2012 Farm to Table Trade Meeting

Find Local Products.

Meet Buyers.

 Make Connections.

Join us for the best regional trade meeting in the area - fostering direct connections and strengthening relationships between buyers, fishers, farmers, support professionals, and others interested in sourcing local products and building a stronger food / farming economy.

What:     2012 NW WA Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting

When:    Thursday, March 15, 2012; 9am - 3:30pm

Where:   Community Health Education Center

               3333 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225

$15 per person, includes a light lunch and snacks.  $35 for a trade table - space is limited - contact erin@sconnect.org.

See who's attending!

Hosted By:

AGENDA:

9:00 - 9:30 am     Registration - networking and coffee ½ hour

• Sign up for premium afternoon one-on-one networking slots (space is limited)
  
• Networking and tasting with vendors, service provider tabling & review of posters around the room.
  

9:30 am     Welcome & Overview of the day: Healthy Local/Regional Food Economies: the model for prosperity

Laura Ridenour, Food & Farming Manager, Sustainable Connections

             
9:50 am Keynote Speaker: Kathy Pryor, Program Manager, Washington Healthy Food in Health Care Initiative

Our national food system is wrecking havoc on public health. Kathy will discuss ways Washington farmers, health care providers, and chefs can work together to build a food system that promotes health and the environment. This talk will address key leverage points for change at the individual, institutional, and policy levels, and will address steps farmers can take to make their product desirable to an institutional market.

10:20 - 10:40 am    Q&A with Keynote Kathy Prior & Lucy Norris, Director of Marketing, Northwest Agriculture Business Center/ Project Manager of Puget Sound Food Network (PSFN). Lucy will share her experience running the award winning King County Farm to Table partnership, a "Communities Putting Prevention to Work" (CPPW) project, where PSFN acted as the "glue" between local farms and various institutional meals sites who had never sourced locally before.

10:40 - 10:55 am      Break/Networking

10:55 - 12:00 pm    Hot Topic: Regional farmer co-ops and food hub developments - What is a food hub, why they are needed, what's up with all these new farmer co-ops, and how can others get involved?

• Tristan Klesick, Farmer in Chief, Klesick Family Farms
• Mike Finger, Owner Cedarville Farm, & President, Nooksack Valley Farmers Cooperative
• TBA: North Cascade Meats, A Farmers' Co-operative
  
• Sarita Role Shaffer, VIVA Farms/ GrowFood.org / Growing Washington
• Bonnie Swanson, Board member, Port Susan Food & Farming Center
  

Facilitator: Lucy Norris, Director of Marketing, Northwest Agriculture Business Center/ Project Manager of Puget Sound Food Network (PSFN)

 
12:00 - 1:10 pm   Lunch & Networking (Soup & Salads catered by 22 Cousins)

Conviviality & Round Table Topics

• Round Table: Chefs & Retailers discuss consolidated storage and collective sourcing (main room)
• Round Table: Farmers Market mangers, vendors & Public Health Department (main room)
• Round Table: Community Kitchen/ Production space (main room)
  
• Open networking, visiting with vendors - of course! (main room)

• Workshop: Farm-to-School - Addressing Processing &  Distribution Challenges (Room E, 12:10-1:10 pm)*

     An informal discussion about some of the current challenges and lessons learned through Whatcom Farm-to-School efforts, and to identify steps for optimizing the use of existing food processing and distribution resources.

Facilitators: Mardi Solomon and Holly O’Neil, Whatcom Farm-to-School Support Team

1:10 pm    Announcements & Short Film

1:15 - 2:15 pm    Hot Topic: Does local really cost more? A farmer, two chefs, a distributor and a processor known for prioritizing local relationships dish the truth about farm-to-table costs, values, and costs of living.

Panelists:

• Anna Martin, Osprey Hill Farm
• Ben Scholtz, Mallard Ice Cream
• Chris Johnson, Coho Cafe, United General Hospital
• Josh Silverman, Dashi Noodle
• Cara Piscetillo, Acme Farms + Kitchen

2:15 - 2:25 pm      Quick Break & Evaluations

2:25 - 3:25 pm     One on One Networking: Meeting the Demand for Local (Main room)

1. Retail and Institutional Buyers, Manufacturers, and Distributors are available for 10-minute one on one appointments during the last hour of the day. 

• Abbi's Northwest Distribution
• Community Food Co-op: 4 representatives: 2 store managers, plus produce & meat department
  
• Haggen, Inc.
  
• The Markets: 4 representatives for refrigerated and frozen, produce, non-foods, natural foods, fine foods.
• San Juan Island Co-op
• ... and more for open networking!
  

2. Q & A with the experts: Liability, legality, credit, food safety for the farm or food-based business.

• Food Safety Regulations: Fred Berman, WSDA;  & Tom Kunesh, Whatcom County Health Department
• Insurance: Lesa Boxx, Country Financial
  
• Credit, Conservation, Disaster and Loan Programs: Betty Snell, USDA Farm Service Administration
  

• Co-op Development and Transition to Value Added: Jeff Voltz, Northwest Agricultural Business Center
  

3:25 -3:30 pm        Evaluations & Adjourn

*          *            *            *            *             *            *            *             *

Online registration is now closed.
Tickets may be purchased at the door for $15. See you there!

Questions? Contact Laura Ridenour, laura@sconnect.org -- 360-647-7093 x 106

Thank you very much to our

Eat Local First Campaign & Food & Farming Program funders & sponsors!