EPMA: Food Sovereignty Panel Discussion at Boston Nature Center

Join us for an event with presentations and conversation about Food Sovereignty, Urban Farming, and Urban Foraging. As part of our annual urban agriculture annual events, this year we plan to visit the beautiful campus of the Boston Nature Center to learn about the state of food access in Boston and local initiatives. We will also have a guided Urban Forage Walk where we will identify (but not eat) edible plants!

Below is the agenda for the event, hope to see you there!

5:30 – 6:00pm: Gather & Snacks

6:00 – 7:00pm: Panel Discussion

7:00 – 8:00pm: Forage Walk (look but no touch) with David Craft

Panel members include:

Mary Rose Scozzafava, Conservation Law Foundation

Mary Rose is Senior Fellow at Conservation Law Foundation for the Food and Farm Initiative, and a strong supporter of a strong local food system.  As a Fellow, Mary Rose oversees the development of the educational guides for Legal Food Hub’s online library with information about common legal issues encountered by farmers and local food businesses. Mary Rose was previously a partner in the Intellectual Property department of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr, where she specialized in patent advice and patent portfolio building for renewable energy clients in the fields of solar, energy storage and biofuel. She currently supports sustainable agriculture and the local food economy in her roles on the executive committee of Lexington Community Farm, the oldest continuously farmed property in Lexington, MA, and as a member of the conservation restriction oversight committee of the Citizens for Lexington Conservation.  Mary Rose holds a B.S. from Lehigh University and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, both in chemistry. She graduated magna cum laude from Suffolk Law School.

David Craft, Author of Urban Foraging 

David Craft graduated from Brown University in 1996 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After a 2-year stint at General Electric Research and Development, and a year teaching high school math, he returned to graduate school at MIT and earned his Ph.D. in Operations Research (a branch of applied mathematics) in 2004. Since that time he has been working in the field of optimization of radiation therapy for cancer treatment at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is an avid collector of edible plants and mushrooms and every year leads many foraging tours in the New England area. His foraging book is called Urban Foraging.

Representative from New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project’s (New Entry) mission is to improve our local and regional food systems by training the next generation of farmers to produce food that is sustainable, nutritious, and culturally-appropriate and making this food accessible to individuals regardless of age, mobility, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.  In doing this work, we provide critical training, career development, and economic opportunity to new farmers.

If you would like to share a ride to BNC, you can meet us at Forest Hills station (last stop of orange line). We are meeting there at 5pm and then taking an Uber(s) to BNC!

This event is brought to you by the Emerging Professionals of Massachusetts, a community of ascending professionals across the green building industry and allied fields providing professional support, development and advocacy tools through active networking, monthly programming and community events.