2023 annual gathering program
We’re excited to share a full day of sessions featuring community members as experts in San Diego County’s movement for food justice and transforming our food system.
Sessions will cover current issues in our region, as well as speak to the theme of kinship. Unpack what it means to transform ourselves and our systems with kinship as our guide.
Schedule Overview
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Front Lawn
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Conference Center, Salons 1-5
Salon 1 | Cultivating the Next Generation of Food System Leaders
Salon 2 | Food to Remember: Recreating Identity in Diaspora Through Food
Salon 3 | Philanthropy’s Role in Advancing the Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy
Salon 4 | Community Collaborations for Building a Healthier Food Assistance System
Salon 5 | Nourishing Our Future: Sustaining Local Food and Water Connections
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Front Lawn
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Break
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CT Courtyard
Opening Ceremony
9:00 — 9:45am
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Voices
Consuelo Martinez, San Diego Food System Alliance
Roxanne J. Kymaani, Ph.D., San Diego Food System Alliance, Board Co-Chair
Dr. Stanley Rodriguez, Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel
Elly Brown, San Diego Food System Alliance
Wilda Wong, Moment to Moment Mindfulness Classes
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Wayne Nelson, Pala Band of Mission Indians
Inter-Tribal Bird Singers
First Sessions
10:00 — 11:30am
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Creating dignified jobs for producing, processing, preparing, and distributing food is essential for reimagining a just and sustainable world. As we work to restore kinship in our food system and heal relationships between people and planet, how do we ensure that youth see viability in this work—and step into its vast potential?
We must start by eliminating barriers—to knowledge sharing from generation to generation, access to land and resources, fair wages, financial security, and pathways to gain equity. We must also reclaim the narrative about food system work that we know is true: tending land and waterways and feeding communities is the most essential, skilled, and fulfilling work there is.
Our generation of youth is the largest in history, and have long been calling for deep transformation to our most fundamental systems. Join San Diego youth and program leaders for a discussion about how we can listen to and empower that call.
Voices
Jeni Barajas, Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center
Chris Burroughs, Garden 31
Mia Osuna, MidCity CAN Youth Council
Lucken Gibore, Second Chance ProgramFacilitator
Lakisha McZeal, San Diego Food System Alliance
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Join us for an engaging and heartwarming session where we explore the powerful role of food in reconnecting immigrant communities with their culture and heritage. In this session, listen to the stories of three speakers as they share about their beautiful traditions and ceremonies, and the profound role of food in shaping identity and preserving culture in a new home.
This session is a celebration of the diverse tapestry of cultures that enrich our region through the universal language of food. Let’s gather to be inspired, enlightened, and nourished together through meaningful storytelling.
Voices
Tsigealem Birhane, United Women of East Africa Support Team
Eden Mengistu, United Women of East Africa Support Team
Lorain Rihan, Lulu's Kitchen
Faiza Warsame, United Women of East Africa Support TeamFacilitator
Sona Desai, San Diego Food System Alliance
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A society that honors our kinship with earth, the sacredness of natural resources, and the rights of all cannot be achieved if philanthropy continues to accumulate wealth and power at the expense of social, environmental, and economic equality.
To cultivate a healthy, sustainable, and just food system, we need resources to boldly and freely flow in a way that is aligned with community needs and values. We need strong allies in philanthropy that are committed to proactively repairing harms, and redistributing wealth and power to communities who have been most affected by inequities.
In this session, we invite community leaders and allies in the funding space to radically co-imagine what philanthropy could look like when we center community, love, and healing. We will identify the necessary practices and relationships that are essential to building a regenerative economy and move toward a Just Transition.
Voices
Jessica Espinoza-Jensen, Justice Funders
Kimi Mojica, Justice FundersGraphics in the session were created by Cori Nakamura Lin
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Imagine what could be possible if we centered community collaborations and relationships in food assistance programs. What change might we see if we shifted the narrative around nonprofit food assistance from output-based (pounds and meals), to one based on community-determined outcomes (individuals’ health, the state of their food environment, their long-term self determination)?
Hear from a local farmer, nonprofit, and school principal who teamed up with this vision in mind. On a weekly basis, their partnership serves their community abundant fresh, healthy, and locally grown food. Over the last three years, the impact of this collaboration between grower, nonprofit, and school has been apparent—and it has all depended on recognizing the unique and inherent value of each participant.
Panelists will share stories and learnings on how community collaborations like this one can drive transformation of our food system and support a thriving local food economy.
Voices
Wesley Burt, +BOX
Erin Feeley, Bella Mente Academy
Byron Nkhoma, Hukama ProduceFacilitator
Kelly Wilkinson, San Diego Foundation
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As climate change reshapes our world, its impact on water and food cycles is clear. Amidst projections of warmer, drier climates and the strains of imported water dependency, we confront the vulnerability of San Diego’s water supply and infrastructure. The constant threat of human-induced pollution and urban runoff calls us to protect the health and well-being of our communities and water bodies.
In this session we will explore water's critical role in nurturing our region's food landscape, and hear diverse perspectives and insights that guide us toward a more interconnected, resilient, and flourishing San Diego. Join us as we envision a future where water and food systems thrive harmoniously, cultivating sustainability, equity, and resilience for future generations.
Voices
Cathryn Henning, Beeworthy Farms
Dr. Stanley Rodriguez, Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel & Kumeyaay Community CollegeFacilitator
Alyssa Senturk, San Diego Coastkeeper
Second Sessions
1:00 — 2:30pm
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Conversations about food recovery and addressing food waste often leave out the communities who are receiving and distributing the food, resulting in a hyper-focus on addressing food waste from a logistics-only standpoint and assuming the food will automatically be eaten by people receiving it. Without input from community members on their needs, an entire half of the equation is missing, which doesn’t address the food waste problem holistically and can also perpetuate harm in communities already marginalized.
Join us for a conversation about how the food recovery movement can focus on ensuring that solutions are community-centered. Like all other efforts to transform our food system to cultivate justice, fight climate change, and build resilience, food recovery must be focused on building solidarity, not providing charity. Beyond diverting food from landfills and filling gaps in food security, food recovery collaborations can help return power, choice, and control over nutrition and foodways back to the people most impacted by hunger and food waste.
Voices
Imani Nia Marshall-Moreno, March for Black Womxn San Diego
Claudia Montenegro, Porchlight Community Services
Tomasa Ruiz, Bayside Community Center
Amy Zink, Bayside Community CenterFacilitator
Nita Kurmins Gilson, ProduceGood
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Engage with the stories of Cacao and Huitlacoche, plant relatives that have provided healthy food and medicine to ecosystems for generations. Join Amana Ixim of Ama Cacao and Mario Ceballos of POC Fungi Community for a sensory exploration of these ancestral foods through film, sound, dialogue, and a tasting.
Practicing solidarity and recognizing interdependence among humans and with other species is a matter of survival—and yet, humans live on bordered lands. The reconnection we need now is a kind that fungi and other ancestral plant relatives are uniquely equipped to teach us.
Amana and Mario have prepared a special treat to offer attendees a chance to taste and experience the foods that keep them connected to their homelands, as well as offer healing benefits to their communities. These provide a life force that powers their resistance to a world of disconnection and monoculture—and guides them home, toward a vision of reciprocity and abundant diversity.
Voices
Mario Ceballos, POC Fungi Community
Amana Ixim, Ama CacaoFacilitator
Elle Mari, UCSD Center for Community Health
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In our morning session, “Philanthropy’s Role in Advancing the Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy,” we elevated the importance of shared visions and funder allies in repairing harms, and redistributing wealth and power to communities who have been most impacted by inequities. To advance the Just Transition, organizations and movement leaders also play a critical role in mobilizing resources for community ownership and governance.
In this session, we will amplify the stories of local connectors, weavers, and advocates who are committed to shifting economic control to communities. Mobilizing resources for community ownership requires bold thinking, courageous advocacy, creative experimentation, and collective action. It also requires deep reflection on the internal changes that each of us need to make in our respective roles to help transform our systems and society.
Join us for an interactive dialogue on how we can collectively mobilize resources for community ownership to build a regenerative economy.
Voices
Sona Desai, San Diego Food System Alliance
Kimi Mojica, Justice Funders
Dominique Navarro, Environmental Health Coalition
Alexis Villanueva, City Heights CDCFacilitator
Shantel Suárez Ávila, Más Allá
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The pathway to becoming a farmer—especially in San Diego County—can feel overly daunting. Coming together as a community to understand and collectively address the issues that farmers face is essential to a food secure future. In this session, we’ll explore the necessary components of an agricultural livelihood and hear from innovators on the front lines of farmer training and farm business development.
Join us if you’re looking to develop a career in farming, are seeking mentorship and business development support, or just want to understand how you can better support aspiring farmers.
Voices
José Alcaraz, La Chispa Farm and Foodshed Cooperative Inc
Alyssa Brodsky, Ranchito Milkyway
Frank Buncom, SS Friendly Ranch
Javier Flores, Grow Eco and Seeds at City
Christian Frutos, Ranchito Milkyway
Bryce Luquet, Garden 31
Mae Piacenza, Wild Willow Farm & Training Center
Angelie Ryah, Belong FarmFacilitator
Ellee Igoe, Foodshed Small Farm Cooperative
Third Sessions
3:00 — 4:30pm
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The San Diego Food Justice Project—a collaboration between City Heights CDC, REC Innovation Lab at San Diego Miramar College, Cook Alliance, Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, and Business For Good—provides small food business owners in San Diego with training and grants through the G.E.T. Cooking Program (Grant for Entrepreneurship Training and Home Cooking Program).
Now in its fourth cohort, the G.E.T. Cooking Program has been steadily awarding micro-grants and building up programs for educational and technical support to directly uplift micro-enterprise home kitchen operations (MEKHOs), sidewalk vendors, pop-ups, caterers, immigrant-owned restaurants, and more. The program prioritizes individuals from marginalized communities and with limited English proficiency, regardless of immigration or citizenship status.
Join this session to hear stories, lessons learned, and the impact of working together to coordinate the G.E.T. Cooking program. Ensuring the viability of diverse, small-scale food businesses is critical for cultivating a resilient local food system.
Voices
Tom Bui, City Heights CDC
Danea Ramos, Business for Good & the Jacobs Center
Tanya Hertz, San Diego Miramar College REC Innovation LabFacilitator
Roya Bagheri, COOK Alliance
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Building a movement takes work. Personal, organizational, and systemic work. As we navigate our shared desire to bring forth positive change, we each utilize a variety of tools and strategies to inspire us and motivate us through the shifting seasons of both life, our partnerships, and the movement as a whole. This roundtable is designed to give participants an opportunity to see and be seen, share what has worked for them, and call ourselves into radical action even when we inevitably stumble on roadblocks and confront barriers. Together, we are stronger. Let’s come together to share and celebrate our humanity as movement builders!
Facilitators
Bea Alvarez, Foodshed Small Farm Cooperative
Cathryn Henning, BeeWorthy Farms
Daniela Perez, Women’s Earth Alliance -
Power in the food system is determined by policies governing land and water use, economic development, labor, public health, infrastructure, transportation, housing, and education. Ideally, policies in all of these areas would help ensure that everyone has access to healthy, culturally appropriate food; protect air, water, and land; support the producers and workers who put food on our tables; and give all communities the ability to self-determine their food environments. Where these policies fall short, there are opportunities for change.
Join this workshop to learn about how you might engage with the policy process to advocate for change. Learn the mechanics of public comment, and how to craft an effective message, and show up for your community.
You’ll also learn about California state initiatives that are currently being supported by Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and their grassroots networks of farmers and ally organizations. CAFF welcomes you to be a part of informing next year’s policy advocacy efforts to sustain resources and funding for equitable agricultural practices in the state of California. This presentation will focus on some specifics like land access and security, food hubs, urban agriculture, and water access.
Facilitators
Jamie Fanous, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
Consuelo Martinez, San Diego Food System Alliance -
Kinship is a thread that has been woven into San Diego’s seafood history for thousands of years: From the time Kumeyaay ancestors lived on coastal lands, working together in family and community groups to catch and process, to San Diego’s thriving early to mid-century tuna economy, when every member of intergenerational fishing families played a role somewhere in the seafood system.
With the rise and dominance of global trade, however, local fisheries have been thrust into competition with overseas products, and consumers have lost the familiarity with local species that once defined San Diego’s food culture and economy. All over the US, the pressure is deeply impacting fishing families’ viability and ability to unite and collectively problem-solve.
The pandemic opened many eyes to the importance of our local food economy in building the resilience of our region. In its wake, San Diego’s seafood sector is rebuilding, experimenting with many new projects and models for cooperation on the horizon. Join a discussion with members of San Diego’s fishing community about how these efforts might help uplift fishing families, elevate local seafood in public consciousness, restore a working waterfront, and rebuild a culture of pride, cooperation, and kinship across San Diego’s seafood sector.
Voices
Dave Haworth, Haworth Fish
Nick Haworth, Haworth Fish
Tanner Saraspe, Local Fish
Travis Tielens, Fishermen's Market of North CountyFacilitator
Emily Miller, California Sea Grant
This year’s theme — kinship
“We live in an astounding world of relations.”
