Chapter Leader Handbook

CHAPTER FORMATION

Chapters can be formed by anyone wishing to start a chapter. In order to qualify as an official chapter, you must have at least 13 paid (BFA) members, held at least one meeting in which minutes were kept and an interim chapter president was voted in.

At least one member of the chapter must have attended chapter leader training prior to being accepted as an official chapter of the BFA.

Acceptance as an official chapter is not guaranteed, can be rejected for any reason, and is at the sole discretion of the BFA national organization. Upon acceptance, your chapter will be listed in the directory of official BFA chapters as long as it is kept in good standing.

Prior to formation of an official chapter, individuals are welcome and encouraged to form informal "chapters" of the BFA, but can't call themselves chapters (we suggest calling yourself a Bionutrient Food Discussion Group or similar). These could take the form of Meetup groups, groups of people working on a specific bionutrient food-related project (lecture series, research, farmer visits, etc), or even just a few people meeting to have coffee and discuss where high-quality food can be found in the area. The BFA will make a page available on the website to request to have your informal "chapter" listed if you are interested in advertising for additional members.

Recommended Steps for Chapter Formation

• Identify people or parties with an immediate interest (people you have immediate access to who might be interested).
• Create:
  1. meet up group
  2. community calendar
  3. greenmap (greenmaps.org)
  4. a blog or hosting page within the BFA.org website and embed 1,2 and 3 + the newsletter
• Together identify a list of stake holders in the community who will resonate with the message/info - i.e. farmers, health and wellness, environmental orgs, food groups, community groups, garden groups, community leaders, businesses (restaurants especially).
• Identify and cooperatively delegate between the group these tasks and brain storm all possibilities and ideas for the chapters role for that specific community.
• Identify anyone utilizing these methods currently to come and speak or host a visit.
• Contact stakeholder groups to announce the chapters unique goals and visions for that area and include an invitation to attend the first workshop that educates around "increasing nutrition in the food supply" - i.e. speakers, book clubs, etc.
• Make this same announcement in the local news paper.
• Initial group can decide how they would like to kick things off relevant to their region...any local hot topics would be a good place to start if it aligns.
• Create a series of events around this theme: movie nights, book clubs, on-site visits, etc.
• Identify public spaces and/or restaurants who are interested in hosting your meetings and reach out.
• Meeting places: it can be advantageous for the group to meet in public places by syncing with a local restaurant that might have space on a slow night... Be creative... This is also another way to connect directly, and advertise your meetups, with the general public in real time, and also is a good way to connect with business owners who are interested in supporting the mission.
• Meet ups could rotate locations between those businesses interested in hosting.