In advance of Food Day 2013, "Chefs as Catalysts for Change" was a free public event at the US Navy Memorial that aimed to foster conversation between chefs, vendors, farmers and restaurant professionals about emerging trends and challenges in our food system. A panel of leading stakeholders was convened on October 21 to address how DC chefs can uniquely influence our national dialogue through interactions with key decision makers. Our advisory board of esteemed DC chefs highlighted three areas of interest:
• Best Practices
• Labeling and Certification
• Policy

Keynote:
• Spike Gjerde – Chef/Owner of Woodberry Kitchen

Moderator:
• Whitney Pipkin – Freelance journalist covering food, farming and the enivornment; Staff writer for the Chesapeake Bay Journal

Panelists:
• Dr. Garrett Graddy – Professor of environmental and agricultural policy at American University
• Forrest Pritchard – Farmer at Smith Meadows (Berryville, VA); Author of Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm
• Paul Shapiro – Vice President of Farm Animal Protection for the Humane Society of the US
• Julia Wolfson – Doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future; Former chef

Advisory Board: Richie Brandenburg, Oliver Friendly, Todd Gray, Ris Lacoste, Anthony Lombardo and Sean Sullivan.

Music: The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie

Co-Hosted by:
• Teaism - https://www.teaism.com/
• FoodPolicyUS - http://foodpolicyus.com/
• Food Day - http://www.foodday.org/splash_page?splash=1