Local food is a major topic of discussion and debate here in Portland. Last June, the 2012 Multnomah Food Summit explored locally implemented solutions and experience to broaden our understanding of food justice. But can we eat locally? And what does that mean anyway?

To continue these ongoing discussions, Illahee and PNCA’s MFA in Collaborative Design program welcome Kimberlee Chambers and Katy Giombolini, local food experts, for a lecture called “Eating Local in the Willamette Valley: Critiques and Opportunities.” They discuss how we can make more informed local food choices, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities here in the Willamette Valley.

Kimberlee Chambers, PhD
Kimberlee has roots in multiple generations of farmers in rural Ontario, Canada. She has a PhD in geography from University of California, Davis where she studied traditional varieties of corn in Mexico, and a Masters in ethnobotany from the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Her research interests span a diversity of food and agricultural topics linked to conservation and sustainable community development.

Katy Giombolini
Katy grew up in New Mexico but left to attend Willamette University where she majored in Environmental Science with a focus on sustainable agriculture. There, she focused on issues of food justice, and helped start the student run farm. She currently is an AmericorpsVISTA working with Ten Rivers Food Web in the Southern Willamette Valley helping to increase access for low income families to fresh, local produce.