Agriculture Conference 2018 will take place from the 7th to 10th of February at the Goetheanum in Dornach.

The biodynamic preparations bring vitality to the earth, its fruits, the farms and their communities. They inspire our actions and bring concrete benefits to nature as a whole. They also present us with big questions. At the conference insights will be shared from all over the world and in order to inspire and encourage, there will be an intensive exchange of experiences. Those invited include farmers, gardeners, wine growers, orchardists, herb growers, advisors, researchers, students and apprentices, food processors, traders, cooks, nature educators and also consumers and friends of the biodynamic impulse. The plenary sessions will explore the preparations in all their breadth and depth, in the parallel themed sessions specialists will be able to share experiences and deepen their work while in the workshops intensive personal dialogue will be encouraged. To complete the programme there will be music, artistic courses, guided tours of the Goetheanum and an exhibition. 

The conference includes: Themed sessions on biodynamic preparations for viticulture, food, tropical agriculture, preparations in daily life, soil fertility, medicinal plants and herbs, plus 23 workshops, 14 artistic courses and 15 guided tours. All are welcome.

Click HERE for the Programme and HERE to register.

save the date: april 2018 in aloha valley new zealand

Register your interest HERE 

severine in ireland

For our friends in Ireland (or those that plan to be there this spring) Greenhorns founder and executive director Severine von Tscharner Fleming will be presenting at Litfest : the Food and Drink Literacy Festival, in Ballymaloe. Ballymaloe, it’s a pleasure just to say the name of the place, so we can only imagine how magical it is in real life.

Severine will be talking about the farmer’s life along with Alice Holden at this years Festival in May, which will bring together authors, chefs, foragers, farmers, educators, gardeners, and bloggers to share ideas on food.

You can find out more Litefest HERE.

 

be a delegate at slow food nations

Delegate Registration for Slow Food Nations is now open. Before the Slow Food Festival opens to the general public on July 15 in Denver, CO, 400 delegates from around the world will meet for a summit of delegates on July 14. Delegates meet with each other, connect, discuss the needs in their countries, and “shape the future of Slow Food.” Delegate tickets are $200 for Slow Food members and $25o for others, but scholarships might be available based on need.

Conference leaders write, “We are currently seeking funds for scholarships to assist limited resource individuals to attend as delegates who represent youth, First Nations, advocates of color, and the Ark of Taste. For more information, please email sfninfo@slowfoodusa.org.”

ballymoe litfest, ireland, may 19-21

Friends in the UK! LitFest – A Food and Drinks Literacy Festival is taking place this year on the weekend of 19-21st May 2017 in Ballymoe, Ireland.

The full program of events is now published so check it out and book the events that you’re interested in here…

Litfest is the only festival of its kind in Ireland and has created an important hub for food and drinks enthusiasts worldwide to meet and share ideas with each other.

Check out the list of fantastic participants who will be taking part at Litfest17. And buy tickets here!

evolution of organic premiers at ecofarm conference, jan. 27

Still from the film feature Severine and Elizabeth and Paul Kaiser of Singing Frogs farm, who are leaders in no-till farming and recently the key-note speakers at the NOFA MA Winter Conference.

This year at the EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove California, participants will get a chance to see a sneak preview of the documentary The Origins of Organic!

Evolution of Organic, according to its filmmakers, “brings us the story of organic agriculture, told by those who built the movement. A motley crew of back-to-the-landers, spiritual seekers and farmers’ sons and daughters rejected chemical industrial farming and set out to explore organic alternatives. It’s a heartfelt journey of change – from a small band of rebels to a cultural transformation in the way we grow and eat food. By now organic has gone mainstream – split into an industry oriented toward bringing organic to all people, and a movement that has realized a vision of sustainable agriculture. As interviewee Kelly Mulville says, “Creating health in the soil creates health in the ecosystem creates health in the atmosphere – and it all cycles around.””

All that, and Severine makes a cameo!

This year’s EcoFarm Conference, which also features incredible speakers, farmer mixers, and even dancing, takes place January 25-28 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds. Online registration is now closed but onsite walk-in registration begins Wed, Jan 25 – Sat, Jan 28 starting at 7am.

new york certified organic meeting

This years NYCO meeting program dates are up! If you’re in the NY area this a great opportunity to meet with folks and representatives from around the state working in organic agriculture. The event brings grain and dairy farmers together with guest speakers to discuss organic crops and dairy production.

The 2017 dates are January 10, February 14 and March 13. Each program begins at 10 AM in Jordan Hall, 630 West North Street at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station, Geneva, NY.

did we mention that it’s free?

Please join National Farmers Union December 5-8, 2016 for our FREE online
beginning farmer and rancher conference.

Growing for the Future is a unique online, interactive virtual conference
focused on beginning farmer and rancher issues, including: mentorship,
business planning, USDA programs women and veterans in farming, conservation
and much more!

The conference is completely online, and features farmer-to-farmer webinars,
live Q & A, a discussion board, a resource center and free giveaways! Register
now for free to join us in December for this unique opportunity!

Register here: https://nfu.org/growing-for-the-future/

Please contact NFU Education Coordinator Melissa Miller for questions:
MelissaMiller@NFUDC.org

our land II is on the horizon!

Join us in November.

our land 2: moving towards an autonomous food system, NM, nov 9-15

OUR LAND 2!

November 9-17th, in Albuquerque and Santa Fe New Mexico.

ALL THE INFORMATION IS HERE: www.agrariantrust.org/2016symposium

This will be the second Agrarian Trust OUR LAND symposium, and once again we’ve got speakers from around the country and around the region focusing our attention, analysis, activism and collective agency on issues relevant to your regional foodshed.

This event is presented by Agrarian Trust and has a focus on Land access, land transition and the issues underlying ownership and management of the territory required for an autonomous and sovereign food system.

The central themes of this symposium center on land-use and governance regimes of the southwest region.  We will learn about the acequias, a system of irrigation ditch commons brought by the Spanish. The history, management regimes and future prospects of this system represent a powerful curriculum for other commons-based systems. Can these ditch commons be explained to include their uplands and headwaters, or will ditch rights be lost to privatization and sold to developers?

farm grrrl power symposium

Tickets available on a sliding scale: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/foundations-and-the-future-womens-leadership-in-the-food-movement-tickets-27100479263?aff=eac2

A day of education, celebration and dialogue, this one-day symposium intends to acknowledge, celebrate and lift up the leadership and voice of women in the food movement.  The day will focus on a transfer of knowledge and foundation-building through an intergenerational dialogue weaving together historical narrative and current efforts spanning policy, advocacy, art and farming – both through dialogue and visual representation.

Hosted by Red H Farm at the Permaculture Skills Center.

mycomania in the hudson valley, oct. 6-10

This October, join hundreds of mycophiles, artists, and Earth activists for a unique 5-day, volunteer-run gathering to learn how to work with fungi to support your community and environment.

The Radical Mycology Convergence (RMC) is a weekend long event consisting of workshops, presentations, and various mycoremediation installations. Beyond the skills shared, the RMC also works to build a community among like-minded mycophiles (aka mushroom lovers) and community-based Earth healers to collaborate on remediation and restoration projects during and after the RMC.

The RMC organizers feel strongly that these skills need to be shared and we want to make information on the fungi and their unique healing abilities accessible and tangible for as many people as possible. By creating an encouraging and welcoming space we hope to “be-mushroom” all who attend in an effort to bring about greater planetary health.

We would like to invite anyone interested in participating in this event to come and learn, help out, or teach! The RMC is family friendly, non-discriminatory, and is donation-based to provide open access to people of all backgrounds.

For more information visit RadicalMycologyConvergence.com.

biodiversity conference, harvard, april 30th

Announcing the following conference at Harvard on April 30th:

THE POWER AND PROMISE OF BIODIVERSITY: VISIONS OF RESTORING SEA, LAND, AND CLIMATE
Geological Lecture Hall
24 Oxford Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The conference promises to “present the concepts, history, and processes for the restoration of biodiversity” in hopes that increasing global biodiversity can sequester carbon and not only stop, but actually reverse climate change. Tickets are $30 and you can register now on eventbrite. More information here!

just food? conference, march 25-26, cambridge

JUST FOOD?
FORUM ON LAND USE, RIGHTS AND ECOLOGY

A CONFERENCE EXPLORING LAND AND THE FOOD SYSTEM: HOW LAND AFFECTS WHAT WE EAT, WHO WE ARE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN

March 25–26, 2016

Wasserstein Hall, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

This year’s Just Food? conference will examine the relationship between people and land, primarily through agriculture and food. Conference events will explore the legal, moral, policy, health, historic and environmental aspects of our modern domestic and international food system, with a focus on the intersection of land and justice. The conference will bring together scholars, farmers, activists, practitioners, and other authorities to discuss the growing concerns about who has access to land, how agriculture changes land, and who is marginalized or dispossessed by our current system. Our goal is to educate attendees, empower them to make changes, and engage them in a larger dialogue about food.

A full conference schedule, when it becomes available, will be posted. But please feel free to register here now!

butter is back!

When: November 13th-16th

Where: Anaheim, California

The 16th annual Wise Traditions nutrition conference, hosted by the Weston A. Price Foundation, is coming to Anaheim, California, November 13-16. Conference participants will learn why butter is a health food, and why animal fats and coconut oil should be a part of everyone’s diet.

The conference will be held at the Anaheim Marriott, 770 West Convention Way, in Anaheim, California. The International conference is open to the public and offers CEU credits to some health professionals.

“If you are aiming to improve your diet and your health, the most important step you can take is to understand which fats are healthy and how you can incorporate them into your diet,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. “This conference will highlight the science that supports the need for traditional fats in the diet, for everything from hormone production to weight loss to protection against cancer and heart disease.”

Featured speakers include:

• Allan Savory, founder of Africa Center for Holistic Management and the Savory Institute, which is teaching the world how holistic management practices restore desert regions to fertile pastures.