressed areas,” said Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of Food Tank. ”Understanding the global food system and making smart, sustainable changes in the way we eat and produce food now can help prevent both famine and thirst in the future.”

Food Tank is a think tank founded by Gustafson and Danielle Nierenberg.

As part of World Water Day in March, the Food Tank offered 10 strategies for using water wisely for agriculture and general consumption. The suggestions for farmers include diversifying by planting cover crops and trees; using drip irrigation systems, which are more expensive, but up to 40 percent more efficient; collecting rainwater for watering crops and reducing run-off and planting perennial crops rather than annual grain crops
that lose five times as much water and 35 times as much nitrate.

Congress needs to provide more support for smaller, family-run farms rather than large-scale agribusinesses, Food Tank said, because they are more likely to engage in sustainable food production but are more susceptible to drought and price fluctuations. Governments also need to help farmers develop new crop varieties while preserving traditional crops and helping farmers improve production.

The general public can help by cutting down on meat consumption; steaming, rather than boiling vegetables or, if boiling is preferred, re-use the water for things like plants or making soup; reduce the amount of water used on lawns or plants by growing plants that require less water and reduce food waste, which accounts for about a third of the food produced.

While human and environmental pressures are increasing, so are opportunities to address those problems, Food Tank said. While droughts are a problem for farmers around the world, Nierenberg said “extraordinary water-saving innovations are being developed.”

“The solutions are out there, but they need more attention, more research and ultimately more funding and investment,” Nierenberg said.

Published on: The Times of Northwest Indiana 

As a worker-owned cooperative, the organization is for farmers and set up by them with the mission to affect: increased power and representation within the market for the farmers; social, economic and political empowerment; enhanced women’s participation in all its affairs; and environmentally sustainable production processes. Afriye Boateng and Christiana Adusei, two representatives of Kuapa Kokoo with many years of experience in cocoa farming and cooperative administration will be visiting Chicago as a part of a cocoa producers tour organized by Divine Chocolate, Oikocredit and Oxfam America.

Part of CGE’s Global Development Series. Co-sponsored by Afrilogue

7:00 pm to 8:00 pm

PAS Conference Room at 620 Library Place
620 Library Place
Evanston, Illinois

Learn more: http://planitpurple.northwestern.edu/event/442726

Tuesday’s program with emcee Jerome McDonnell of WBEZ’s World View will highlight Chicago’s global relationships and how consumer power can impact communities. Wednesday’s program with emcee Emanuel Kuntzelman of Greenheart will highlight fair trade’s contribution to the sustainability movement.

Oxfam would like to announce that volunteers are needed! To get involved, contact Kathryn and Megan at chicago@oxfamactioncorps.org

9:00 am to 6:00 pm each day

Daley Plaza
50 W. Washington St.
Chicago, Illinois

Learn more: http://www.chicagofairtrade.org/

9:00 am to 11:00 am

Las Palmas Restaruant
1835 W North Ave. Chicago, IL

Learn more: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6414047589

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC

From 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

In order to secure your seat, please register by Tuesday, May 7. Advance registration is required. No walk-ins will be accepted. Space is limited. Please contact Laura Sosa with questions via email at laura@cmpinc.net or by phone (+1.703.536.4992).

Learn more: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/files/Global_Agriculture/Initiative_Events/2013_Symposium.aspx