The Midwest Value Added Conference is next week, January 27 and 28 in Madison.  At that conference we will hold our first Driftless Food and Farm Project meeting of 2011 on Friday morning, January 28 at 10:30.  Conference registration is still open.  Click here for conference registration information.   If you’re still on the fence, we may have a small number of scholarships remaining for people who are active in initiatives relevant to the Driftless Food and Farm Project.  Email us if you are interested.

We will begin our session with a brief introduction to the Driftless region and our project for those who might be new.  We will then segue into a brief presentation from Josh Miner, Farm-to-School Coordinator for the La Crosse County Health Department.  He plans to present one concrete example of the regional food system challenges we’ve been trying to tackle collectively through all our varied projects.  In his case, he’s working on aggregating and processing local food in an efficient way that helps keep local competitive with large-scale national food suppliers.

From there we will break into a speed networking session. Each participant will have two minutes to quickly present his or her food system projects to others.  The idea is that you will connect with others whose skills, experiences and activities will be useful to you.

To make sure that we connect as many people as possible, we ask that you bring approximately 50 copies of your business card.  If you can’t, we will have notecards for you to use.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  See you Thursday and Friday.

P.S. We’ve also posted to the blog a pair of upcoming conferences/events that we think might be of interest to many.  See that post here: http://www.driftless.wisc.edu/?p=139

The Driftless Food and Farm Project Team

2011 Southern Wisconsin Fresh Produce Workshop

Presented by UW Extension

February 8 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm

In the morning, the workshop will include a variety of sessions presented by UW Extension Specialists and others on production, disease forecasting, pest management, post-harvest handling and best management practices for fruit and vegetable growers.

In the afternoon, learn about a new Wisconsin fresh market produce packing house opportunity. Come and learn how a packing house works, what you need to know to participate, and other exciting details about this potential new market. You will have the chance to meet with large volume wholesale buyers interested in Wisconsin produce.

And you will also hear about safe food handling and information on the new Federal Food Safety bill and what it means for growers.

Click here for the agenda and registration form or visit http://dane.uwex.edu/ for more information.

“Making Good Food Work”

April 19-21, Detroit, MI

More than 200 entrepreneurs, food industry professionals, non-profits, researchers, and policymakers will convene in Detroit to build strategies for more just and efficient local and regional food distribution.

This conference is designed to be practical and action-oriented. Entrepreneurs, researchers, and others active in local food system work are now invited to propose local food distribution projects and/or research topics that will be further developed and examined over the course of the conference.  Conference organizers are soliciting applications from individuals and organizations to lead teams and hope you will consider submitting your new or existing project or issue idea by February 4, 2011.

Possible projects could include but are not limited to:
*    Researching and outlining a business plan, including start-up costs, for a mobile grocery unit;
*    Developing a strategic plan to increase sales from urban farmers to local restaurants;
*    Laying the groundwork for a multi-state food distribution research proposal;
*    Writing a proposal for a feasibility study for a regional aggregation facility; or
*    Developing food distribution plans for an area identified as a “food desert”

Visit the conference website for more information.