The Organic Consumers Association, in collaboration with Richman Law Group and the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, have organized a Food Systems Summit online, and are offering it for free!

Join the Food Systems (online) Summit Thursday, May 21, noon – 1 p.m. EDT and Thursday May 28, also at noon – 1 p.m. EDT.

Register here for the Thursday, May 21 event (Session 5). (Registration for May 21 is open until Wednesday, May 20, 5 p.m. EDT).

Session 5 (May 21) will explore building coalitions to fight factory farming. We’ll discuss the impacts of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) on rural communities and beyond; collaborating with farmers on anti-CAFO advocacy; working with food companies to raise industry animal welfare standards; and assisting farmers with transitions from animal to plant agriculture with the aid of private funding.

Session 5 speakers include:

• Traci Bruckner, Policy Program Director for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders (Moderator). SAFSF members make investments at local, regional, state, Tribal, national and international levels to support activities and strategies related to justice, farms and farming systems, environmental sustainability, markets, health, agricultural products, and much more within the food system.

• Danielle Diamond, Director of Field Operations for the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP). Danielle is an attorney, community organizer and environmental policy advocate focused on addressing the critical problems arising from industrial livestock production in rural communities. SRAP works to help communities across the U.S. replace industrial livestock production with ecologically sound, socially equitable, and economically viable animal agriculture.

• Leah Garcés, President of Mercy For Animals (MFA). Leah is the author of “Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry.” MFA is on the front lines fighting to protect farmed animals. From factory farms to corporate boardrooms, courts of justice to courts of public opinion, MFA  is there to speak up against cruelty and for compassion.

Please Register here for the Thursday, May 21 event (Session 5). (Registration for May 21 is open until Wednesday, May 20, 5 p.m. EDT).