Building Business Bridges : Urban-Rural Food Dynamics

"Regional food systems are a powerful lever for sustainable economic development, healthier lifestyles, and more environmentally sound systems of production and consumption – from field to fork and beyond. As in other parts of the country and world, in New York City and State there is growing interest and engagement in developing more robust urban-rural bonds through cooperative public, private and NGO-driven initiatives. A key question: How can such innovative collaborations be sustainable, resilient and advance climate adaptation efforts in urban and rural communities over the long run? Developing conducive and supportive business and economic dynamics is a key dimension of such initiatives, which also can profoundly improve communication and collaboration among disparate parties, helping rural and urban populations better understand that each fundamentally depends on the other. By ‘following the money,’ from farm to table and back, we may better infer the working dynamics of building viable, resilient regional food and agriculture enterprises to support cohesive urban-rural relationships and advance human and environmental sustainability and well-being. As New York City and State continue to put forward strategies in support of more robust linkages between upstate farmers and downstate consumers, including public institutions, this public forum will explore what economic aspects should be considered and how future initiatives and policies can reflect them. It will also explore the growing interest of companies, even those in sectors beyond food, in agricultural well-being. On November 19, 2019 join the Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity (RZCCI), the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center and invited experts to explore these and other key questions for our local and regional food economy."