Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals has now closed.

Thank you to all those who submitted. Our team is in the process of reviewing submissions and applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals by February 1st, 2019.

Themes

The 2019 Conference theme is Inspiration. Innovation. IMPACT. and the following thematic areas will be used to guide conference programming. While this is not an exhaustive list, we encourage you to consider how your submission fits within these areas:

  1. Farm to Cafeteria: promising practices in the preschool, school and campus setting
  2. Buying into Local: institutional food procurement strategies
  3. Indigenous Food Ways: reconnecting students to their land and food
  4. Fostering Food Literacy: hands on learning in beyond the classroom
  5. Making Connections: farmers, fishers, food hubs, and supply chains
  6. Scaling-up: regional approaches
  7. Healthy Eating: student nutrition and life-long skills
  8. The Evidence Is In: measuring and reporting impact
  9. In the Driver’s Seat: youth leadership and engagement
  10. Sustaining the Momentum: advocating for change

Proposal Formats

Workshops

These 60-90 minute sessions should provide opportunities for significant audience participation. Workshops that build specific skills are highly encouraged (i.e. capacity building; communications; collaboration and partnerships; education approaches; policy development and implementation; program and policy sustainability; accountability; scaling-up; fundraising; cultural inclusiveness; evaluation; grant writing; facilitation; coalition building; volunteer and student engagement, or leadership development).

Posters

Posters should be compelling graphic presentations of programs, projects, research, etc. Posters should clearly illustrate information through graphs, photos, diagrams and text. Presenters are expected to lead discussions about their poster during the interactive poster session.

Short Talk or Other Short Creative Expression

Short presentations are dynamic summaries (6 minutes maximum) of programs, activities, or learnings. They may consist of a series of slides or may also be creative expressions such as a musical performance, skit, or art. These presentations are dynamic, force a tight focus, and can be very energizing to all. These sessions are a great opportunity for student engagement. Accepted presentations will be grouped into thematic sessions according to content. See the following websites for examples: promoting skits at conferences and ignite talks.

Original Research and Experience-Based Presentations

All abstracts for research and experience presentations must contain original work that has not been previously presented in association with a scientific or professional conference. Successful presenters will have 15 minutes to make an oral presentation.
There are two categories for abstracts:

  1. Research abstracts or reports of original research, and
  2. Experience based (on-the-ground or in-the-field) abstracts that focus on innovative or new developments.

Proposal Guidelines

Proposals may focus on any promising practice, policy and/or research effort to advance the movement towards healthy, local and sustainable foods in the minds and on the plates of students. We welcome applications from those who are working to improve student nutrition and increase youth engagement at all levels of decision making as it relates to local and sustainable foods in schools and campuses, while also addressing inequities in food system. We welcome proposals from individuals or groups working in a variety of settings that help to foster a culture of food literacy in school communities. We define ‘school’ as any educational environment from early childhood, to adult, with an emphasis on children and youth.

To maximize your success, please consider the following aspects when preparing your proposal:

  1. Active involvement: Most conference delegates will already have some experience with your topic area. Sessions should maximize the collective experience within the group, and look to engage the audience in a participatory manner.
  2. Learning value: The learning value and key takeaways from your session should be clearly identified (i.e. specific skills gained, examples that will be applicable to others, or resources provided, such as lesson plans).
  3. Intersections: This conference will attract people from different locations across the country, with diverse backgrounds, and experience working in a variety of aspects of school food, agriculture, nutrition and local food systems. Submissions that reflect these intersections will be regarded favourably.
  4. Evaluation: Making an IMPACT is a key theme of the conference. All abstracts should speak to this theme. Tell us about your approach, practice, research, policy effort or hands-on personal experience. Be sure to include what worked and what didn’t.

Submission Instructions

  1. Deadline to submit is 11:59pm PST Sunday January 20, 2019
  2. Fill out the FULL proposal form prior to clicking ‘SUBMIT’ (all proposals will be acknowledged)
  3. Individuals may submit a maximum of 3 proposals in total. Please use a separate template for each submission
  4. Authors of successful proposals will be notified by January 31, 2019

Questions? Please contact Marcus Lobb, Conference Coordinator at conference@farmtocafeteriacanada.ca