Christina Badaracco and Jeanne Merrill on The Farm Bill

This month marks a milestone for the global food movement. Nearly twenty years after the first Terra Madre gathering in Turin, Italy—a visionary meeting launched by Slow Food International to connect farmers, chefs, Indigenous communities, scientists, and activists around the future of food—the very first Terra Madre Americas arrives in Sacramento (Sept. 26–28). For three days, food system leaders from across the continent will gather to share strategies, stories, and solutions for a more just and sustainable food future.

The day after that historic convening, the conversation comes home to Clio’s. On Monday, September 29th, join us for an intimate dialogue with Christina Badaracco, health care consultant and author of The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide, and Jeanne Merrill, Executive Director of the Berkeley Food Institute and a leading voice on federal food and farm policy.

Every five to seven years, renegotiations take place on the U.S. farm bill—a sprawling piece of legislation that shapes nearly every aspect of our food system: what crops are grown, who grows them and how, and which foods end up on our tables. This year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made sweeping changes, boosting subsidies for large agribusiness while cutting funding to programs that sustain local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition assistance.

With the next bill looming, the stakes couldn’t be higher. How do we reconcile the politics of power with the urgent need for a more just, healthy, and resilient food system? What role can each of us play as eaters, voters, and community members?

Christina and Jeanne will unpack the farm bill’s tangled history, illuminate its far-reaching effects, and offer practical ways to influence the policies that shape what’s on our plates. Together, they will break down the politics behind the policy: what’s working, what isn’t, and whether we’ll ever see a “normal” farm bill again. Expect an evening of lively discussion, deep learning, and collective imagining, with resources to take home and actions to take forward.

Author Christina Badaracco, MPH, RDN, LDN, seeks to advance the role of nutrition in healthcare and better integrate our healthcare and food systems. She applies her expertise in healthcare and public health research, policy, and practice to support leading institutions and organizations across the world in improving care delivery and health outcomes. She also regularly writes, teaches, and develops training programs about nutrition, culinary medicine, and sustainable agriculture—including designing and directing award-winning and innovative culinary medicine trainings and programs for various healthcare institutions and professional associations. She is the coauthor of The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide (available for purchase with your ticket) and Mix It Up: The Culinary Medicine Cookbook for Mixing Things up in the Kitchen. Christina previously worked for Avalere, a healthcare advisory firm, as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, Oakland Unified School District, and NIH Clinical Center. Christina holds various leadership roles within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Slow Food, and she is actively engaged in her local food and healthcare systems in Washington, DC.

Jeanne Merrill is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Food Institute. She has more than twent-five years of experience in food systems advocacy, policy analysis and development, and nonprofit leadership. She is a co-founder and former Policy Director with the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN). She has held several state and federal appointments, most recently to the U.S. EPA’s Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Advisory Committee. Over the past twenty years, Jeanne has developed and led Farm Bill campaigns to support farmer resources to address the climate crisis, improved local and regional food systems development, and reforms of existing farm bill conservation programs. At BFI, she supports cutting-edge research-to-policy work and trains the next generation of food systems leaders shaping state and federal food transformations. Ms. Merrill holds a B.A. in political science from U.C. San Diego and an M.Sc. in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She began her career in community organizing, where she partnered with communities in California impacted by pesticides to win local and state protections. Her greatest passion lies in empowering people with the tools needed to affect democratic change to achieve resilient and equitable food and farm systems.

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