Must-attend Food Tech Events This Spring & Summer

The food tech space is booming, and there are lots of exciting conferences, summits and other kick-ass gatherings popping up all over the place. In fact, there are so many that it’s hard to stay on top of them. So we’ve decided to cull together a quarterly list of upcoming food tech events.

You’ll find our our top picks for Spring and Summer 2014 below. Let us know if there are any we missed in the comments below and we’ll add them to the list. And make sure to stay tuned for our next event roundup in the coming months.

1. FoodStartups Charity Event for the San Francisco Food Bank

April 24 – San Francisco, CA

FoodStartups has partnered with San Francisco and Marin Food Bank to help raise awareness and money for their cause. Festivities include a brief introduction to the Food Bank. Then wine, cheese, and networking. Ticket includes admission and one glass of wine and cheese. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to SF Food Bank to support their mission. This charity event will be a great opportunity to connect with other food and tech aficionados.

Learn more and buy tickets here.

2. Food Book Fair

April 25-27 – Brooklyn, NY

The Third Annual Food Book Fair brings together food enthusiasts, chefs, artists, writers, designers and publishers to celebrate the intersection between food culture and food systems. This year’s three-day fair spans a pop-up bookstore opening April 18 with more than 200 books, 20-plus food magazines, 60 visionaries, panel discussions, a film screening, pop-up brew pub AND pop-up farm, an entrepreneurial resource clinic, and the second annual Pitch Competition. Learn more and sign up here.

3. Sustainable Seafood Week NYC

 May 6 -11 – New York City, NY​

4. The Edible Institute

May 10 & 11 in New York, NY

Join Edible Communities Publications and a Who’s Who of well-known food movers and shakers at a 2-day celebration and discussion of where the localfood movement is, and where it’s going. Both days will consist of dynamic, moderated, Q&As in the morning and afternoon. To purchase tickets and for more information, click here.

5. Design Taco

May 12 – 18 in New York, NY 

For one week, The Design Gym will transform an unassuming LES storefront into a taco shop meets creative hub, hosting panels of radically diverse people and companies, private classes on design and innovation, and coaching for walk-in patrons looking to launch the next big project. Each ticket includes an intimate breakout with panelists, 2 tacos from Los Perros Locos, and a Brooklyn Brewery beer or glass of Uproot wine. Our own Danielle Gould will be a panelist on Designing Your Food Start-up.

Click here to learn more. Use the code “TDGFriends” for a 15% discount on any event.

6. Growing Green Awards

May 14 – Berkeley, CA

After five years of celebrating the nation’s most influential leaders in sustainable food and agriculture, the Growing Green Awards will once again reveal four inspiring winners at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, May 14th at the Berkeley City Club. This year, the Berkeley Food Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council have partnered to host the most exciting awards yet with author and advocate Anna Lappé as Master of Ceremonies.

Learn more and purchase tickets here.

7. National Day of Civic Hacking

 May 31 – June 1, 2014

The 2nd annual event will again bring together technologists, entrepreneurs, developers and other citizens like you to improve our communities and the governments that serve them.  Anyone can participate; you don’t have to be an expert in technology, but you do have to care about your neighborhood and community. The weekend provides opportunities to for citizens to engage using proven models provided by Code for America, [freespace], Transparency Camp and Innovation Endeavors.

Learn more and get involved here. 

8. Menus of Change

June 9-11 in Cambridge, MA

Co-presented by The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition, it is open to chefs, foodservice executives, research scientists, academics, policy makers, and environmental stewards. The program will build on the success of the inaugural 2013 summit, examining issues at the intersection of health, environmental, and social concerns. Learn more and register here.

9. Prosperity for All

June 11-13, Oakland, CA

10. The Northside Trade Show

June 12 & 13 in Brooklyn, NY

NYC’s startups, technologists, hackers, thinkers and creators have become the most exciting innovators in the world. The Northside Trade Show is the annual event that showcases the best of this community as it continues to grow and revolutionize society.Exhibit in front of hundreds of other companies and thousands of attendees including innovation leaders, national media, VC’s, top-flight talent and more.

As a member of the Food+TechConnect community, receive 10% off a booth by contacting Will Levitt at will[at]northsidemediagroup[dot]com.

11. Food IT: Soil to Fork

June 20th 8 AM – 5 PM, Stanford University – Arrillaga Alumni Center

Presented by The Mixing Bowl day-long conference will bring together start-ups, investors, established players from the IT and Food & Agriculture industries, as well as representatives from leading global food/ag innovation hubs to explore how IT is changing the production, transportation and sales, marketing and consumption of food. Initial registration for the event is closed to Mixing Bowl participants and partners, but if you are interested in getting on the waiting list when registration opens, contact mixingbowlsv[at]gmail[dot]com.

12. Our Own Hack//Dining NYC

June 27 – 29, venue TBD

Food+Tech Connect, in partnership with Applegate, Google and Chipotle, is bringing restaurant and foodservice rabble-rousers together with tech and design nerds to hack a better future for dining. Over the course of the weekend, chefs, engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, designers and data scientists will prototype open-source software and hardware solutions to industry-wide challenges.

Applications now open. Keep an eye on our newsletter and Facebook page for details, and follow @foodtechconnect and #hackdining on Twitter for updates.