acebook
witter 
in this section: exhibits, seed exchange, silent auction, meals, local eateries for dinner Saturday night, food donations, state ag. listening sessions (NC and SC), speed networking
CONFERENCE EXTRAS
NOTE: All meals are sold separately this year! If you are registering for the conference, you must also purchase meals. We are doing this to have better meal counts so we can accurately buy local food. We are learning each year how to better buy locally in an institutional setting -- as we get it right, we can spread the word so that all such events demand local, organic food!
Our incredible conference food consultant, Kris Reid, is back this year to serve up amazing fresh, local, and organic food for conference meals. If you’ve attended the Conference before, you know that the food she prepares is always inventive and wonderfully delicious – that’s the magic that happens when you use only the best, pick-of-the-season, sustainably grown food supplied by local farmers!
Included in your registration:
Saturday Local Foods Reception - featuring delicious treats, drinks and the chance to network with all of the conferences’ top presenters!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday light breakfast and coffee - start your morning with locally roasted coffee, tea, and a tasty breakfast that’s easy to take from one stimulating conversation to the next.
Note: Friday all-day tours and workshops include lunch.
Meals available for purchase:
All meals include vegan, vegetarian and carnivorous options.
Friday Lunch- the most amazing local, organic lunch you can imagine, plus the chance to sit at a table with folks who are just as passionate about local food and organic farms as you are!
Friday Local Foods Feast and Keynote with Joan Dye Gussow – Be inspired by the movement’s matriarch, Joan Dye Gussow, while enjoying an incredible local foods banquet. This one will sell out quickly!
Saturday Luncheon - Featuring Farmer of the Year and Activist of the Year Awards plus a Food and Farm Policy Panel
NOTE: There will be no dinner served on Saturday night at the conference. See below for a list of great farm-to-fork eateries and easy drive from the Conference center.
Let's Support Local Places on Saturday Night!
After Saturday's Local Foods Reception, we encourage you to support the local food economy in the Triangle and dine at one of the region's amazing farm-to-fork eateries!
Here are a few of our favorites:
ACME (Carrboro) |
LocoPops (Durham and Raleigh) |
If you have a favorite restaurant in the Triangle that highlights local ingredients but isn't
listed here, let us know! Email Amy.
If you have any questions about meals, please email Fred Broadwell.
Exhibits
Your favorite tools, books, heirloom seeds, soil amendments and more! Exhibits are always a popular part of the conference, providing a variety of information for growers, gardeners and consumers. Come check out the stuff you can’t find anywhere else!
If you would like to exhibit, the cost per table is $450 for non-member commercial exhibitors and $315 for members. For more details and rates for non-profit and government exhibitors, email Alice Alexander or call her at (919) 542-2402. If you are unable to attend the conference but would like to reserve space to display and distribute brochures or catalogs, call the CFSA office at (919) 542-2402 or email.
Seed Exchange
Bring your seeds to swap! Or collect some so that you can start growing and saving your own. Please bring bulk or prepackaged seed varieties to share (25 for garden plants, 100-200 for field crops). Please label each seed or plant variety with the following: species and variety name, original source (if known), saver’s name, geographic place where grown, methods (organic, conventional) and any comments on the variety’s features, advantages, ornamental or craft uses, etc. If you have questions, please contact the CFSA office at (919)542-2402.
The Silent Auction is a fun and exciting way for you to pick up some wonderful items generously donated by farms, households and businesses. Put in your bid for local crafts, garden supplies, clothing, books, seeds and more! If you have auction items or services to donate or, if you can solicit donations on behalf of CFSA, please email Cheryl Ripperton Rettie or call her at (919)542-2402. Donations also accepted on-site.
Food Donation
CFSA’s conference team will work with the chefs at the Sheraton Imperial to incorporate food donations from local farms and businesses into fabulous organic meals and workshop breaks. Donors will be recognized in the conference program and at the meals. Contact Fred Broadwell at fred@carolinafarmstewards.org if you would like to donate.
Thank you to the hard-working farmers and chefs who make these incredible meals possible!
Friday afternoon from 4:15 - 6:15 PM, CFSA will host two listening sessions on state regulations pertaining to small farms, food processing, marketing and other topics of interest. We will have one session for NC and one for SC. The sessions will be moderated to take your input and get it back to the relevant parties.
Look for more information on these sessions closer to the conference date.
The energy and excitement generated by the folks who attend our conference is one of the best reasons to attend. Tap into the heart of the local food movement. Catch up with old friends or meet new ones! We will have expanded time for networking and visiting the Exhibit Hall. Friday afternoon from 5:30-6:15 PM we will have a “Speed Networking” session for those who want to meet new people!