Berry Good Food Foundation

Climate Change

“When you talk about diversity of the soil, human beings we carry our soil with us. And we give that a very fancy term which is all the rage these days which is ‘microbiome.’ And as we see microbes diminishing in the soil, we are also seeing the same things happen in ourselves,” says Kelli Gray-Meisner, RDN.

Super blooms, extreme weather, fires, insects, and human health, these seemingly separate things impact each other – for better or worse. Join a panel of experts as they tease out the relationships being built and destroyed by climate change. They also share how we as individuals can work to limit negative impacts and create positive outcomes.

Watch — Climate Change: What it Means for Our Agriculture & Our Health – Future Thought Leaders Series Presented by the Berry Good Food Foundation

Let Food Be Thy Medicine

Eat well. Stay healthy. That’s the message that a panel of experts from UC San Diego and elsewhere made clear in this fascinating discussion on the benefits of fresh, organic foods. Hear the case studies presented by people who have overcome serious illnesses by changing their diets. It’s true! Healthy food can be powerful medicine in treating diabetes, arthritis, Lyme disease, cirrhosis and high blood pressure, among other ailments. And the stories told here are compelling. Stepheni Norton recalls her own harrowing journey that led to the founding of Dickinson Farm and “farmacy.” Zen Honeycut, founder of Moms Across America, recounts how changing to a non-GMO, organic diet resolved the symptoms of allergies and autism in two of her sons. These kinds of outcomes didn’t surprise the MD’s on the panel — Gordon Saxe of UCSD’s Center for Integrative Nutrition and Sheila Patel of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing — as they confirmed their own experiences with patients using food as medicine.
Thanks to Michelle Lerach and the Berry Good Food Foundation for convening this 7th edition of the Future Thought Leaders series exploring paths to a sustainable food supply. Now go eat some kale!

Watch Let Food Be Thy Medicine — Future Thought Leaders .

Behind “Farm to Table:” The Labor of Farming

Did you know that the median age of US farmers is now is 58? And that the number of people actually farming now equals just one percent of the population? As farmers, chefs, food vendors and policymakers gathered by the Berry Good Food Foundation explain, those trends are not sustainable. So what to do? How do you make agriculture attractive to young people? What will bring them back to the land? And how do you connect the rest of the community to their sources of food? Watch as these experts make the whole process of growing, harvesting, selling and serving food sound incredibly, what’s the word they used? Oh yes, sexy!

Learn more: Behind “Farm to Table:” The Labor of Farming — Future Thought Leaders Series Presented by the Berry Good Food Foundation

Food Justice: Economics, Ethics, Access

What a group! You know you’re watching something special when Dolores Huerta, the legendary co-founder of the United Farm Workers and Rose Hayden-Smith, the PhD author who writes the UC Food Observer blog are flanked by passionate leaders in healthcare, social justice, and organic farming – all talking about the policies and politics that lead to food deserts and swamps in some communities and abundance in others. Gathered in the historic Star Theatre in Oceanside, California, this lively panel led by Michelle Lerach of the Berry Good Food Foundation will inspire many to plant their own gardens, share their green bounty and engage on issues that address the most fundamental human need – healthy food for a thriving planet.

Watch Food Justice: Economics, Ethics, Access