Event

Chicago Food Systems Tour

Join fellow APHA attendees and others committed to food system change for an exciting tour in Chicago, our APHA Annual Conference host city, where community groups, businesses, academics and advocates are working towards creating a more just, healthy food system.

Not only will you be inspired by what you see, but the tour is a great opportunity to network and get to know diverse colleagues interested in food systems and public health, as well as a chance for those new to APHA to come into the conference with some connections already made!

DETAILS

Saturday, October 31 (costumes optional!), 10:00am to about 4:30pm

Cost: $35, includes lunch and entrance fees for the tour locations.

Bus leaves from and returns to the conference venue, exact location TBD.

Our tour will start with a visit to one of Growing Power's Chicago sites. An abandoned food hub on the south side of Chicago, Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre farm and warehouse with seven hoop houses for year round production, vermicompost, mushroom production, an apiary and urban pygmy goats. Iron Street Farm is also one of two composting facilities in Chicago, recycling over 450,000 lbs of "waste" each year.

We'll then visit a school and hear from Rochelle Davis the President and CEO of the Healthy Schools Campaign. Healthy Schools Campaign advocates for policies and practices that allow all students, teachers and staff to learn and work in a healthy school environment and has been instrumental in changing school lunch programs and developing innovative playgrounds among other things.

During lunch, we'll hear about a program teaching medical students Culinary Medicine as well as efforts from the city around sustainability.

After lunch, we'll head to The Plant, a former meat packing plant turned vertical farm.

This day is not to be missed!

The Food and Environment Working Group is a cross-disciplinary group of members of the American Public Health Association who are working toward improving public health through promoting safe, healthy, equitable, and sustainable food systems.