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More information about the upcoming Farm to Table Conference and Buy Fresh Buy Local Networking Mixer
Virginia Cooperative Extension and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, in cooperation with community partners, will be hosting the 2012 Virginia Farm to Table Conference and Buy Fresh Buy Local Networking Mixer on Dec. 5 and 6 at Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center, One College Lane, Weyers Cave, Virginia.
Individuals interested in boosting the local and regional economies, working to grow and develop community enterprises and startup businesses, and supporting local agriculture and conservation of natural resources are encouraged to attend.
Keynote speaker: Michael Shuman of Cutting Edge Capital & author of Local Dollars, Local Sense will speak about “Building Communities with Local Dollars” Other nationally known experts who will participate include:
Fred Kirschenmann: Longtime national and international leader in sustainable agriculture.
Francis Thicke: Francis and his wife, Susan, own and operate an 80-cow, grass-based, organic dairy near Fairfield, Iowa. They have a processing plant on their farm where they process all the milk from their cows.
Brent Beidler: Organic dairy farmer from Vermont who began growing small grains in 2004.
Ray Archuleta: Conservation Agronomist at the NRCS East National Technology Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Marten Jenkins: Founder and president of The Natural Capital Investment Fund
Leslie Schaller: Director of Programming for the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks
Elizabeth Ü: Founder & Executive Director of Finance for Food, is passionate about connecting sustainable food- and ag-based businesses with capital.
Food is being provided by A Bowl of Good – a popular restaurant in Harrisonburg that sources much of its food locally: http://abowlofgood.com/. There will also be MUSIC during the ice cream social and networking event on Wednesday evening. Linda Lay and Springfield Exit – a popular bluegrass band – will be playing music during the networking time. Hear them at their recent Kennedy Center performance here – http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M4800. Ice cream and milk will be provided by the awesome Moo Thru, Homestead Creamery, Shenandoah Pride, Mountain View Farm Products, and Others!
The 2012 Virginia Farm-to-Table conference will offer concurrent sessions on specific topics and concrete ways for sourcing food locally and strengthening the regional food economy. The conference will showcase innovative approaches in sustainable farming, conservation, soil health, community-based investing, natural resource capital investment, models of collaboration and cooperation, along with discussion about how to move the Virginia Farm to Table Plan and initiatives forward.
For more details, please contact Eric Bendfeldt of Virginia Cooperative Extension at 540.432.6029 Ext. 106 or visit http://conference.virginiafarmtotable.org
Upcoming Event: 2012 Virginia Farm-to-Table Conference and Buy Fresh Buy Local Mixer
2012 Virginia Farm-to-Table Conference and Buy Fresh Buy Local Mixer
Wednesday, December 5, and Thursday, December 6, 2012
Blue Ridge Community College
Plecker Workforce Center in Weyers Cave, VA.
The theme of the two-day conference is ‘Food and Farming at a Profitable and Sustainable Scale.’ A specific focus of the conference will be to encourage collaboration, conservation and community. Day 1 will focus on food and farming in the 21st century and the second day will focus on community supported investment, capital needs of emerging and beginning farmers and entrepreneurs, cooperatives, community food enterprises, and scale.
On Wednesday evening, a Buy Fresh Buy Local Networking Mixer to encourage business conversation among Virginia producers and buyers. As part of the evening, Michael Shuman will speak about his recent book, ‘Local Dollars, Local Sense.’ His presentation will be preceded by music from a local band.
The conference is being hosted by Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia State University, Virginia Tech, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Virginia Food System Council with support from community organizations, state agencies and area businesses.
For more information about the 2012 Virginia Farm to Table Conference, you can contact Eric Bendfeldt of Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Northern District Office at (540) 432-6029 Ext. 106 or Kathy Holm of USDA-NRCS (540) 434-1404 Ext. 114.
For information about the Buy Fresh Buy Local Networking Mixer – connecting food service providers with farmers—and how you can be involved, please contact Francie Kennedy at 540-432-6029 Ext. 107.
More conference and registration information is available at www.conference.virginiafarmtotable.org
http://conference.virginiafarmtotable.org/register/
Flier with agenda and registration form: http://conference.virginiafarmtotable.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Paper-Registration-Virginia-Farm-to-Table-Conference.pdf
Farm Credit & Country Mortgages 