Fourth annual Nevada County Food & Farm Conference is January 18-19

By Nevada County Sustainable Food and Farm Conference

This year’s Food & Farm Conference is the fourth annual and is being held on January 18-19 at the Grass Valley Veterans Hall and next door at the Grass Valley Charter School.

Each year, the Food & Farm Conference brings together a diverse panel of speakers, farming related-businesses and organizations, and local and regional experts for a weekend full of informative lectures, a food and farming exposition, plus numerous workshops for all levels of farming, gardening and ranching.

The event is designed to educate and inspire local farmers and gardeners, while also increasing awareness of the local and sustainable food movement in our area. Every year, about 500 people attend the conference to learn more about the food movement in Nevada and Placer counties.

This two-day event is a marathon of education, networking, entertainment and collaboration. Bring your notebooks, laptops and questions and be prepared to gather information and inspiration. There will be food, snack and drink vendors on site both days.

The conference starts on Saturday morning, January 18, at the Charter School, with a special four-hour workshop. Elaine Ingham is an internationally recognized expert on the “Soil Food Web,” soil microbes, compost teas and the importance of a thriving microbial ecosystem in soil.

The event then moves over to the Vets Hall for the Food & Farm exhibition and keynotes.

Keynote Speakers:

Wes Jackson: founder of the Land Institute and member of World Future Council

Dr. Jackson will discuss his work with the Land Institute, perennial polyculture and how we can change our agriculture systems to become more sustainable and efficient. He will provide a broad perspective on how different approaches to science and agriculture can influence our impact on the environment and the sustainability of our food system. His presentation will interest farmers, gardeners, ecologists and foodies.

Elaine Ingham, founder of Soil Foodweb Inc. and chief scientist at the Rodale Institute

Dr. Ingham will discuss the importance and role of microbes in our farm and pasture soils, how to increase their populations and other soil fertility subjects. Her presentation will interest individuals working with soil at any level.

Amigo Bob Cantisano, president of Organic Ag Advisors & Nevada County farmer

Amigo will discuss the past, present and future of the modern organic movement with a special focus on Nevada County and the surrounding Northern California area. He will discuss the origins of the sustainable food movement, how it grew and where we should be taking it now.

His presentation will interest any Nevada or Placer county resident, those interested in the evolution of sustainable and organic food production, as well as foodies and activists.

Owen Hablutzel, Holistic Managment Educator and Permaculture Researcher

Owen will discuss methodologies for managing pastures and grass lands with a holistic approach by combining the ideas popularized by Alan Savory, the permaculture movement and similar disciplines. Learn how to get the most production and resilience from your pastures and grass lands.

His presentation will interest pasture and grassland managers, anyone with acreage and those interested in how different management techniques can encourage sustainability.

Between keynote presentations, attendees can visit the booths of the event sponsors and vendors and learn how our local businesses, non-profits, government agencies and area farms.

Attendees can also mingle and discuss their ideas and opinions about the speaker presentations as well as their local food efforts. The Saturday half of the event wraps up around 6 p.m.

On Sunday, January 19, the workshop day starts at 9 a.m. at the Charter School. Throughout the day, workshops will be presented on a wide variety of food and farm related topics.

Each workshop will be 45 minutes to an hour long, with a question and answer session. This format allows attendees to pick the workshops they want to attend.

Workshops:

• Livestock enterprises for the Sierra Foothills: Roger Ingram of UCCE
• Amazing similarities of “healthy human gut” and soil microbes: Dr. Dale Jacobson
• Healing with fermented foods: Shan Kendall
• Matching farmers and landowners: Renee Wade and Sierra Harvest land partners
• Waterharvesting: Cathe Fish
• Food literacy in schools: Amber Stott
• Profitable organic farming: Rich Johansen
• Networking farming communities: Evan Wiig of Young Farmers Guild
• Seed saving: Rohen White of Sierra Seed Cooperative
• Training livestock herding dogs: Tom Wade
• Holistic ranch management: Owen Hablutzel
• Beekeeping
• Growing mushrooms for market
• Growing cut flowers
• The importance of bioregional seed systems
• More than 30 workshops will be presented this year. See the list of workshops online.

This workshop series is the largest concentration of local food production knowledge in our area.

Event Agenda Overview:

Saturday January 18:

8 a.m. – Noon
Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web workshop

10:30 a.m.
Exposition Hall opens

1-6 p.m.
Keynotes of sustainability lectures

Sunday January 19:

9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Workshops

Ticket Choices:

Tickets will be available for several segments of the event or as an all-conference pass:

All Conference Pass – $100:

Includes everything: the keynote lectures, the expo, Elaine Ingham’s workshop on Saturday morning and the Sunday workshops.

Keynote and Soil Food Web workshop – $90:

Includes the keynote lectures, the expo and Elaine Ingham’s workshop on Saturday. NO Sunday workshops included.

Keynote and Sunday workshops combo – $55:

Includes the keynote lectures, the expo and any of the Sunday workshops.

Keynote and expo only – $40:

Includes the keynote lectures and the expo ONLY. No workshops.

Sunday workshops – $30:

Includes Sunday workshops ONLY.

Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web workshop ONLY – $60:

No Lectures or Sunday workshops.

Discounted tickets available for farmers and students. Visit the website for more information.

Whether you are a farmer, rancher, gardener, homesteader, environmentalist, foodie or just curious about what is happening with local sustainable food in our area, there is something for everyone at this event.

For all the details and to purchase tickets, visit www.FoodAndFarmConference.com.

(Speakers together; left to right; Wes Jackson, Elaine Ingham, Amigo Bob Cantisano, Owen Hablutzel)