And then it was over…

What a phenomenal conference! Thank you to the organizers at Dominican University: Jill White, Elisa Fischer, Joan DeAvilla, Yuka Asada and many many others who provided food, directions, and music. The people at this conference moved me.

To close our time together, I shared words inspired by Angela Odoms-Young’s provocative keynote, The Mis-Education of the Dietitian: “When we lift up the most uncritical of those among us, we are all lifted!”

I encourage everyone to carry the spirit of this conference by staying connected with those you met here and by connecting those who were not with us to Critical Dietetics on social media: Twitter, Facebook, this blog, and Website (where you can register for free to become a “reader” of the Journal of Critical Dietetics). Let us grow and strengthen our community as we build momentum to our next gathering in Chester, UK hosted by Lucy Aphramor. Expect a call for abstracts before the end of 2014.

A wonderful surprise from our time at the conference was the jewellery sale facilitated by Kasia Tupta with assistance from Sanja Petrovic, Michelle Kwan, and Sarah Lynch. Sales of the magnificent jewellery (all made by dietetic students, interns, and practitioners) reached $350! Kasia wishes to earmark this money to assist a student or intern in attending next year’s conference. Thank you for your generosity!

And, finally, I would like to honour all those who took a Sustainer Pledge to provide financial resources in support of the Critical Dietetics movement:

• Deanna Rondero
• Briana Reamer
• Catherine Gillespie
• Michelle Kwan
• Sanja Petrovic
• Debbie MacLellan
• Lucy Aphramor
• LInda McDonald
• Jacqui Gingras
• Ella Trepanyko
• Lily O’Hara

You are now members of this movement and we are very humbled by your support. Thank you! If you wish to take a Sustainer Pledge and become a member of the Critical Dietetics movement, we are going to set up an online process for you to do that in the coming weeks. If you wish to become a member, but can’t afford it at the moment, please email me. There are people who want to sponsor you! And, yes, it *is* very generous of them.

I look forward to being in touch with you in the weeks and months ahead.

Warmly,

Jacqui