(Syracuse, NY, May 08, 2024): This year’s annual joint conference of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS) and the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) will take place in Syracuse, NY, from June 5-8 with a virtual conference taking place on Monday, June 3. Syracuse University and its food studies program, alongside the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), will co-host the conference, which will span both campuses . Over 420 academics, practitioners, activists, chefs, farmers, publishers, and graduate students will attend the conference, with many traveling from across the US and internationally to present their research and findings.
This year’s conference theme is “Right to Food—Food as Commons,” with session topics focusing on the need for global cooperation in addressing issues of food equity and justice, sustainable agriculture, and food as a human right. This year’s conference will feature two keynote speakers. The first is Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law. Fakhri, who will speak on Thursday, June 6, is a faculty member of UO Law’s Environmental and Natural Resource Law Center, where he co-leads the Food Resiliency Project. His research focuses on the right to food and agroecology. His presentation will explore ways that the right to food is being used as part of social movements and political campaigns working to transform food systems all over the world, and increasingly in the US.
On Friday, June 7, Leah Penniman will discuss why community self-determination and solidarity are foundational to the land and food sovereignty movement. Penniman, a Black Kreyòl farmer, author (Farming While Black, Black Earth Wisdom), and food justice activist, established Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY, in 2010. As Co-Executive Director and Farm Director, she works to carry out Soul Fire’s mission to end racism in the food system through food sovereignty programs. Her work has received national media coverage and is featured in the recent documentary on regenerative agriculture titled Common Ground.
Also being featured at the conference is renowned Chef Joseph Yoon, a leader in the growing field of entomophagy, the practice of eating edible insects. During a three-hour workshop, Yoon will educate attendees on the potential of Insect Agriculture to address food security, climate change, nutrition, and sustainability challenges. He will also prepare a tasting menu where attendees will explore the exciting, innovative, and delicious world of edible insects.
The opening day of the conference (June 5) will offer a variety of field trip opportunities that showcase local farms, processing facilities, and ecological corridors in the Finger Lakes region.
Additional information can be found on the conference website.
