September 29, 2015 | seedstock

Seedstock’s 4^th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference, “Innovation and the Rise of Local Food,” is little more than a month away and registration is filling up quickly. The two-day event, sponsored by Tender Greens, Netafim, Agra Tech, Inc., Go Green Agriculture, Beaver Plastics Ltd., Solutions Farms, Roger’s Community Garden at UCSD, Co-Gen Industrial and the Leichtag Foundation, is scheduled for Nov. 3-4, 2015, at UC San Diego, and will explore the social, environmental and economic benefits arising from the confluence of agricultural innovation and escalating demand for locally grown food.

The event kicks off on day 1 (Nov. 3) with the “Future Farm Field Trip,” which will offer a limited number of attendees an excursion into the diversity of urban and state-of-the-art indoor agriculture operations in Southern California. In addition to [email protected] Urban Farm (the outdoor classroom for the Sustainable Urban Agriculture program at San Diego City College) and The Leichtag property (former home of Ecke Ranch floriculture business, the Property is 67 1/2 acres with 850,000 square feet of greenhouses), two new stops have been added to the excursion. They are:

• Go Green Agriculture – an innovative family farm with big ideas and strong values that grows organic produce inside high-tech greenhouses using hydroponics. Currently, Go Green Agriculture operates a 5-acre greenhouse that supplies local restaurants and retailers with leafy greens and herbs. The company’s mission is to setup greenhouses across the country to provide local jobs and fresh, delicious, and nutritious produce to the community.

• Solutions Farms – one of the largest aquaponics facilities in the West that provides a source of locally-raised, certified organic produce used by North County restaurants, juice bars and eager farmers market buyers. The farm also is a laboratory for teaching important work values and preparing people for re-entry into the workforce toward the end of accomplishing a worthwhile social purpose while also being a functioning business.

On Day 2 (Nov. 4), attendees will convene at the Beyster Auditorium at the Rady School of Management. Presentation topics will address the burgeoning and diverse small farm economy that is taking hold across the country while exploring indoor agriculture and the expansion of the local food marketplace, urban farming and local food access, water management, and more.

For additional information and to purchase Seed Saver tickets prior to the October 5, 2015 deadline, please visit:

http://seedstockconference.com

Select Confirmed Speakers:

Catt Fields White – CEO of SD Weekly Markets

Gus Schumacher – Founding Board Chair of Wholesome Wave

Milan Kluko – Founder and President at Green Spirit Farms

Chris Higgins – General Manager of Hort Americas

Bob Harrington – President of Specialty Produce

Lucy Norris – Director, Regional Food Systems Program at Ag Innovations

Daron “Farmer D” Joffe – Director of Agricultural Innovation at Leichtag Foundation

Lauren Blacker – District Manager at Sodexo for Sharp HealthCare

Robert Tse – State Broadband Coordinator for USDA CA-Rural Development

Pierre Sleiman – Founder and CEO of Go Green Agriculture

Tarek Hijazi – Director of Agriculture and Regulatory Affairs at Sundial Farm

Amy McCann – Co-founder and CEO of Local Food Marketplace

Anchi Mei – Senior Program Manager at International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Damian Valdez – Farmer at [email protected] Urban Farm

Erik Oberholtzer – Co-founder of Tender Greens

Chris Higgins – General Manager of Hort Americas

N. Diane Moss – Executive Director of Project New Village

Ed Glebus – Associate Director and Executive Chef for SDSU Dining

. . . and more!

 

http://seedstockconference.eventbrite.com