In the food and farming world, advocates are always clamoring for change. While the state of the food industry might be deplorable, recent events show that there are some big changes on the horizon.

Last November, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom called together an Urban-Rural Round Table to come up with practical, doable plans for healthy food and sustainable farming in the greater SF region. I think everyone was floored by how knowledgeable Newsom was about the intricacies of food logistics, economics, politics, and environmentalism.

That same month, Virgina-based Wallace Center hosted the first National Good Food Network Convening in Chicago, bringing together businesses and nonprofits to share best practices in sustainable food supply chain “value chains”. No B.S., practical info on what’s working and how to replicate the models in your town.

Then, in December, Slow Money, the brainchild of Woody Tasch of Investor’s Circle, came to the Bay Area to figure out how to grow a new kind of fund to invest in long-term models to reform our dysfunctional food and farm industry.

In all of these gatherings, it’s clear that there’s no silver bullet.  The issues are complex and require some new thinking and new types of relationships.

Everyday audiences are getting wise to food supply issues (thank you Michael Pollan!). The convergence of economic concerns, worries over food safety, and green initiatives are all putting pressure on the food industry to mend its ways, and it’s finally seeping into the public consciousness.