Join us for a roundtable discussion with regional grain leaders from across the country as they share about their organizations and the work that they’re doing. We will learn all about the challenges and success stories of these organizations, and speakers will share their thoughts about the local grain movement’s future in their region. We’ll have representatives from Common Grain Alliance in the Mid-Atlantic, Artisan Grain Collaborative in the Mid-West, and CRAFT in Pennsylvania. We’re looking forward to an interesting conversation with questions welcomed from participants.
This event will be live-streamed! Come back to this page to view the live-stream and participate in the discussion through the comments section!
Moderator: Amy Halloran
A writer and change agent, Amy works to add social values and economic viability to farms, cities, families, the emergency feeding system, and communities. Her love for pancakes led her to write a book about flour, THE NEW BREAD BASKET: How the New Crop of Grain Growers, Plant Breeders, Millers, Maltsters, Bakers, Brewers, and Local Food Activists Are Redefining Our Daily Loaf.
She lives in Troy, New York, and works with the Artisan Grain Collaborative in the Upper Midwest, and the Northeast Grainshed to create networks that support regional grains. She loves to create bridges between ideas and people through food. Her newsletter, Dear Bread is a record of the research she's doing about her city, her family, and the history of American baking.
Speaker: Ben Shorofsky
Common Grain Alliance
Ben is the Vice Chair of the Common Grain Alliance Board, a Mid-Atlantic based nonprofit focused on developing a regenerative grain economy. He brings close to a decade of project development, management, and facilitation experience working with a variety of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Ben works in the nonprofit sector and as an independent consultant to food and farm businesses throughout the country through his own consultancy, Stepwell Strategies. In addition, Ben co-founded the Artisan Grain Collaborative, a parallel organization to CGA in the midwest, and served as the first program coordinator as the organization grew. Benreturned home to Baltimore in 2019 with his wife and dog, Marty where in his free time, he runs a pre-order bagel business, Back Alley Bagel. For the last few years, Ben has worked with CGA partners as aproject administrator for a SARE-funded education program.
Speaker: Keith Williams
Artisan Grain Collaborative
Keith is a crop improvement and sourcing specialist living and working in Minneapolis, with 20+ years’ experience in the horticultural, agricultural and biotech industries. He currently serves as a Food Grade Grains Outreach Specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leads the Research & Variety Testing Working Group for the Artisan Grain Collaborative. Keith received his PhD in Plant Breeding & Genetics from Cornell for his work in wheat with the Cornell Small Grains Breeding Program and holds a BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Michigan. He has worked in Breeding R&D, Product Development and Procurement for a wide variety of organizations ranging from large, international CPG companies (PepsiCo) to lean startups (Row7 Seeds). In addition to his work with industry, he also maintains an independent, full-scale commercial maize breeding program developing flavor-driven maize hybrids for use throughout the United States. His passion is exploring the interface of crops and commerce and he enjoys projects that connect grains and other crops to food and exciting new products.
Speaker: Cassandra Malis
CRAFT, Chatham University
Cassandra is a program manager for the Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation at Chatham University where she helps to manage the educational offerings, including community workshops and workforce development programs. Additionally, Cassandra’s work has been focused CRAFT’s USDA grant involving supporting the regional grains industry, and has had the opportunity to connect with national organizations around this work.
Cassandra is a graduate of the Food Studies Masters of Arts program at Chatham University with a concentration in food politics. She manages the Eden Hall wood-fired bread oven and works to build community around baking at the Eden Hall campus.
Tickets for the day will be sold on a “pay what you can” basis, with a suggested donation of $20 per ticket. All are welcome to join, regardless of ability to pay.
Revenue from this event will go directly to paying student employees at Chatham University. We engage students across all of our programming at CRAFT, serving as a practicum space for students to gain work experience alongside their coursework.
Registration is limited! We look forward to seeing you soon!