INTRODUCING
EDIBLE CONNECTIONS: A PLANNING GUIDE AND VIDEO FOR CONDUCTING
A FOOD COMMUNICATIONS FORUM
Edible Connections, a food communications forum, has been developed as a model to bring together, perhaps for the first time, the public, the media, and many food system stakeholders who are connected to each other and their communities through the medium of food and agriculture. From these efforts, Edible Connections–Changing the Way We Talk About Food, Farm, and Community: A Planning Guide and Video for Conducting a Food Communications Forum was developed. The intent of this resource is to support locally-initiated educational efforts to stimulate discussion about food and fiber issues important at the community level. Edible Connections provides a public forum by which to engage a diverse mix of local people, many of whom are involved in the food system and all of whom eat, along with those from the media to explore the type of food system the community desires.
Funded through Keystone 21, W.K. Kellogg Foundation's National Food Systems Professional Education Initiative, the Edible Connections planning guide and video were developed to help community groups carry out a forum, regardless of scope or size. The guide is organized to help local groups define the objectives of the forum, plan it, and carry it out. It also comes with a videotape that illustrates the six elements of an Edible Connections forum. A planning time line and budget worksheet are included in the Appendices as additional tools.
To learn more about Edible Connections check out:
Thomson, J. S., J. L. Abel, and A. N. Maretzki. (2001). Edible Connections: A Model to Facilitate Citizen Dialogue and Build Community Collaboration." Journal of Extension, 39:2 April (4 pages) <http://www.joe.org/joe/2001april/a5.html>
Thomson, J. S., J. L. Abel, and A. N. Maretzki. (2001). Edible Connections: A Model for Citizen Dialogue Used to Discuss Local Food, Farm, and Community Issues. Journal of Applied Communications. 85:1: 25-42 (March).
Bringing people with diverse interests together to explore
issues they have in common is not easy. The results may not always be what one wants
or anticipates. But dialog is essential to promote change. Conversation is the first
step. If it is done right, action will follow. This guidebook/video provides the
foundation for conducting a meaningful and effective forum to start those conversations.
To learn more about carrying out such a forum, order Edible Connections (MISC-15:
$30.), see attachment, through the College of Agricultural Sciences' Publications
Distribution Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 112 Agricultural Administration
Building, University Park, PA 16802; telephone: (814) 865-6713. To discuss Edible
Connections programming, contact Joan Thomson <jthomson@psu.edu>. Downloadable
Order Form for Edible Connections guidebook/video
*Note: You will need Adobe Acrabat Reader to access the downloadable
Order Form. If you do not currently have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please click on the
icon which will take you to the Adobe site to obtain free software.
We hope you will use these resources to facilitate the discussion of food system
issues in your community.
Joan Thomson
Project Director