AFHVS activities include an annual three-day professional meeting where members and others share recent research and scholarship on crucial social, ethical and technological issues. Co-sponsored since 1992 with the Association for the Study of Food and Society, AFHVS annual meetings are a site for constructive, in-depth discussion of current agricultural and food systems issues in their broadest social, cultural, economic, ethical and aesthetic context.

AFHVS annual meetings include paper presentations, panel discussions and other activities organized around a provocative agricultural or food-related theme. Meeting sessions allow presenters and panelists ample time for in-depth presentation and discussion of their work. Sessions also include time for constructive criticism and reflection on the practical implications and applications of the session topic. Keynote speakers offer innovative and challenging approaches to research or policy on some aspect of the conference theme.

Recent annual meeting themes include:

•Visualizing Food and Farm

• Varieties of Sustainability: Ethics, Environment and Economic Consequences

• Cuisine, Agriculture and Social Change

• Environment, Culture and Food Equity

AFHVS annual meetings are typically held in early June. Responsibility for organizing the meetings alternates between AFHVS and the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS). Each meeting program includes visits to nearby farms, parks, museums, and other sites of natural and cultural interest. Pre-conference programs, post-session breaks, and ample free time are included to give participants plenty of opportunities to socialize with friends, family and colleagues. Meeting sites have included University of Arkansas, Little Rock; Asilomar (CA); Michigan State University; Penn State University; Tucson; Tuskegee (AL), and St. Louis University. Since 1997, meetings have occurred as follows: