San Antonio is hosting a major food conference starting Wednesday, June 12, for everyone from growers to chefs to consumers. The target audience for the event: Anyone who eats food.
The conference will offer a broad base of information and activities including info for schools and other institutions, local chefs, the local grower and people who cook for their kids.
Food Policy Council of San Antonio President Len Trevino said there are unseen nutritional and economic impacts to consider, like getting local food for our families rather than food from South America or other countries.
"What we want to do is support those relationships, nurture those relationships with local growers so that we can have the better-quality food that's closer to us. If it's picked fresher and it gets to us, it's healthier and it tastes better than if it's been on a truck for X-amount of time," he said.
Information is available for those who volunteer in getting better food in the hands of people living in "food deserts," those who want to build community gardens, and people interested in building an online farmer’s market.
Also on tap is a session on the agriculture of the San Antonio Missions, and a SicloVerde--a bicycle garden tour on the weekend following the conference.
Cost for individual workshops vary and more information and a schedule of events can be found at SAFoodConference.org.
Scholarships are available for some workshops.
Workshops include:
- A Chef’s Perspective on Healthy Cooking
- Produce at Food Pantries
- Slow Food
- Local Policy Issues
- Water and Agriculture
- Composting and Waste Recovery
- Online Farmers Markets
