UPCOMING EVENTS
NAFSN promotes its own events as well as those hosted by our collaborator organizations (denoted by a *). We welcome the opportunity to attend, cross-promote, and help create accessibility to events with collaborating member organizations that share our values and vision to build a more inclusive and informed workforce for local and regional food systems development.
Finding Your Future In Food Systems
THIS SERIES IS SEASONAL
ALWAYS FREE & OPEN TO PUBLIC
All start at 6pm EST.
One free NAFSN membership will be awarded to a randomly selected attendee during each episode.
NAFSN Book Club
We start our 2025 Book Club events with a timely read: "The New American Farmer: Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability" by Dr. Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern.
Lin Diaz Maceo of NAFSN will host this event in three parts:
Fri, Mar 14, 11:30am-1pm ET - "Meet the Author," an interactive virtual event. Bring your questions!
Mar-Apr - Make time to read the book, cuddled up at home.
Sat, Apr 26, 12pm-2:30pm ET - "Discussion Session," an interactive virtual event to share your thoughts on "The New American Farmer" with fellow readers.
Purchase the book here. What a great gift for yourself and for your colleagues!
REGISTER FOR THESE UPCOMING DATES IN 2025:
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
REGISTER TODAY TO WIN! Paperback versions of the book will be randomly awarded to three people who register for the Mar 14 event.
ACRE Information Sessions
Are you interested in becoming a trained food systems facilitator?
Or, are you looking for an affordable & practical professional development opportunity for your staff with lasting impact?
Join us for a free Information Session on ACRE.
AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion - or ACRE for short - is a professionally-facilitated strategic planning process to help groups of farmers, especially those in value-chains, work together and compete more effectively.
The ACRE Facilitator Training program provides instruction specifically designed for food and agriculture systems professionals to facilitate and guide the ACRE Process with farmers and other community stakeholders in the values-based development of more resilient food value chains.
In the ACRE Information Session, you'll learn about the training course, and the community of practice employing ACRE in their food/ag communities.
REGISTER FOR THESE UPCOMING DATES:
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
CARAT Information Session
The North American Food Systems Network has released CARAT as a free, open-access resource.
The Community & Agriculture Resilience Audit Tool (CARAT) helps community stakeholders assess how they currently utilize the assets of their local food system to achieve a substantial level of community resilience.
CARAT measures the resources within a food system via 101 indicators to determine possible next steps to increase community resiliency and food sovereignty.
To learn more, please consider attending one of our CARAT Informational Sessions.
REGISTER FOR THESE UPCOMING DATES:
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
ACRE Community of Practice Gathering
AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion - or ACRE for short - is a professionally-facilitated strategic planning process to help groups of farmers, especially those in value-chains, work together and compete more effectively in an increasingly complex world.
This event will gather together those who have completed certification in ACRE Facilitator Training as well as those currently enrolled.
THIS EVENT IS QUARTERLY
REGISTER:
OPEN TO MEMBERS OF THE ACRE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE ONLY
NAFSN Leadership Circle
Leadership Circle Meetings are open to all members of NAFSN throughout 2025.
During the one-hour monthly meeting, NAFSN Leadership members review and discuss the organization's monthly leadership report.
Led by Natalie Cruz, Co-Director of NAFSN, the group makes time at the beginning of each meeting for new members to briefly introduce themselves to the group.
Community Food Systems Consultants Forum
We are building a collaborative network of Community Food Systems Consultants.
In support of this network, NAFSN hosts a quarterly Forum featuring experts with insights for consultants working with community-based food & ag groups.
Sign up for the next forum featuring Sagdrina Jalal of SageD Consulting in Atlanta, GA.
As a service to this network, we also curate Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for community food systems development work throughout North America.
NEW EVENTS COMING SOON.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
DESIGNED FOR COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEMS CONSULTANTS
MEET NAFSN AT THESE EVENTS IN 2025
Look for NAFSN's booth, presentation, or other engagement at our collaborators' events this year!
NOFA NJ Winter conference 2025*
The theme of NOFA NJ's 35th Annual Winter Conference is Living Roots, Resilience & Food Security. They note: "The state’s food security relies upon local producers and effective, accessible food systems. In order to keep the Garden State well-nourished, NJ farms must find resilience to withstand a changing climate, global economics, and evolving agricultural policies."
Kim Hines, Co-Director of NAFSN, will speak on the topic of "Finding Your Future in Food Systems" as part of conference's Career Track. Come meet us there!
SOWTH conference 2025*
SOWTH is a network of Southern farmers and organizers committed to fostering bolder collective action for positive change in their regional food system.â¨
The SOWTH network was formed in part to fill the gap left by the 2019 dissolution of the Southern Sustainable Agricultural Working Group (Southern SAWG) with the goal of reestablishing a convening for farmers and advocates in the region. In 2023, a Regional Steering Committee of 30 agricultural leaders from this network came together to launch planning, and “SOWTH: A Regional Small Farms, Big Community Conference” was born.
Nikki Seibert Kelley and Kim Hines, members of NAFSN Leadership, will join with Isaac Arriaga of Wholesome Wave Georgia to present on the topic of "Measuring Success: Keeping Track of Impact." Come meet us there!
JCEP extension Leadership Conference, 2025*
The aim of ELC is to build leadership capacity, and provide professional development and networking opportunities for state officers and members of Extension Associations.
Erin Arenson of UGA Cooperative Extension and Kim Hines, a member of NAFSN Leadership, will present on the topic of "AgriCluster Resilience & Expansion: Facilitation Training to Increase Trust, Transparency and Motivation for Collaboration in Value Chain Development "
Come meet us there!
farm stop conference 2025*
Farm Stops are year-round, every-day markets that support small-scale farmers and strengthen local and regional food systems. They do so most often by operating on a consignment model, which gives producers a fair price, flexibility with their time and products, and provides more direct connections with consumers." - Kathyrn Barr, author of "How to Start a Farm Stop"
With about one dozen farm stops now successfully up and running, and several more approaching launch, now is the perfect time to gather, learn from one another, share best practices, and envision the role we’d like to see farm stops play in our local food ecosystems.
Whether you operate a farm stop already, or think that you may one day want to open one in your community, the goal of the conference is to provide content useful to you as you move forward.
Debra Tropp, a member of NAFSN Leadership, will present at this conference on the topic of "Consumer Choices within Local Food Systems." Katie Barr, also a member of NAFSN Leadership, is a conference organizer. Come meet us there!
Tackling Hunger Together: An Eastern Shore Food Security Symposium, 2025
The Chesapeake Agriculture Innovation Center and No Kid Hungry Maryland team up to sponsor this full-day conference at Chesapeake College with Mid Shore Health.
Kim Hines, Co-Director NAFSN will present on the topic of "Shared Knowledge: Expanding Use of the CARAT Tool in Maryland."
Come meet us there!
*COLLABORATOR EVENT
IN WYE MILLS, MD
MAR 18, 2025
Registeration opens in February.
21-day Racial equity Habit Building Challenge*
THIS 11TH ANNUAL EVENT IS HOSTED BY FOOD SOLUTIONS NEW ENGLAND
The virtual challenge will be held Apr 7-27, 2025. Each year, thousands of individuals and hundreds of officially participating organizations join in a shared journey of learning and charting a course of action to dismantle racism in our food system and our world.
The FSNE 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge is simple! You commit to deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism for twenty-one consecutive days in April of each year and the Racial Equity Challenge will:
- Raise your awareness, change your understanding and shift the way you behave.
- Go beyond individual or interpersonal racism by helping to demystify structural and institutional racism and white supremacist patterns that are sometimes invisible to people.
- Inspire you to act, on your own or with others in your organization, business, or group, to dismantle these systems, to make changes in your work and the world that can build true equity and justice for all.
*COLLABORATOR EVENT