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New York City is delighted to welcome The International Association of Culinary Professionals, who will gather on March 29-April 2, 2012 for their Annual Conference – this year entitled The Fashion of Food. Co-founded by Julia Child, the IACP connects creative and talented culinary professionals who inspire, celebrate, and shape the world table. IACP members include chefs, restaurateurs, wine professionals, teachers, writers, photographers, stylists, marketers, and many others. This year marks the first IACP conference in NYC in over 30 years! More information can be found at: www.iacp.com

On Wednesday March 13th, the IACP presents a live event and webcast about food and food policy at The Jerome L Greene Performance Space, 44 Charlton St., NYC. This pre-conference event will take place at 7 pm(doors open 6:30pm).

The evening will feature a panel of notable expertise, including introductory remarks by Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer; Kim Kessler, Food Policy Coordinator in NYC Mayors Office; Michael Anthony, Executive Chef, Gramercy Tavern and Marcel Van Ooyen, Executive Director of GrowNYC. Author Peter Kaminsky will moderate the distinguished panel. Discussion will explore critical food policy issues from school lunches to greenmarkets.

The event will be highlighted by local beer and wine from Brooklyn Brewery and Brooklyn Oenology, as well as mouthwatering food from Jimmy’s No. 43. Tickets are $10 for IACP members, $20 for non-members.

Panelist Bios:

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer

During his nearly three decades of public service, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer has achieved tangible results for New Yorkers by forging diverse coalitions and addressing the City’s most enduring urban challenges. He has dedicated himself to making Manhattan more affordable and livable, tackling issues such as housing, school overcrowding, public safety, balanced development, sustainability, and equal opportunities for underserved communities. Prior to being elected Borough President in 2006, Stringer, a native New Yorker, served for 13 years in the New York State Assembly. Representing Manhattan’s Upper West Side, he led the successful fight to end “empty-seat voting” in the State Assembly, and voted against every attempt to weaken rent regulations. In endorsing him for Borough President, the New York Times praised his “sterling reputation as a catalyst for reform. —

Kim Kessler is the Food Policy Coordinator for the City of New York,

a position established by Mayor Bloomberg in partnership with the City Council and Speaker Christine Quinn in 2007. In this capacity she coordinates the efforts of various City agencies to increase access to healthy food for low-income New Yorkers, promote food security, and improve the sustainability of the city’s food system. Prior to working at City Hall, Kessler practiced law and was an avid volunteer at a Brooklyn school garden program. Kessler received a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Brown University. She was born in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn.

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Marcel Van Ooyen is the Executive Director of GrowNYC and former Chief of Staff to City Council Member Gifford Miller and Legislative Director for the City Council. Mr. Van Ooyen took leadership of GrowNYC in 2006. Over the last 5 years at Marcel’s initiating, GrowNYC has vastly expanded its efforts with new initiatives including: Fresh Bodegas, Fresh Pantries, YUM, Youthmarket and the adoption of management of the Wholesale Greenmarket, as well as introduction of pilot distribution systems. GrowNYC’s EBT initiative is considered a National model, with $600,000 in EBT sales in 2011. By responding to a diverse community and ramping up efforts, affordable healthy fresh food is getting into the hands that need it most across the city. Marcel has also spearheaded the development of new programs in response to needs in our city, including Grow to Learn NYC: Citywide School Gardens Initiative, a public public-private partnership with the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC created to inspire, promote and facilitate the creation of sustainable school gardens in every New York City public school.

Marcel earned degrees in Social Ecology from the University of California Irvine and from the Seattle University School of Law specializing in Environmental Law. After graduating from law school, he worked for the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council in Washington State, where he conducted the environmental review of proposed power plants.

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Michael Anthony was selected to be the Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern in 2006. Prior to joining GT, he was the Executive Chef at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and earlier the co-executive chef of Blue Hill in Manhattan where he was recognized for his delicious, simple and straightforward cuisine with a vigorous commitment to using local, seasonal ingredients. Before Blue Hill, he served as chef de cuisine at March. In 1991, Mike went to culinary school in France, and then worked at some of the worlds most celebrated kitchens, including Jacques Cagna, Michel Guerard, l’Arpege, l’Astrance and Daniel. He lived in Toyoko working under the guidance of ShizuyoShima at Bistro Shima. Mike grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated form Indiana University with degrees in Japanese, Business and French.

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Peter Kaminsky is the former Underground Gourmet for New York magazine, and his Outdoors column ran for twenty years in The New York Times. He is a longtime contributor to Food & Wine. He is the author of Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine, and The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass. He has collaborated on numerous cookbooks with Sheila Lukins, Daniel Boulud, Gray Kunz, Francis Mallmann, Michel Richard, and others. He is the former Managing Editor of National Lampoon and creator and executive producer of The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (presented at The White House). His forthcoming book is Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (And Really Well).

Watch Live Video Web Cast Here