TOPEKA, Kan. — Lt. Governor Lynn Rodgers will be among the speakers at the Kansas Rural Center’s annual Farm and Food Conference on Friday and Saturday November 8 & 9 in Wichita, Ks. He will speak as part of a Saturday session titled “Harvesting Opportunities for food and farming in Kansas” and discuss the Rural Prosperity tours of last summer. Keynoting the conference this year will be Fred Iutzi, President of The Land Institute in Salina, KS, and Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University’s Food Systems Extension Economist.
The session with the Lt. Governor will also include Marlin Bates, Douglas County Extension who was instrumental in organizing the May 2018 Harvesting Opportunities Symposium that drew over 150 Kansans to discuss how food systems can transform rural economies. KRC staff will provide a summary of their summer town hall meetings, and a representative of the State Legislature’s Rural Revitalization committee has been invited.
Two dozen workshops will illustrate the theme “Planting Ideas, Growing Our Future: Carbon, Climate and Communities” and offer practical information for growers and entrepreneurs as well as information on critical food, environmental and political issues.
“The Green New Deal, climate change reports, and the emerging crisis in the farm/rural economy raise questions for many of us as we head into another pivotal election year and as we envision the future for our farms and communities,” stated Mary Fund, KRC Executive Director. “How does climate change affect us here in the heartland? What policies and programs will help us address it? What steps or actions can help us weather the economic problems in agriculture, and what kind of economic development should we pursue that will provide the resilience and diversity we need?”
Fred Iutzi will speak Friday morning on “Agriculture’s Role in Ecological Sustainability and Economic Justice” building on an essay he and Texas journalist/communications professor Robert Jensen wrote following the proposal of the Green New Deal last winter. In that essay, Iutzi and Jensen discussed the need for a new way of producing food that does not shy away from a critique of the dominant capital intensive industrial worldview or the reality of ecological disruption. The new food system allows us to go to the root of the problem, and adopts a worldview based on an economic system allowing more equitable distribution of wealth and creation of meaningful livelihoods. In the keynote, Iutzi will address what agriculture and food production needs to address in order to meet the challenges of the future.
Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University’s Food Systems Extension Economist, will speak on Saturday morning on the value of local and regional food systems by “Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Support Rural-Urban Linkages and Regional Economic Development”. Jablonski was a contributor to the Federal Reserve Oct. 2017 Report, “Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities.” She will also lead a workshop on assessing the economic impacts of food systems programming, policies and initiatives. Jablonski was a key presenter at the “Harvesting Opportunity in Kansas” symposium on building community wealth through food and farming, held in Lawrence in 2018.
An afternoon plenary panel on Friday will cover a call for action on the Climate and Energy Project’s Kansas Climate Health Declaration, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s Farmer Climate Action Sign on Letter.
Each day will feature a dozen concurrent workshops covering a range of topics including practical sessions on building soil health, managing grass and livestock for extreme weather, managing farm financial recordkeeping, managing woodlands, extending the growing season in hoophouses, and coping with stress and anxiety on the farm and in the world. Other workshops will cover critical issues, policy and advocacy looking at local food development, state policy overview for 2020, federal farm policy and climate smart practices, wind energy and public opinion, and the impact of concentrated animal feeding operations.
New this year will be a Special Land/Farm Owner and Land Seeker Mixer held as one of the workshop sessions on Friday afternoon from 4:00 pm to 5:15 pm. The mixer is an opportunity to network and connect those who have farms or land to those who are seeking a farm or land or an opportunity to gain experience farming. The Mixer is also open to non-conference goers who only wish to attend the Mixer.
But Pre-registration is required for both conference goers and non-conference goers. To register, please visit – https://kansasruralcenter.org/kansas-rural-center-to-host-land-owner-land-seeker-mixer/.
KRC also celebrates its 40th anniversary with a special reception on Friday evening November 8 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. with food, drink, music and networking. A full agenda of all conference activities is available at kansasruralcenter.org/2019-conference.
Registration is $75 per day or $145 for both days. The Conference registration and price includes Friday evening’s celebration of KRC’s 40th Anniversary with an extended hors d’oeuvres buffet, Kansas beer and wine, and music. The celebration will be held immediately following the end of the day’s workshops from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The receptions is also open to non-conference goers for $40. Registration for the conference or for Friday evening’s reception can be found at kansasruralcenter.org/2019-conference. Please register by November 4th. Conference scholarships are also available for students and beginning farmers. Inquire at info@kansasruralcenter.org.
The mission of KRC, a non-profit research, education and advocacy organization founded in 1979, is to promote the long-term health of the land and its people through research, education and advocacy that advance an economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just food and farming system. For more information, visit www.kansasruralcenter.org.
— Kansas Rural Center
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