This year's conference will have a focus on looking at the economic impacts and the power of the cooperative business model with an emphasis on the power of growing your own food, from seed saving, to community gardening and celebrating the contributions of our black and underrepresented food and farming community. Keynote speakers include: Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Leah Penniman, Malik Yakini and Ira Wallace.
Keynote speakers include: Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Leah Penniman and Malik Yakini.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Gem City Market Tour & Meet and Greet with Malik Yakini – Advanced Registration only Coop Dayton will be hosting a tour of Gem City Market, where participants can learn how a group of urban citizens cooperated to bring food access to a divested community. through a full-service grocery store.
Time: 12:00pm
Location: Gem City Market, 324 Salem Ave. Dayton, Ohio 45405
Farm & Research Tours at Central State University – Advanced Registration only Time: 3:00pm-5:30pm
Location: Central State University, Main Campus
*All attendees to park at the Water Tower.
Description: Central State University Land Grant Programs will be hosting tours at the CSU Research and Extension Farm at the campus in Wilberforce. Tours will include research and demonstrations for: aquaponics, hemp, soil health, organic weed control, sweet potato trials, high amylase corn, and honey bee genetics.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Evening Keynote Address by Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Author of Collective Courage: A History of African-American Economic Thought and Practice
Moderator: Dr. Kevin McGruder, Historian & Professor, Antioch College
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Virtual attendance only! Hosted by the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center (NAAMCC) *Limited in-person attendance at NAAMCC available! Pre registration required!
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Conference Start Time: 9:30am
Welcome & Introductions 9:45am
Location: Virtual
10:00am – 10:45am: Keynote Address: Malik Yakini, Co-founder & Executive Director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network
11:00am – 11:45am: Keynote Address: Leah Penniman, Co-founder, Soul Fire Farm & Author of Farming While Black
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Moderated Discussion with Leah Penniman & Malik Yakini
1:00pm – 1:30pm: Break
1:30pm – 3:00pm Breakouts Sessions – 45 min. Breakout sessions to run concurrently; 1:30pm - 2:15pm; 2:15pm - 3:00pm
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Breakout Session 1A - 1:30pm – 2:15pm Detroit Black Community Food Security Session Presented by Malik Yakini
Breakout Session 1B - 1:30pm – 2:15pm Regenerative Farmer Fellowship Session Presented by Agraria Regenerative Farmer Fellows
Breakout Session 1C - 1:30pm – 2:15pm Central State University Breakout Session Beginning Farmer Programs: Helping new farmers learn about production and business management while building communities. Presented by Central State University Extension.
Breakout Session 1D – 1:30pm – 2:15pm Setting up and Protecting Your Business Presented by Nationwide Insurance and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Breakout Session 2A - 2:15pm – 3:00pm Detroit Black Community Food Security Session Presented by Malik Yakini
Breakout Session 2B - 2:15pm - 3:00pm Central State University Breakout Session
Breakout Session 2C - 2:15pm - 3:00pm Setting up and Protecting Your Business Presented by Nationwide Insurance and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
3:00 – 4:00pm: Keynote Address: Ira Wallace, Acorn Community Farm and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
4:00pm – 5:00pm – Where do we go from here? - Facilitated discussion
Conference Adjourns
Keynote bios:
Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol farmer, author, mother, and food justice activist who has been tending the soil and organizing for an anti-racist food system for25 years. She currently serves as founding co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, a Black & Brown led project that works toward food and land justice. Her book is Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Find out more about Leah’s work at www.soulfirefarm.org and follow her @soulfirefarm on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Malik Kenyatta Yakini is co-founder and Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN). DBCFSN operates the seven-acre D-Town Farm and is spearheading the opening of, the Detroit Food Commons, in Detroit’s North End that will house the Detroit People’s Food Co-op. Yakini views the work of DBCFSN as part of the larger movement for building power, self- determination, and justice. He is adamantly opposed to the systems of white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy. He has an intense interest in contributing to the development of an international food sovereignty movement that embraces Black communities in the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa. He is a co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance.
Cooperative Level - Lead Sponsors:
Homestead Level Sponsor:
Mutual Aid level Sponsors:
Other sponsor:
Thank you to other conference supporters! We could not do this without the generous support from our sponsors and other community and organizational partners.
