Moderator: Simca Horwitz, Eastern Mass Director, Massachusetts Farm to School & Co-Coordinator, Farm & Sea to Campus Network, Farm to Institution New England (FINE)

Simca Horwitz manages the Massachusetts Farm to School Network and assists in coordinating the New England Farm & Sea to Campus Network. She provides procurement assistance and workshops to food service professionals, farmers, food distributors, and community advocates in eastern and southeastern Mass. Simca has worked in a variety of non-profit organizations in the Boston area that focus on food and agriculture, including three years as a farmer and farm-based educator at a community farm and two years running a shared use community kitchen for culinary entrepreneurs. She holds an M.S. in Food and Agriculture Policy from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. In her free time she loves making desserts out of vegetables.

Andy Cox, Director of Dining Services, Smith College

Andy Cox is this Director of Dining Services at Smith College inNorthampton, Massachusetts. His past experience includes General Manager at The Hotchkiss School and Executive Chef at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as farm to table restaurants in Oregon, Chicago and Boston. He holds a BA from UMass Amherst in Sustainability Management with a Certificate in Sustainable Food and Farming. Andy is committed to focused shifts in institutional spend to support regional agriculture through diner engagement and education.

Alison Nihart, Assistant to the Food Systems Initiative, University of Vermont

Alison Nihart is the Assistant to the Food Systems Initiative at the University of Vermont, a campus-wide effort to support food systems research, teaching, and outreach. In this role, she supports farm to institution work through the Real Food Challenge and other dining initiatives. She holds a master’s in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont.

Brianna Patten, Student, Class of 2017, Towson University (Sociology Major, Spanish Minor)

Brianna Patten is a Senior at Towson University studying Sociology, African American Studies, and Spanish. She serves on the National Steering Committee of Real Food Challenge (RFC), a movement that will shift $1 billion of existing university food budgets towards more sustainable and humane sources by 2020. As a member of Steering Committee, she offers guidance to campaigns and helps make decisions regarding RFC’s priorities and positioning.

Kären Jurgensen, Chef Instructor, Seattle Culinary Academy, Seattle Central College

Kären Jurgensen is a Chef Instructor at Seattle Culinary Academy, where she founded the sustainability curriculum for culinary students, the first of its kind in the nation. Kären spends summers at Quillisascut Farm School teaching professional chefs, culinary students and agricultural professionals, farm to table immersion courses and philosophy. She is the co-author of “Rethinking the Kitchen, the sustainable kitchen handbook” and “Chefs on the Farm” cookbook.

Kären was the founding president of FORKS, the Seattle chapter of Chefs Collaborative and was honored with the Chefs Collaborative National “Sustainer 2012” Award. This award recognizes her as a chef and mentor; creating awareness of sustainable food issues and making delicious food. Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard named her an “edible education hero” in October 2012.