2021 San Juan Islands Ag Summit goes virtual

||| FROM KATE MIKULAK for WSU EXTENSION SAN JUAN COUNTY |||

The 2021 San Juan Islands Agricultural Summit, an annual gathering of farmers, producers, and all those involved in our local and regional food system, will be hosted virtually Saturday, March 20, through Friday, April 16.

Designed as a space for inspiration, education, and community building, this year’s Summit is moving online and focusing on building an equitable future for all involved in the San Juan County food system. Multiple events, including keynote addresses, study groups, discussion panels, and a movie screening, offered over a four week period in March and April, will cover topics at the intersection of equity, social justice, and agriculture. While it certainly won’t be the same as meeting in person, this online format opens the door to hearing from speakers across the country.

The Summit will kick off March 20th with keynote speaker, Alison Conrad of Duke Sanford World Food Policy Center, addressing white-dominant narratives in food movements and food policy. Discussion  panels will focus on labor rights for farmworkers and increasing equitable local food access. Two study circles will meet four times over the month: one will explore traditional foodways in the San Juan Islands, including Indigenous land management, animal husbandry, and crop cultivation, both past and present, with speakers from Samish, Tulalip, and S’Klallam tribal communities; the second will focus on the history of Black farming, reparations in agriculture, and alternative models. Capnote speaker, A-dae Briones, Director of Native Agriculture and Food Systems Programs at First Nations Development Institute, will address decolonizing regenerative agriculture, concluding the Summit on April 16.

Registration opens on February 19. San Juan County residents are encouraged to register early to beat the crowds! More information can be found at bit.ly/2021agsummit. QUESTIONS? Contact us at sji.agsummit@wsu.edu.