HBHE student leads conference on food and food politics

Anna Child

The symposium came about thanks to Anna Child, a master’s student in health behavior and health education, whose interest was piqued when she served as teaching assistant in a public health class about the politics of food. “We had students from all sorts of academic disciplines [in the class],” Child said. “Everything can connect to food, from anthropology to English.”

As a result of the success of that course, students and faculty members decided to create a forum for discussion of food studies, and the Triangle University Food Studies organization, which Child coordinates, was born.

The organization met during the 2010-2011 academic year and decided to have a conference on local and national food issues. As planning began, members of the group learned that UNC’s Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies and the Kenan Flagler Center for Sustainable Enterprise were planning a similar conference, Child explained.

The two planning groups connected, and the two-day February conference was born. Topics include the upcoming farm bill in Congress, farming in North Carolina, food and culture, and food accessibility.

“Our initial question is Who has seats in this sustainable local food movement?” Child said. “How can we make it more inclusive, instead of exclusive?“

For more information about the conference or to register, visit http://sharedtablessymp.wordpress.com.