DETAILS
2009
Healthy Farms and Rural Advantage Conference
February 13th and 14th
Mid-Town Holiday Inn, Grand Island
"This year’s Healthy Farm and Rural Advantage
conference has much to offer farmers looking to diversify their operations,
acreage owners wanting to produce extra income and teens looking for
money-making projects that they can do on their farm......"
Feast
or Famine: A Fork in the Road
and the
Crucial Farmer - Consumer Connection
For too long, Americans have been asleep
at the wheel, taking for granted a superhighway of fast, cheap, safe and
abundant food. Yet there are cracks, illusions and fatalities along that road.
We have come to a critical juncture, with dangerous curves ahead. If the future
of nations depends on how they feed themselves, then we must hit the brakes,
study our agricultural road map, and choose our food routes carefully. Ahead,
one road leads to crop failure, environmental contamination and disease; the
other promises "good" food, sustainable communities, and a bounty of
healing harvests.
Keynote
speaker, Melinda Hemmelgarn, M.S., R.D. is a clinical dietitian,
“investigative nutritionist” and award-winning journalist. Recognizing the media’s powerful
influence on consumer behavior, she founded and formerly directed the Nutrition
Communications Center at the University of MO-Columbia, where she blazed the
trail blending media literacy with nutrition education to reduce childhood
obesity. She was awarded a 2004-2006 W.K. Kellogg Food and Society Policy
Fellowship, allowing her to connect the dots between food, health, and
agriculture. Her provocative yet practical weekly “Food Sleuth” newspaper
columns, magazine articles, conference keynotes and workshops help people “think
beyond their plates.” She advocates media literacy to restore public
health, sustainable food, and grass roots democracy. Her work appears in
assorted national publications including Touch the Soil and Current Health
magazines, Organic Valley and Rodale websites, and the American Journal of
Nursing. She is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Association
of Health Care Journalists, and the National Association for Media Literacy
Education. In 2007, she received an Award of Excellence from the ADA’s Hunger
and Environmental Nutrition Practice Group.
Melinda's columns are posted on the Food
and Society Policy Fellows website:
www.foodandsocietyfellows.org/fellows.cfm?id=80361
She and her photographer husband recently created "Farm
Hands: A Tribute to the hands that feed us," a 2009 fund-raising calendar
for their local Farmers' Market. They believe emotionally-compelling images can
move mountains. You can see the
Farm Hands project here: www.columbiafarmersmarket.org/calendar/
Look forward to
several workshops devoted to Holistic
Management™ on Saturday. Topics will include an introduction to Holistic Management™,
monitoring the ecosystems, planning for profit, and grazing principles. If you want to make changes in
your farming operation, improve your family’s quality of life and income, and
meet the new demands of farming sustainably - Holistic Management™ is for
you.
Melinda Hemmelgarn, Food
Sleuth: Using Media Literacy to Find Food Truth Media "diets" feed us illusions of
"green" and "good" food choices. Media literacy provides
us with a set of critical thinking tools to navigate media messages, identify
empty promises and become better informed "food citizens." Workshop attendees will:
* Explore trends in food and agriculture
media and marketing.
* Learn how to question, deconstruct,
analyze, and create media messages to counter-balance media bias.
* Know how to find and disseminate
"food truth."
Marion Ellis,
University of Nebraska Beekeeping Specialist will talk about honey bees and their importance in the pollination
of plants.
Larry Martin from
the Nebraska Nut Growers Association will talk about opportunities for nut production in Nebraska.
Dr. Jim Hruskoci
UNL Extension Educator will provide information on Aronia Berry production.
Larry Stanislav will share
his experiences over the last 36 years with producing corn, soybeans and small grains organically controlling weeds, customizing farm equipment, crop
rotations and cover crops.
Tom Tomas a favorite will be
back this year talking about organic vegetable
gardening and answering your questions. Tom’s common sense approach to gardening makes it fun and
rewarding.
Learn about the Beginning Farmer Program being offered
to Nebraskans, opportunities and benefits for new farmers just starting and long-time
farmers who are looking at new enterprises for their operation.
Educators from the University
of Nebraska will talk about new sustainable
agriculture courses and curriculum being offered at UNL and update our
members about the 2008 Farm Bill.
Agri/ecco-tourism. There will be a panel presenting
their experiences consisting of Sue Anne Switzer from Calamus Outfitters near
Burwell, Karen Kollars and Tom Tabor from the Nebraska Department of Tourism
and Lisa Pennisi, UNL Extension Tourism Specialist.
Jill Gifford from UNL Food Processing Center will discuss
entrepreneurship and the regulations involved in processing and labeling.
John Quinn, UNL Graduate
Student will present research on the Healthy
Farm Index data on the impact of organic farming systems on bird
populations
Stephen Vantassel, UNL
Wildlife Damage Control Specialist will explain how to keep wildlife from damaging your crops.
We have youth programs for teens
interested in learning about pasture poultry production, vegetable production,
beekeeping and holistic management. We want to inspire the next generation start creating opportunities
on their farm.
Members don’t forget to help donate items for our annual fundraiser
the Silent and Live auctions. If
you have something to pledge contact Michael
Braunstein at 402-639-2760 or [email protected]
SOMETHING NEW THIS
YEAR! PROMOTE YOUR FARM/BUSINESS
WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON SATURDAY - FEBRUARY 14TH
The exhibit area at the Holiday Inn will be open to
the public so they can stop by and visit with farmers and see the variety of
local foods being produced in Nebraska, stop in with a questions for master
gardeners and see what alternative livestock, seeds, products are
available. So be sure to reserve
your space soon.
A complete program will be
coming out soon if you need additional information contact Gary Lesoing, UNL Extension Educator, Nebraska
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Coordinator at (402) 274-4755.
You will soon be able to conveniently
register, sponsor or reserve exhibit space at our Healthy Farms - Rural
Advantage Conference by visiting the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society’s
website: http://www.nebsusag.org/
For those that prefer to register
by mail look for our brochure to arrive in the mail by January.
Mail to:
CARI Registration
c/o Audrey George, 103H
(Make checks payable to the
University of Nebraska Extension)
Healthy
Farms Conference Friday Evening - February 13th
Join us
Nebraska Sustainable Ag Society Board members would like
to invite all our long-time and new members to bring their ‘Sweethearts” and
family to the “All Nebraska Dinner” you will experience great food, good company
and can join in on the Live Auction for fun!
Jill Wubben at [email protected]