8:10 AM
Welcome & Introduction

Speakers

Susan Weinstock
President & CEO
Consumer Federation of America

Thomas Gremillion
Director of Food Policy
Consumer Federation of America

8:30 AM

Keynote Address

Dr. Robert M. Califf
25th Commissioner of Food and Drugs
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
@DrCaliff_FDA 

8:30 AM

Keynote Address

Dr. Susan T. Mayne 
Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
@DrMayneFDAFood

9:15 AM

Consumer Trends in the Face of Food Inflation

The food system is experiencing significant disruptions, from shortages in basic commodities to soaring transportation and labor costs. How are consumers responding to higher prices and other shifts in the food retail landscape, and how are companies positioning themselves to capitalize on these changes? How should policymakers concerned about nutrition security, sustainability, and rising rates of diet-related disease respond?

10:15 AM

Ultra-Processed Foods: Scoundrel or Scapegoat?

Studies suggest that diets high in “ultra-processed foods” may cause obesity and other health problems, and federal officials recently announced that the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans will specifically consider research on the role of ultra-processed foods in diet-related disease. What exactly are ultra-processed foods, and what does the latest science say about their impact on public health? How is this research influencing consumers? How should public policymakers respond?

11:30 AM

Regionalizing the Food System

Should the food system be less efficient, and more redundant? Advocates claim a more distributed and local food system could help to avoid future supply chain disruptions, foster competition in the food industry, and build prosperity in rural communities. Will more small meatpacking plants, regional “food hubs,” farm-to-school programs, and other “regionalist” strategies make the U.S. food system more resilient and environmentally sustainable? Can local and regional food systems survive, and thrive, in a global economy?

1:00 PM
Keynote Address - Senator Debbie Stabenow

Speaker

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
United States Senate
@SenStabenow

1:30 PM
Keynote Address: From the Food Police to the National Food Museum

Speaker

Michael F. Jacobson, PhD
Founder, National Food Museum
nationalfoodmuseum.org
Co-founder, Center for Science in the Public Interest

2:00 PM

Food and Racism: The Fight for Food Justice

Both the production and consumption of food in the United States are characterized by troubling racial disparities. Historically discriminatory practices at USDA have operated to dispossess Black farmers of their land, and labor laws exempt large numbers of predominantly Latino farmworkers from receiving overtime pay and many other benefits. Black and Latino youth are more likely to be targeted by junk food marketing, and Black and Latino households are more than twice as likely to experience food insecurity. How are policymakers addressing systemic racism in the food system? What does it mean to support a racially just food system? How should considerations of race inform food policy?

3:15 PM

Keynote Address

Speaker

Sara Bleich, PhD
Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity 
USDA Food and Nutrition Service
@USDANutrition

4:00 PM
New Frontiers of Food Assistance Programs

Tens of millions of Americans depend on federal nutrition assistance programs, many of them children. For over a decade, pilot programs have experimented with giving recipients incentives to purchase more fruits and vegetables, and research indicates that these incentives succeed in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. Yet healthy incentives remain fledgling. As programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) continue to evolve, what role will healthy incentive programs take? What are the potential benefits, and limitations, of using healthy incentive programs to address the obesity epidemic?