Contact: Carl Rainey 608-224-5139
MADISON — The annual Wisconsin Local Food Summit and Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference will be held jointly at the Ramada Convention Center in Eau Claire Jan. 21-22. This year a new feature, the Value Added Agriculture College, has been added on the day before the summit and conference.
The three events offer educational sessions and networking opportunities for farmers and professionals who work with farmers. They are geared to farmers, farm suppliers and distributors; agricultural educators, service providers and agencies; farmers’ market managers and vendors; local food buyers and advocates; and others with an interest in sustainable agriculture
Keynote speakers for the event will be urban farmer and MacArthur Fellow Will Allen, whose topic will be “Growing Food and Community in the City;” writer Michael Perry, author of Population 485 and Truck: A Love Story, with a talk titled “Never Stand Behind a Sneezing Cow;” and dietician, nutritionist and journalist Melinda Hemmelgarn, addressing “Feast or Famine, a Fork in the Road.”
The summit and conference offer a wide-ranging choice of breakout sessions and round table discussions related to marketing, production, business management, bio-energy, building regional food economies, and local food projects. There will also be a trade show. Participants can register for one day or both days, with varying fees for adults, families, and students. A block of rooms will be held at the hotel until Dec. 31 for $70 per night.
This year, for the first time, the conference and summit will be preceded by the Value Added Agriculture College, consisting of half- and full-day workshops. The topics include Post Harvest Handling for Vegetable Production Quality and Success; Making Decisions About Local Food Sales Opportunities Using the Holistic Management Framework™; Practical Agroforestry and Permaculture: Creating your Disaster Proof, Perennial Farm; Shaking the Federal Money Tree; Food Safety on the Market Farm; Wisconsin Acidified Canned Foods Training for Small Food Processors; and QuickBooks 101.
To see a complete schedule and register, go to http://www.rivercountryrcd.org/valad.html. For further questions, contact conference coordinator Lindsay Raab, 715-579-5229, rivercountry@rivercountryrcd.org, or Jane Hansen, 715/339-2555, jane.hansen@ces.uwex.edu.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is a sponsor of the event, which is organized by the Wisconsin Local Food Network, Hiawatha Valley Resource Conservation and Development, and River Country Resource Conservation and Development.
