ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University is sponsoring a regional conference to foster new farm-to-school links and to strengthen networks among farmers, school dining-service buyers, processors, distributors, educators and policy-makers. The conference, Farm-to-School Cafeteria: Partnerships for Improving Health, Supporting Farms and Building Community, will be held Dec. 9 to 10 at the Statler Hotel on campus.

Featuring several dozen experts, the conference consists of workshops, plenary sessions and discussions groups that will focus on how K-12 schools, colleges and universities throughout the Northeast can work with local producers and processors to use more regionally grown food in their cafeterias.

"Our public schools, colleges and universities in the Northeast serve tremendous amounts of food each day. Much of this food could come from farms in the region. This conference offers a forum in which to explore the economic, social, environmental and health benefits of this exciting new marketing strategy," says Jennifer Wilkins, a senior extension associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, project director of the ground-breaking Cornell University Farm to School Project and the conference's principal organizer. Conference participants, she says, "will have the chance to reflect on current trends in the food system in plenary and breakout sessions that will focus on identifying barriers and opportunities for the greater use of locally produced and processed foods in colleges and public schools in the Northeast and will identify state policies that can support and strengthen farm-to-school cafeteria connections."

Conference highlights include:

• Keynote addresses:

"Agriculture in the Northeast: Time to Rethink, Regenerate and Reconnect" by Gus Schumacher Jr., former undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; "Institutional Change for the Public Good -- Bringing Ecology, Community and Economy Back to School" by Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Center at Iowa State University; and

"Revolution in the Lunchroom: How Far We've Come, but Where Are We Going?" by Nancy Stiles, director of school nutrition at Hampton Public School and current chair of the Public Policy and Legislation Committee, New Hampshire School Food Service Association.

• A presentation on farm bill legislation by Marion Kalb, director of the National Farm to School Program.

• A panel discussion on community organizing and institutional buying.

Sessions will cover a range of topics from "nuts and bolts how-to's" to more philosophical and policy-oriented forums. Model and pilot programs will be featured, and representatives will be on hand to provide real-life lessons learned and to offer approaches to a number of different school and college settings. Other topics to be addressed include trends in the lunchroom, regulations and policy options for enhancing farm-to-school links, federal policy and bidding regulations, distribution, and purchasing and supply issues. There also will be a "taste of the region" trade show.

The conference, sponsored by Cornell's Agriculture, Food and Community Partnership; the Community Food Security Coalition; the University of New Hampshire's Office of Sustainability Programs; N.Y. Farms, Cornell's Agriculture in the Classroom, Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

For information or to register, see http://www.cals.cornell.edu/agfoodcommunity/afc.cfm or contact Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman at (607) 255-0417, hmm1@cornell.edu , or Jennifer Wilkins at (607) 255-2142, <jlw15@cornell.edu >.