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Green Space: Food Med conference hits Detroit June 30

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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Ann Arbor's Ecology Center is hosting a conference in Detroit that will tackle the role that health care can play in supporting sustainable agriculture, showing how health can be improved by increasing the consumption of local, good-for-you food. FoodMed's goal is to help hospitals purchase more local, sustainable food which will, in turn, support the development of local, sustainable agriculture and food processing in the state.

Presentations will be geared towards healthcare providers, dieticians, food service directors, food procurement and distribution professionals and others interested in healthy food. There are two keynote speakers: Dr. Preston Maring, MD, associate physician-in-chief at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California and Tyrone Hayes, PhD, professor of developmental endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Preston started a farmers' market in his hospital for the benefit of staff, members, visitors and the community and Hayes is renowned for his groundbreaking work on the herbicide atrazine 's effects on frogs and the implications for human health.

Breakout sessions will focus on obesity, sustainable meat food waste management, farmers markets and onsite gardens, understanding food certification ecolabels, seasonal menu planning and local procurement.

The conference is being held at MGM Grand June 30 to July 1. For more information, visit FoodMed.org.

Source: Ecology Center
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh