Food security and the future of farming are daily concerns in many North Carolina communities, and the symposium will capitalize on the local food movements gaining ground on all the Triangle campuses.

The symposium takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at UNC-Chapel Hill and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 29 at Duke University. Keynote addresses will be presented by award-winning food journalist and farmer Tom Philpott of Mother Jones magazine and by Will Allen, founder and executive director of Growing Power in Milwaukee. Events are free and open to the public, but space is limited, so participants are asked to register in advance at sharedtablessymp.wordpress.com/registration/. Registration has closed for the Feb. 28 keynote event and Feb. 29 lunch.

On Feb. 28 at Hyde Hall at UNC, symposium topics include:

Food, technology and politics internationally and in Europe;

Food security, sustainable food systems and global change;

Does it matter where my food comes from? and

Food or fuel? South America, Africa and the United States.

On Feb. 29 in the Von Cannon Room and Reynolds Industries Theater at the Bryan University Center at Duke, symposium topics include:

Voices of the Triangle food movement in our universities;

Farm Bill 2012;

Farming in North Carolina;

Food and humanities, culture and faith; and

Food access in our communities.

Each day of the symposium concludes with a keynote address. At 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in the UNC FedEx Global Education Center, Philpott will discuss factors that affect the world's ability to feed its population sustainably in the years to come. Philpott is the cofounder of Maverick Farms, a center for sustainable food education in Valle Crucis. Philpott has also served as columnist and editor for the online environmental site Grist and has covered food politics for Newsweek, Gastronomica and The Guardian. Food & Wine named Philpott one of 10 innovators who "will continue to shape the culinary consciousness of our country for the next 30 years."

At 7 p.m. Feb. 29 at the Reynolds Industries Theater in the Bryan University Center at Duke University, Allen will discuss the challenge of providing food security for urban and disadvantaged communities. Growing Power is an organization dedicated to cultivating, producing and delivering healthy foods to underserved, urban populations in Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and beyond. Named a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow in 2008, Allen has worked with First Lady Michelle Obama on her "Let's Move" campaign to fight childhood obesity. He also has worked abroad to strengthen food security for schoolchildren in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

For more information and a full schedule, visit sharedtablessymp.wordpress.com.