Farming Our Future—Growing Food, Farms and Community

Location

SHAPING THE FUTURE AT UPCOMING NEW YORK FARM FORUM

January 18, 2012 - Craryville, NY --- Steffen Schneider, Director of Farm Operations at Hawthorne Valley Farm, will give the keynote address at Farming Our Future on Saturday, February 25th at Taconic Hills Central School. This inaugural conference for local and regional farmers, educators, farmers' market managers, agricultural students, providers of goods and services, and consumers will engage the agriculture community to think about its work toward Growing Food, Farms and Community in the context of a rapidly changing local, regional and global food system.

Steffen Schneider will offer his thoughts on the past, present, and future of agriculture both locally and globally in his keynote address: "Agri-culture 3.0: An Agricultural Narrative for the Future". According to Schneider, “Agriculture has the potential to provide real solutions to many of the challenges we face as a society and as individuals. Farms in Columbia County and the Hudson Valley already are, and can become even greater, pioneers of this future. Can we develop a narrative that will inspire and drive such a development?”

Panel discussions, workshops, poster presentations and networking throughout the daylong conference will explore critical issues such as how to protect vital farmland, understanding financing options, engaging your community, expansion and diversification, marketing, sharing of resources, and much more. The "World Café" portion of the program will provide opportunities for attendees to gather around topics of common interest, share collaborative dialogue, share knowledge and create possibilities for action.

Taconic Hills agriculture students are developing and creating youth workshops under the direction of Vanessa Merrill, Agriculture Teacher and Sandra Gardner, Director of Instruction and Staff Development. All proceeds from the conference will benefit the H.A.R.V.E.S.T club, the award winning agricultural program spearheaded by the students and advisors.

Registration for Farming Our Future - Growing Food, Farms and Community is now open. To register or for more information please visit www.farmingourfuture.org.