Dear Food Policy Council Enthusiasts,
Jodee Ellett, Local Foods Program Director with Purdue University, and I are launching a new, online professional development course to help Extension and community development colleagues build local food councils. Over 20 experts have contributed to the development of this course, including experts from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. We are so grateful for these contributions and the support of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development to create this self-paced learning tool.
“Supporting Local Food Councils” is a free online resource that is open to all. There are 15 modules in the course, which take about 1-2 hours per module to complete. Each module contains videos, readings and online tools. There is a certificate of completion awarded for participants that complete all modules and quizzes. Earning a certificate is optional. There is no deadline for completion and the videos/course materials can be accessed at any time – including during your food council meetings. The course was designed for professionals with less than three years of experience working with food councils at the local level.
To learn more, we invite you to join a webinar about the course next Monday, January 15. (Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. Day – it is not a holiday for us and we think Dr. King would support the community building concepts behind this course.) There is no pre-registration required for the free-webinar. If you aren’t able to make the webinar, it will be recorded. Or you can sign up for the course and take a look by visiting the course web page at https://www.canr.msu.edu/supporting-local-food-councils
Please feel free to forward this information to your colleagues and/or food council members. Thank you for your time!
WEBINAR: Supporting Local Food Councils: A New Professional Development Course
SPEAKERS: Jodee Ellett, Purdue University and Kendra Wills, Michigan State University
January 15, 2018 – 12:00 PM Eastern Time
http://ncrcrd.adobeconnect.com/ncrcrd
About the webinar: Extension professionals and other community development specialists are often asked to engage in local food systems work. Fulfilling this request can be a challenge, especially for staff who are unfamiliar with local food systems programming and/or do not regularly facilitate community groups. Supporting Local Food Councils is a new professional development course designed to equip Extension staff and community development professionals with the education, material resources, organizational tools and videos to support the development and sustainability of food councils. Participants in this webinar will be given an overview of the course’s 15 modules and will have a chance to view a few of the course videos. Twenty local food council experts from around the U.S. provided content for this self-paced online course. Supporting Local Food Councils is available to all at no charge. Course participants that complete the quiz for each module will earn a certificate of completion.
Presented by:
Jodee Ellett is the Local Foods Coordinator for Purdue Extension, working across program areas to build food system networks and deliver research and education. Jodee works at the individual, community, business and leadership level to engage and synergize local food system development.
Kendra Wills has served with MSU Extension for the past 17 years. She is based at the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids, Michigan and serves five counties in west Michigan. Kendra began working on local food systems issues in 2010 (focusing on farm-to-school and youth gardening programs) and in 2015 began developing a local food council in Lake County, Michigan.
Registration: There is no registration and no fee for attending this webinar.
To join the webinar go to http://ncrcrd.adobeconnect.com/ncrcrd, “enter as a guest” is by default already chosen. Type your name into the text box provided, and click on “Enter Room”. You are now in the meeting room for the webinar. NOTE: CHROME is not compatible with Adobe Connect, use either Firefox or IE.
The webinar will be recorded and archived at http://ncrcrd.msu.edu/ncrcrd/chronological_archive.
I hope you can join us on Monday!
Sincerely,
Kendra Wills
Educator, Community Food Systems
Michigan State University Extension
Grand Rapids Downtown Market
109 Logan Street SW, Suite B102
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
616-608-7424 (office)
517-930-0928 (mobile)
willsk@anr.msu.edu
www.msue.msu.edu
MSU Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, or veteran status.