Attendees celebrate day one of the summit with a lecture series held on the USF campus. (Back row, from left): Brenda Clark, Dr. Whitney Fung, Regina Polite, Dhalia Bumbaca, Dr. William Schanbacher, Dr. Dave Himmelfarb, Monica Petrella, Mr. Dell deChant. (Front row, from left): Ri’Lynn Viverette, Kitty Wallace, Agnita Brown (Photo by Corey Lepak)
The Urban Food Sovereignty Group (UFSG) at the USF College of Arts and Sciences hosted its 5th Annual Tampa Bay Urban Food Sovereignty Summit to increase awareness of urban food sovereignty at USF and within the Tampa Bay community.
This year’s summit focused on food sovereignty within food systems.
Participants engaged in a two-day experience, held in October, starting with a kick-off discussion at USF to hear from USF faculty and community partners about their current work in the field. The summit ended with a visit to Sweetwater Organic Community Farm in Tampa, Fla. to showcase a first-hand experience of a food system in action within the local community.
Food sovereignty, according to the Declaration of Nyéléni, the first global forum on food sovereignty, is “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.”
It focuses on the needs of those producing, distributing, and consuming food over the demands of markets.
“The Urban Food Sovereignty Summitt is the culmination of the work that we've been doing in the last year with the Urban Food Sovereignty Group,” Dr. William Schanbacher, professor of religious studies and co-founder of the UFSG, said. “It’s also a time for us to celebrate the great accomplishments that our community partners have done.”
One example is the work done by the Healthy 22nd Garden Steps initiative, which provides community members with small barrel gardens in which they can grow food of their choice. Recently, this initiative provided the Dr. Carter G. Woodson K-8 Academy with two gardens that are tended to by the students, such as Ri’Lynn Viverette, who also attended the summit.
The UFSG is interdisciplinary and brings together faculty across different fields of study who work not only in their own fields of research, but also with community members, Schanbacher explained.
“This is a time to showcase all the things that faculty are doing, not only in their own fields of study related to food and our food system, but also working with community members, who have over the years become our partners,” he said. “It’s a time to celebrate all those great accomplishments.”
One such community partner is Hillsborough County UF/IFAS Extension Service, which is leading the Homegrown Hillsborough initiative.
Homegrown Hillsborough is a food system network of community members with the mission to grow a strong food system and create an integrated food system that is diverse, reliable and creates opportunity for active participation.
WellFed Community representatives share information with community members during the exhibition tabling portion of the summit. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
“We’re a network of food system stakeholders and community partners who want to get more engaged in food system efforts,” explained Monica Petrella, Hillsborough County food system program coordinator. “That can range from learning how to grow your own produce, learning how to support local farmers, turning produce into nutritious meals, or what to do with any of your waste. It touches on other things too, such as what impact does food insecurity have on our community and what kind of things can we introduce to mitigate those negative consequences?”
Petrella spoke at this year’s summit to share more information about Homegrown Hillsborough.
“I’m really proud of the work that the Urban Food Sovereignty Group has done as far as bringing together professors from all different departments and colleges and to develop this interdisciplinary approach, which can then help influence our ability to integrate within the community and bring more people into the fold. I thought that the summit was a success,” she said.
Homegrown Hillsborough is currently conducting a survey to better understand what aspects of the food system Hillsborough County residents are most interested in learning more about. To contribute to the survey and also connect with the group, sign up to join the group’s newsletter.
Other community partners represented at this year’s summit included: WellFed Community, Coalition of Community Gardens, Inc., and Eckerd College Community Farm.
Dr. Whitney Fung Uy, a USF College of Public Health alumna and postdoctoral fellow at the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition in Omaha, Neb., also spoke at this year’s summit. She said the collaborative nature of the summit is an asset not only for the attendees, but the community at large.
“By collaborating with each other, we are able to come together with our resources and achieve our goal of moving closer toward food sovereignty for our community. Without collaboration, sometimes those resources are lost and not always used effectively to benefit everyone,” she said. “For example, just simply knowing about each other’s programs is a great asset. Collaboration is key, and these events encourage potential partnerships and build relationships.”
Attendees had an opportunity to speak with local organizations about the work they
are doing locally to improve food systems in Tampa Bay. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
Attendees examine fruit grown at Sweetwater Organic Community Farm. (Photo by Corey
Lepak)
Fung Uy, who has an interest in food and nutrition security, sustainable food systems, and health equity, said the summit continually inspires her.
“It's always refreshing to engage with passionate community members and leaders that have the same vision,” she said. “In our own ways, we all want to be able to access fresh, healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food that will feed ourselves and our community. It's inspiring to be around individuals who work toward these goals every day.”
For more information about future events and ways to get involved, please visit the Urban Food Sovereignty Group.