The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey’s 26th annual Food and Farming Winter Conference takes place January 30-31 at Brookdale Community College.
Over 50 workshops on food, farming and gardening will be offered with sessions running from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm on both days.
There are five tracks: Beginning Farmer, Advanced Farmer, Gardening, Food & Nutrition and Homesteading & Livestock. Anyone interested in learning about local organic and sustainable food, nutrition and related policy are invited to attend.
The keynote speakers are Dr. Kathleen Delate (Saturday) and Pamela Boyce Simms (Sunday). Dr. Delate, the first faculty hired by a land-grant university to work 100% of her time on organic agriculture in the U.S., will speak on The Mainstreaming of Organic Agriculture; Ms. Boyce Simms, a Trainer for Transition US, will speak on Relocalized Food Production in a Regional Resilience Framework.
Learn about the role that sustainable farming can play in climate change mitigation. Jack Kittredge, will present his paper: Soil Carbon Restoration: Can Biology do the Job?; Dr. Marjorie Kaplan, the first Director of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Climate and Energy will speak on climate trends and resources available to farmers.
Farmers and homesteaders of all levels can choose from a broad selection of workshops on soil fertility, growing nutrient dense fruits and vegetables, no-till agriculture and the husbandry of livestock. Home and community gardeners will find classes on growing fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and garlic. There will be a special visit from WHYY’s Mike McGrath, host of You Bet Your Garden who will give a talk on composting and pest control.
Visit the NOFA-NJ Winter Conference website for the complete schedule of workshops. Registration is now open. Advance online discount pricing ends Jan. 24, 2016. Regular-priced tickets will be available the day of the conference.
NJ SPICE 