Events and Speakers

This food sovereignty event brings the Indigenous past to the plate, fostering a deeper understanding of the rich culinary traditions that have sustained communities for generations. Learn about the traditional foodways of the Monacan people, sample Virginia’s culturally significant dishes, bring and share seeds, and participate in fun food activities from preparation and connection to explore the sacredness of food for healing and heritage.

Want to learn about using cover crops in small spaces? Join us at Shalom Farms to learn about cover crop, it's many benefits, and how to use it on your farm or garden! You will also get a chance to tour the Northside Farm and hear from local Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service representatives.

Interested in urban agriculture in Virginia? By attending this on-farm information session, discover how you can contribute to advancing urban agriculture in your community, and learn how to start your journey as an urban producer with the USDA Farm Service Agency as a resource.

This talk will share insights from three international collaborative projects that engaged Indigenous communities as active partners in addressing challenges related to climate change, food systems, and health. These projects include work with the Vedda communities in Sri Lanka and Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. A defining feature of these initiatives was the emphasis on identifying research problems prioritized by the communities themselves rather than imposing external research agendas. The talk will focus on catalyzing broader impacts by scaling up conceptual, methodological, and empirical insights from the community level to bridge local experiences with policy frameworks.

Since 2019, Virginia Tech has paid significant attention to the food security of students, officially launching The Market of Virginia Tech in 2022 that now provides around 115 students with a range of nutritious food items each week. However, limited knowledge exists on food security among university employees and its possible impact on the functioning and mission of Virginia Tech. This presentation will share findings from the 2024 Virginia Tech Employee Food Access and Wellbeing Survey, which was administered online during the Spring of 2024. The survey aimed to examine the level of food security among Virginia Tech employees, focusing on staff and non-tenure track faculty.

The Virginia Tech Catawba Sustainability Center’s (CSC) Grassfed Beef Partnership works to explore an alternative to commodity beef production by purchasing calves from local farmers to then be adaptively grazed in an effort to produce quality grass finished beef that is then distributed back into the local food economy. During their life at the CSC, the beef are utilized to restore, rebuild, and enhance ecosystem function and diversity for life in the soil, on the soil, and above.

Are you interested in Urban Agriculture in Virginia? By attending this on-farm information session, discover how you can contribute to advancing urban agriculture in your community, and learn how to start your journey as an urban producer with USDA Farm Service Agency as a resource.