Lansing’s third annual local food system conference, “Everybody Eats: Cultivating Food Democracy,” will begin on Friday, February 10th with a keynote by Katherine Kelly, founder and Executive Director of Cultivate Kansas City, at 7:30 p.m. in Lansing. The conference will continue Saturday, February 11^th at 8:30 a.m. with more than 20 workshops and a luncheon keynote address by Malik Yakini, Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. “Everybody Eats” builds on earlier local food system conferences and will bring people together to explore opportunities for optimizing local resources, supporting local farmers and businesses, addressing health, hunger and food sovereignty issues in our community. 

The overall theme of this year’s conference is food democracy. This is a topic of critical importance to all citizens including our elected officials, our health policy teams, and our area businesses.  As interests and approaches to food and farming proliferate, there is a need to take stock of the process and to critically reflect on what has been happening, individually and collectively.  Has it been an inclusive process?  Are all the voices within the food system being heard?  Can people throughout the food system make a decent living? In short, are we moving toward greater self-reliance and deeper food security - and what do such things look like? These are among the topics that will be discussed.

 “Everybody Eats” expects an attendance of 300 growers, restaurateurs, cooks, grocers, processors, distributors, emergency food providers, institutional food preparers and interested citizens. All Lansing area residents are welcome and encouraged to attend. Registration is $15. This event is being sponsored by the Capital Region Community Foundation, MSU Agro-Environmental Justice Initiative, South Lansing Community Development Association, Urbandale Farm, Northwest Initiative, Allen Neighborhood Center, Ingham County Land Bank, Michigan State University Extension, and the Garden Project of the Greater Lansing Food Bank. For additional information or to register, go to www.every-body-eats.com or call 517.432.1034.