The Vermont Foodbank Hunger Action Conference was May 7, 2013. We captured videos of participants, keynote speakers and shining examples. If you weren’t able to make it, you can still join the conversation!

We asked conference participants what excited them about the Vermont Foodbank Hunger Action Conference, and got cameos from allies at UVM Extension, School Nutrition Association of Vermont, Common Good Vermont, The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook, Colchester Summer Lunch Program, Vermont Interactive Technologies, Efficiency Vermont, and the Burlington School Food Project:

Vermont Foodbank Board Chair Andy Willette introduced Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to kick off the 2013 Vermont Foodbank Hunger Action Conference. John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO, then gave the opening remarks of the day:

Doug Davis is currently the Director of Food Service for the Burlington School Food Project. Doug co-chairs the Food Service Directors Association of Vermont, is a consultant for the National Food Service Management Institute, serves on SNA’s Public Policy and Legislation Committee, is President of SNA-VT and was a ten year board member of the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. Doug has been working in child nutrition programs for over 20 years and has been actively involved in the Farm 2 School movement for over 10 years:

Hal Colston created the Good News Garage in 1996 to address the need of transportation equity for people economically distressed. In March 2004, Hal founded NeighborKeepers, an inclusive community that generates Circles of Support, empowering families to create a sustainable path to adequate resources. In 2011, he was appointed Executive Director of SerVermont, which oversees the AmeriCorps State and VISTA statewide programs. Hal was just selected to be the Director of the Partnership for Change, a new initiative to remodel the Winooski and Burlington educational systems into student-centered, proficiency-based models:

Upon moving to Vermont in 1997, Tiffany Bluemle was hired as the Executive Director of Vermont Works for Women (VWW). VWW assists women and girls in thinking about their lives in the broadest terms and helps them develop skills and capacities that are critical to long-term economic independence. Over the past fifteen years, the organization has expanded its program roster to include educational initiatives for girls, programs that serve women in prison, and an on-the-job training program that prepares meals for children in childcare centers funded through Head Start. In 2006, Tiffany helped establish a statewide coalition on workforce development, served as a member of the Next Generation Commission, and in 2007 founded Northern Lights House, a transitional home for women leaving prison:

Vermont Foodbank CEO John Sayles introduced Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, who delivered the closing remarks of the 2013 Hunger Action Conference: