2019 Come to the Table Conference Request for Workshop Proposals

The Come to the Table Conference is hosted by the Come to the Table Program of the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA). RAFI-USA cultivates markets, policies, and communities that support thriving, socially just, and environmentally sound family farms. The mission of the Come to the Table program is to relieve hunger and strengthen just and sustainable agriculture in rural North Carolina. We do this by engaging and mobilizing people of faith, farmers and communities. We envision a future in which people working in partnership build strong, self-reliant communities where everyone can eat healthy, just and sustainable food.

Since 2007, the Come to the Table Program has been holding biennial conferences to convene persons of faith, farmers and community leaders to come together around issues of food access in their communities. Previous conference themes have included Bridging Divides: Cultivating Food & Faith Connections (2017) and Head, Heart, Hands (2015).

For more information about previous conferences, visit rafiusa.org/cttt/conferences

The 2019 Conference will be held March 12-13 at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. The theme of the Conference is Called to Action: Uprooting Hunger and Cultivating Justice. The goals of the 2019 Conference include:

• Sharing resources, tools & knowledge that support attendees in being effective community organizers for a more just food system
• Providing space for the knowledge and wisdom in the room to be shared and for us all to learn together
• Providing space for people to connect with each other and build relationships that will sustain and support their work
• Through this conference, we hope to energize attendees to go back to their communities with knowledge to challenge the systemic nature of hunger and the skills and connections to grow structures that are based in justice. Workshop proposals that have these goals will be prioritized.

Learn more about the 2019 Come to the Table Conference.

Register for the conference.

Workshop Information:

• To view the full RFP form before completing it, click here.
• We are looking for workshops covering the following topics (this list is not exhaustive): community development, organizational development, theology and food, creative expression, self-care, disaster relief/preparedness, public policy/advocacy, racial equity/inequities in the food system, gender equity, environmental justice, poverty/economic justice, immigration, workers’ rights, agriculture/farming, and community gardening.
• Each workshop session will be 75 minutes long.
• The deadline to submit your workshop proposal is 5 p.m. on August 31, 2018.
• If your workshop proposal is accepted, you will receive a free registration to the conference for each presenter.
• Session presenters for the conference will also be offered an honorarium of $150 ($200 for more than one person from a single organization) in consideration of your time and expertise. If you represent an organization that can fund your time, please consider choosing to let us use the honorarium towards conference scholarships.
• All submitted information that will be included in the conference program (workshop title, description, presenter biography) is subject to editorial review by RAFI staff.
• If you would like to discuss your workshop idea before completing this form or if you have any questions, please contact Michelle Osborne at 919-704-6920 or [email protected].

Next Steps:

• All submitted proposals will be reviewed by an external review committee.
• There are a limited number of workshop presentation opportunities. Not all proposals will be accepted to be presented at the conference. We may contact you to discuss your proposal or about combining your workshop with other similar proposals if appropriate.
• Applicants will be notified by September 15, 2018 if their proposal has been accepted.

Complete the Request for Workshop Proposals form in English or Spanish.