Rebuilding Our Food System

Learn from local, national, and global leaders who are tackling our most pressing food-related challenges about how place-based, community-led, cross-sector collective action can build a more sustainable, resilient food system in Santa Barbara and beyond.

Join SBCFAN Executive Director Shakira Miracle, U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal, Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg, and a panel of regional food system changemakers moderated by Julia Child Foundation Executive Director Todd Schulkin:

• Sarah Koyo is Šmuwič (Chumash) and Tohono O’odham, working to revitalize her community’s connections to traditional foods and medicines through food sovereignty, ethnobotany, and traditional Indigenous knowledge.
• Stefan Selbert is a next generation farmer and operations manager at Las Cumbres Ranch where he is rebuilding the soil with cows via rotational grazing and closed loop systems that give back to the land more than they take.
• Melissa Sorongon, owner and farmer at Piedrasassi Wine & Bread, coordinates a cooperative equipment sharing alliance that provides farmers with the critical regional infrastructure they need to get food from their farm to your table.
• Jessica Vieira, Senior Director of Sustainability at Apeel Sciences, leads the company’s sustainability efforts by applying data-driven analyses and life-cycle thinking to maximize Apeel’s positive impacts related to climate change and food waste.

The discussion will be followed by a reception featuring beverages and light bites showcasing the bounty of the region.

Those who want to see first-hand how resilience is being built into our local food system from the ground up should attend a regional farm tour on Friday or Sunday. Tours of countywide farms, ranches, community gardens, and processing facilities will demonstrate regenerative and sustainable agriculture and food production practices.