IWTT board of directors Dr. Girish Panicker is panelist in 2016 Mississippi Food Summit

Girish Panicker, director of the Center for Conservation Research was a panelist at the Mississippi Food Summit and Agricultural Revival, held in December 2016 at the Agriculture and Forestry Museum, Jackson, Mississippi.

The event, “Our Farms, Our Soils, and Our Bodies,” was sponsored by the Mississippi Sustainable Agriculture Network.

Panicker, is a renowned agricultural scientist specializing in sustainable agriculture. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Think Tank. Panicker also serves on the MSAN and the Science Advisory Board, The Organic Center, Washington, D.C.; and he is a member and National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition-Conservation, Energy, Environment Committee, Washington, D.C.

Other panelists were Dr. Dan Jones, professor and chancellor of the University of Mississippi; Dr. Tyrone Hayes, professor, University of California, Berkeley; Lindsay Wilson, business owner and community herbalist, Starkville, Mississippi; and Ms. Ali Pinion, owner of Beaverdam Fresh Farms of Cedar Bluff, Mississippi. Jim Ewing, member of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, served as moderator.

Over 1000 people, including farmers, market managers, legislators, students, educators, local food activists, and economic developers attended the summit. MSAN is the primary organization in the state concerned with sustainable farming and local food systems. It is a network of farmers, consumers, educators, and activists working together to improve the sustainability of the existing agricultural system in Mississippi.