Mark Winne to speak at Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Conference
The Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (TOFGA) is pleased to announce nationally recognized food activist Mark Winne as the keynote speaker at the TOFGA annual conference on February 18, 2012.
In his book Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cookin’ Mamas: Fighting Back in an Age of Industrial Agriculture, Winnewrites of the urgent need for creation of a sustainable alternative food system. Exposing the truth about the industrial food system and profiling people across the country who are fighting to take back their harvests and their health, Winne argues that people should not have to surrender their individual health or freedoms, and submit to corporate pressures, in order to eat, and eat well.
Winne believes that in order to secure food sovereignty, people must get their “hands in the soil,” either by growing it themselves, becoming more connected to their local food communities, or participating in the democratic processes around food issues. “As I look into the future of food and democracy in the twenty-first century, I see two options,” he writes. “We will either shape our own food destiny or we will succumb to one that is presented to us. Placing ourselves in the hands of others can be either an act of profound trust, or one of unsettling risk.”
For 25 years, Mark Winne has worked to connect fresh, local produce to local residents as the Executive Director of the Hartford Food System. He also helped to create a working lands conservancy to ensure retention of local farmlands for local production of fruits and vegetables. He is now a national consultant on food policy councils with the Community Food Security Coalition. He speaks across the country advocating for local food.
The annual TOFGA conference on organic production will be held February 17 – 19, 2012 in Mesquite, Texas at the Mesquite Convention Center. TOFGA is the only statewide organization focused on the people who practice organic and sustainable agriculture in Texas. The conference is designed for market growers who are either already producing or want to learn about organic and sustainably raised produce, livestock, dairy, and grains. Workshop tracks include business issues, fruit and vegetable production, livestock production, and resource sustainability. Strong emphasis will be on strategies to survive the drought. This year’s conference also offers a special Saturday workshop for backyard gardeners. A must-attend event for organic ranchers, farmers, plant growers, retailers, wholesalers, consumers, gardeners, farmers market supporters and anyone desiring to support the organic industry in Texas.
Register today! Full conference registration starts at $135 for TOFGA members. The Gardener track Saturday only workshop is $70. Banquet tickets are $35 per person.
