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Sunday May 19th 10:15 - 11:00 AM PDT
Supporter of local food systems, Richard McCarthy, President of the World Farmers Markets Coalition always underlines the importance of cultivating community in commerce in the service of family farmers, families of consumers, and the communities that host these remarkably agile institutions.
Speaker Bio: Richard McCarthy
Richard is a community development specialist, writer and speaker, who sees food as a pivotal organising tool. In 1995, he founded the New Orleans-based Market Umbrella and its flagship Crescent City Farmers Market, where he played a pivotal role in rebuilding the regional food system after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster. Past President and co-founder of the US Farmers Market Coalition, he played a pivotal role in the piloting and expanding the use of nutrition incentive programs in farmers markets. For six-years, he directed Slow Food USA from New York City. In 2022, his first book, Kuni: A Japanese Vision and Practice for Urban-Rural Reconnection, was published by North Atlantic Books (co-written with Tsuyoshi Sekihara). He now serves on the board of Slow Food International. Since 2021, he has served in the role as Provisional President for the World Farmers Markets Coalition. Born in Europe, raised in New Orleans, educated in the United Kingdom and the London School of Economics, Richard lives with his family in New York.
About the World Farmers Market Coalition
The World Farmers Markets Coalition (WorldFMC) is a project built on the initiative of Fondazione Campagna Amica & Coldiretti (Italy), the Stiftelsen Bondens Marked Norge Foundation (Norway), and Grønt Marked (Denmark), with the aim of affirming the role of farmers markets as a tool for the development of local food systems. Within its mandate, the WorldFMC is committed to cultivating a world community of farmers markets, sharing best practices and innovation, defending endangered markets and their participants, and promoting the idea that farmers markets can be gateways to wider and deeper opportunities to build social trust at moments where it is lacking. WorldFMC’s is the pivotal voice for producers and for communities who facilitate, work, and benefit from farmers markets. For more information, visit https://www.worldfarmersmarketscoalition.org/
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