Yale Food Systems Symposium: Request for Proposals

Request for Proposals

People in food movements around the world envision a future where our food systems restore degraded ecosystems, mitigate and adapt to climate change, improve community health, and facilitate more equitable economic exchange. To realize this ambitious vision we must encourage and support novel, collaborative, and holistic problem-solving approaches. We want to bring a diverse group of people and approaches together at this Food Systems Symposium such as those in the public health community who seek to increase access to fresh vegetables in urban centers; land conservationists who wish to preserve farmland; legal scholars who identify avenues of policy change; and immigration reformers who advocate for farm workers.

This year’s conference seeks to foster new alliances that will encourage crosscutting conversations, innovative thinking, and actionable strategies. Eaters across the nation struggle to find wholesome food choices that nourish their bodies without endangering important environmental and social resources. A true coalition will bring expertise across disciplines to creatively solve the otherwise intractable problems of food security and access, social justice, public health, environmental stewardship, and safety. These alliances and the common goal of an improved food system will serve as the guiding focus for the 2015 Yale Food Systems Symposium.

Call for Proposals:

The Yale Food Systems Symposium will bring diverse scholars and practitioners to work together in action-oriented sessions that address the complex ecological and socio-economic dynamics of food production, consumption, climate  change, and urbanization. We seek a diversity of proposal formats: panels, working groups, roundtables, and papers. We welcome perspectives from the natural and social sciences, from applied disciplines, and from community practitioners. We especially encourage self-organized group sessions and presentations that bring scholars and practitioners together.

Submissions topic areas include, but are not limited to:

• The human and ecological implications of different food systems
• Food law, policy, and regulation: opportunities for change
• The right to food, food justice, and food sovereignty movements
• Climate change and environmental stewardship
• Politics, policies, and governance across scales
• Food marketing and communication
• Agricultural biodiversity and issues of genetic property rights
• Sustainable intensification and multi-functional agriculture
• Public and market-based approaches to regulating the food system
• Industrial ecology approaches to food systems analysis
• Research methods, participatory practice, and frameworks for collaboration
• Urbanization, land use change, and food systems planning

Abstract Submissions:

Deadline for submission is May 31st, 2015. Abstracts & Workshop Proposals should be 200-300 words and include a title and keywords. Please submit online using our abstract submission form. Accepted proposals will be notified by August 1st, 2015.

Please see the conference website, www.yalefoodsymposium.org for more information. Questions about proposal submission and registration may be directed to yalefoodsymposium[at]gmail.com.