Food News Media, publisher of QSR and FSR magazines, is excited to announce that it will be presenting at the world-renowned SXSW Conference hosted in Austin, Texas, in March.

Food News Media editorial director Sam Oches will moderate a SXSW panel entitled “Solving the Food Desert Dilemma,” which will address how food entrepreneurs can work to provide low-income neighborhoods with more wholesome, nutritious, affordable foods.

“SXSW is the place to be for entrepreneurs, leaders, and big thinkers who want to drive positive change in their industries,” Oches says. “We’re thrilled to be a part of it, as we’re eager to demonstrate how the restaurant industry and other food innovators are moving the needle on some of the nation’s more urgent food-related issues.”

Three leading voices in the food-desert fight are joining Oches on the panel: Olympia Auset, founder of SUPRMARKT, a pop-up organic grocery store and subscription service based in Los Angeles; Asha Loring, founder and director of Health in the Hood, a Miami-based nonprofit that builds vegetable gardens in underserved neighborhoods; and Sam Polk, cofounder and CEO of Everytable, a quick-service concept that dishes healthy foods and bases its prices on the neighborhoods it serves.

SXSW was founded in 1987 as a media and entertainment conference. It has grown to become one of the nation’s leading annual conversations on all things innovation and progress, with major film and music festivals and educational programming related to dozens of industries.

“Solving the Food Desert Dilemma” is part of the conference’s food track, which is slated for March 11–13. Other food speakers include Christina Tosi, chef founder of Milk Bar; Dominique Crenn, the San Francisco chef who was recently awarded a third Michelin star; and Mark Bittman, cookbook author and former New York Times columnist.