TEDxManhattan "Changing the Way We Eat" will take place from approximately 10:30am - 5:00pm on Feb. 16, 2013, in New York City. Speakers with various backgrounds in food and farming will share their insights and expertise on sustainable food movement issues, impacts, and innovations.

The first round of speakers to be confirmed for the event are: Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City, Annemarie is also on the board of the non-profit organization FIONS (Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences); Health Corps, the organization founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz; of What Doctors Don't Tell You; and the Source of Synergy Foundation.

Ann Cooper - A chef for over 30 years, Ann has been honored by SLOW Food USA, selected as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, and awarded an honorary doctorate from SUNY Cobleskill for her work on sustainable agriculture. In 2009, Ann founded Food Family Farming Foundation (F3) as a nonprofit focusing on solutions to the school food crisis.

Tanya Fields - Inspired by her experiences as a single working mother living in a marginalized community, Tanya founded the BLK ProjeK, which approaches economic development holistically by empowering under-served women of color through political education, community engagement in support of the beautification of community spaces and urban farming, and women-centered preventive health programming.

Gary Hirshberg - Chairman of Stonyfield Farm and Managing Director of Stonyfield Europe, Gary serves on several corporate and non-profit boards including Applegate Farms, Honest Tea, Peak Organic Brewing, Late July, The Full Yield, SweetGreen, RAMp Sports, Glenisk, the Danone Communities Fund and the Danone Livelihoods Fund. He has received nine honorary doctorates and numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership including a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award by the US EPA.

Anna Lappe - National bestselling author and a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, Anna's most recent book is Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. She is currently the director of the Real Food Media Project, a new series of myth-busting videos about the real story of our food.

Peter Lehner - Executive Director of NRDC and NRDC Action Fund, which works to protect people's health and families, communities, jobs, and wild spaces by accelerating clean and efficient energy, transportation and protecting our oceans, waters and homes from pollution, Peter has also served as chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's office.

Simran Sethi - Named one of the top ten "eco-heroes" of the planet by the UK's Independent and lauded as the "environmental messenger" by Vanity Fair, Simran Sethi is an award-winning journalist, strategist and educator. Simran is the contributing author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, winner of the bronze 2008 Axiom Award for Best Business Ethics Book.

Karen Washington – A lifelong New York City resident, Karen is a member of the La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, which launched a City Farms Market. She is a board member and former president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition and co-founder of Black Urban Growers (BUGS).

Bill Yosses – A chef, Bill helped develop "The Dinner Party Project" in New York City as a part of Spoons Across America's programming in which chefs teach kids about healthy food choices and how to prepare a dinner party for their parents. As Pastry Chef of the White House, he has been closely involved with Mrs. Obama's Let's Move initiative with the goal of reducing childhood health problems related to diet.

The 2012 event was attended by 370 food and farming experts with over 3,000 people at 59 registered viewing parties and almost 9,000 computers tuned into the live broadcast. The 2013 event is slated to be even bigger.

TEDxManhattan "Changing the Way We Eat" is sponsored by TEDster and Glynwood Institute co-founder Diane Hatz. The lead sponsor is The Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming. TEDx is licensed through TED but is an independently organized event. Visit tedxmanhattan.org for more information.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.