Welcome!

The Alaska Food Policy Council invites you to submit a presentation, poster, workshop, or festival activity abstract for the upcoming AFPC Food Conference and Festival (February 26-28) at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).  The AFPC is a nonprofit organization whose diverse membership works to engage Alaskans to make positive changes for the state’s food system, and to create a healthier, more prosperous, and more secure future for all.  
 
The Alaska Food Conference and Festival is an opportunity for attendees to learn more about -- and engage in -- the various issues affecting Alaska’s food system. Our inaugural conference and festival in November 2014 brought Alaskans interested in local food and food security together to connect and explore solutions and policies for Alaska’s food future. This year's event will take place over three days, with each day having a different focus: Friday, February 26th, will be a food policy conference with local and national speakers presenting on a variety of food security, production, business, and community issues. Saturday, February 27th, will be a fun and educational food festival, which will include Alaska food vendors, taste testing, food demonstrations and DIY workshops. Sunday, February 28th, will be devoted to a food and business tour around Anchorage.

The goals of the conference and festival are to: (1) increase awareness of Alaska food issues among the general population; (2) provide training, resources, and networking opportunities to increase involvement in local food issues by community members and decision makers; and (3) increase connections and build community between the public, Alaska food businesses, NGOs, governmental entities, Tribal entities, and others to support local economic development and innovative solutions.
 
The conference and festival will have four focus areas:
(1) Food Production & Harvesting
(2) Community Building & Traditions
(3) Food Insecurity
(4) Food Business

 With the goals in mind, we are looking for proposals that are/do one or more of the following:

-   Provide insight into areas of the Alaska food system
-   Inspirational, motivating, and fun
-   Describe and/or provide the information necessary for "on the ground" action, policy development, and/or education
-   Creative, interactive and/or provide opportunities for significant and diverse audience participation
-   Provide time for participants to brainstorm how to apply the information in their own communities or businesses  
-   Include a diverse group of urban and rural presenters, including (but not limited to) established and emerging leaders, growers, youth, entrepreneurs, educators, project participants, and community members
-   Demonstrate collaboration across sectors

 
If you are interested in presenting or leading an activity or workshop at the event, but filling out a proposal application like this is new to you, please contact Liz Hodges Snyder at ehodges4@uaa.alaska.edu or Samantha Ford at samantha.ford@alaska.gov and we would be happy to provide assistance.
AFPC will accept proposals until December 18, 2015 through this online survey.  Notification of acceptance, presentation/poster/workshop/activity guidelines, and next steps will be sent to applicants by January 8, 2016.  

Question Title

* 1. Author/Leader Information

Question Title

* 2. Select your track:
(Note: you may only select one track per submission.  If you wish to make multiple submissions, you will need to complete a separate survey for each one.)

Question Title

* 3. Select your format:
(Note: conference presentation sessions are 1.5 hours in length.  You can select the 30 minute presentation option, and be paired with other similar presentations, or you can select the full 1.5 hour session.  You can recruit co-presenters with either option. Lengths of festival workshops and activities are flexible.)

Question Title

* 4. Please list any co-presenters/poster co-authors:

Question Title

* 5. Presentation/Poster/Workshop/Activity Title

Question Title

* 6. Enter your abstract here. Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words; and describe the who, what, when, where, and why of your topic or activity.  Conference presentations should be action-oriented (for example: describe the end goal of your work or presentation, identify how community members can get involved, offer opportunities for collaboration, delineate next steps or applications, and/or share recent impacts).

Question Title

* 7. As we work to finalize the agenda, we'd love to hear what interests YOU!  What other topics would you like to learn more about?  Or what activities would you enjoy?

T