This week I attended the monthly South Sound Food Systems Network Food Summit meeting. While last meeting was a bit contentious, it seems like we are finally starting to really make some headway on this event. It is finally coming to fruition, and because of that I can share with y’all what I have been helping to plan for the last two quarters. Here’s a breakdown so far about the 2017 Food Summit:

By Internet Archive Book Images [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

Date(s): October 20 and 21, 2017

Location: South Puget Sound Community College

Friday 10/20 Session

Purpose: “Celebrate and inform the community about the development and successes of the local food system, including the South Sound Food System Network. Highlighting and savoring local flavors and supporting the businesses that produce them.”

Time: 6-9PM

Activities: Local flavor tasting salon and tabling, introduction program/video with keynote speaker, more tasting salon, tabling, and live music.

The Friday night event will be very different in purpose and activity than the all-day Saturday programming. It’s more adult-focused with the purpose of networking, enjoying, and connecting. It’s also a time for the Summit’s partners and sponsors to sell and promote their “local flavors.” There will most likely be alcohol served to give a chance for our local breweries, distilleries, wineries, and cideries to promote their “local flavors,” as our foodshed is heavily saturated with specialty alcohol production. I imagine many local “foodies” and potentially some elected officials will inhabit this event.

Saturday 10/21 Session

Purpose: “Integration of various food system participants and celebration of local food culture.”

Time: 9AM-5:30PM

Activities: Breakfast, Opening/Welcome, conference-like “sessions,” lunch, another “session,” plenary, and closing.

Gourds Fall Harvest

This all day session is more like a conference, and meant for families and the sponsored guests from various related community organizations that are not usually included in this type of event, or if you’re into puns, don’t normally have a seat at the table. These communities include indigenous peoples, GRuB students, people who use the services of SideWalk or the Food Bank, seniors, veterans, etc.

The “sessions,” while only touched upon and brainstormed during the Summit planning meeting will include anything from a panel with native fishermen/women, to a “cooking on a budget” class, to future farmer education/pathways workshop. There are seven rooms available to use, so with three sessions throughout the day there is potential for 21 different workshops that will vary widely to match the needs and interests of attendees. Some “tracks,” or themes for each room that will dictate the content of each session are as follows:

Water, Soil, and Land

Community through Food

Art of Food

Bounty of the Sea

Sound Food Market

Cook Local

Grow Local

*Kids activities

Along with the local food-centric theme, the head of the culinary program at SPSCC has agreed, with the help of the network outreach, to source as much food locally as he can, and have SPSCC students help cater the event.

Joe Mabel [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons