Upcoming events at the Swette Center

Past event videos

ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit 2025
Mainstage Session 2 of 4
Tuesday, June 24, 2025

We can’t address food waste without understanding the broader food system and the world in which that system operates. This session takes a step back to help frame up the context in which we accomplish our work—the policies, trends, technologies, and environmental issues that shape the system that produces (and wastes) our food.

Speakers
Joel Gamoran | Homemade
Erin Boyd Kappelhof | Eat Well Global
Shara Orem | Datassential
Julia Collins | Planet FWD
Ned Spang | Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, UC Davis
Dana Gunders | ReFED
Kathleen Merrigan | Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems

YouTube Video UExPN1J5b0ZFbjZuNEszTjRNYUN4RjNoczVyaS1xWk1TdS41QTY1Q0UxMTVCODczNThE

Setting the Table: The Realities Shaping Our Work – Mainstage Session 2

In April 2025, the Swette Center hosted an informative career panel discussion with four esteemed food systems professionals:
• Joseph Brinkley – Senior Director of Regenerative Development, Bonterra Organic Estates
• Lucy Flores – Design Strategist & Founder, Studio Magic Hour
• Ashley Grabb – Director of Agriculture and Food Systems Support Division, Arizona Department of Agriculture
• Rachael Stewart – Arizona Rancher & Southwest Regional Director, Farm to Power

These panelists shared insights about their career journeys, their current roles, and practical advice for achieving professional goals. The event concluded with an open Q&A.

YouTube Video UExPN1J5b0ZFbjZuNEszTjRNYUN4RjNoczVyaS1xWk1TdS41Mzk2QTAxMTkzNDk4MDhF

Food Systems Career Panel, Spring 2025

2024 SAR Humanities Festival; Food for Thought

Presentation
"Creating the Future of Food: From the Nation’s Capital to the Local Farmers Market"
Kathleen Merrigan

Kathleen Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture policy. As deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (2009–13), she created and led the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative to support local food systems; was a key architect of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign; and made history as the first woman to chair the Ministerial Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Currently, she is executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University.

Discussion
Local Focus: Agroecosystems of New Mexico
Kathleen Merrigan, moderator

Join a community discussion with Manny Encinias, co-owner of Buffalo Creek Ranch in Moriarty, NM, and executive director of Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute; Elan Silverblatt-Buser, co-founder of Silver Leaf Farms in Corrales, NM; and Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo), founder of Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute at Santa Clara Pueblo.

SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH
Established in 1907, the School for Advanced Research (SAR) advances creative thought and innovative work in the social sciences, humanities, and Native American arts. SAR is home to the Indian Arts Research Center (IARC), a leader in community-advised and collaborative Indigenous arts engagement and collections management. Through scholar residency, seminar, and artist fellowship programs, SAR Press publications, and a range of public programs, SAR facilitates intellectual inquiry and human understanding. SAR’s historic sixteen-acre campus sits on the ancestral lands of the Tewa people in O’gah’poh geh Owingeh or Santa Fe, New Mexico. SAR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational institution.

sarweb.org

YouTube Video UExPN1J5b0ZFbjZuNEszTjRNYUN4RjNoczVyaS1xWk1TdS5EQUE1NTFDRjcwMDg0NEMz

"Creating the Future of Food" and Community Panel Discussion with Kathleen Merrigan