young farmers @ georgia organics conference
3rd Annual GO Conference Farmer Mixer
Kick off the conference on the Thursday night prior with another awesome mixer, this year hosted by our very own Alliance and the generous Chef Shaun Doty at his Bantam + Biddy chicken joint. We've got the patio to ourselves for our shindig, and B+B will be donating chicken-y and veggie snacks. There's no cost to attend, cash bar, and you won't want to miss it.
Thursday Feb 21, 8-11pm
Bantam + Biddy
1544 Piedmont Road, Suite 301 in the Ansley Mall Shopping Center
RSVP on our Facebook event page here
Farmer Storytelling Photo Project
As part of our goal to tell the stories of young & beginning farmers in the southeast loud and clear, we've dreamed up a multimedia project to gather and project YOUR thoughts and words. Friday evening during the Conference Expo, we'll have a photo booth set up to snap your pretty mug and listen to your tall tales -- that time you shot yourself with the nail gun while finishing the mobile chicken coop, the very first exuberant sale you made at your very first farmer's market, how you got your mini loan, why you chose the crops you did and which ones the flea beetles eat...we want to hear it all. We will be asking farmers to visit us for a portrait, and chatter away for a brief minute or two as part of GO's multitude of multimedia efforts for the weekend, which include a visit by NPR's Story Corps as well!
Friday Feb 22, 5.30-7.30pm
SEy&bf Alliance Booth
Grand Expo Reception in Exhibit Hall
Check out the conference schedule for various workshops that appeal to the young and beginning farmer, including a session specifically dedicated to young farmer advocacy. Join Alliance founder Olivia Sargeant (Farm 255, Farm Burger, Full Moon Farms & Moonshine Meats) and Lindsey Lusher Shute {National Young Farmers Coalition} to hear about national actions, Farm Bill updates, the work of the Coalition and the SE affiliated Alliance, and brainstorm strategies to organize and activate! Because as we always say, farming alone just isn't enough.
Saturday Feb 23, 11.15 - 12.30pm
Check the schedule on-site for Room #
2013 Alliance Plan of ATTACK Working Group
Directly following the advocacy workshop, we'll continue the conversation at Saturday lunch during a working group meeting of the Alliance, right smack dab in the middle of the conference. The goal of our nascent group is to help young and beginning farmers across various communities connect with peers, access useful practical information, learn from each other, and create momentum in developing the voice of the new farmer in the southeast. We look to create a resource focused on the issues and needs of this broad community -- one that spans age groups, regions, states, and conventional as well as organic practices -- and develop an Alliance centered around specific regional objectives. We will have a tight agenda for an hour long brainstorming session with YOU, involved and interested young and beginning farmers.
Saturday Feb 23, 1-2.30
Room TBD in the Conference Center {look for flyers at conference and check in at our Expo booth}
Here's the working agenda:
- Review working mission statement, goals and objectives
- Review relationship with the National Young Farmers Coalition {Lindsey Lusher Shute, Director NYFC}
- Brainstorm resources and services that are needed by the SE y&b farmer community
- Define languages and medium
- Identify desired strategic partnerships and goals for working together
- Layout a year-long plan of attack for 2013
- Identify stakeholders
- Action steps!
And as always, please Email Olivia with questions, thoughts, ideas to make this whole thing better, and RSVPs for the events.