Register for the Urban Agriculture Symposium Oct. 22-23

Please join the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC CAUSES) for the second annual Urban Agriculture Symposium and Green Living Expo on October 22 – 24, 2015. Centered around the CAUSES Urban Food Hubs Solution to Food Insecurity, the Symposium and Expo will be a forum for sharing information, exchanging ideas, and building networks to support a healthy and economically viable urban food system. The Symposium is co-sponsored by the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association and the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (USDA BARC). Practitioners, researchers and food lovers are all welcome! 

We will start off with some big names featured at our opening event and food tasting on Thursday, Oct. 22, followed by a wealth of information shared by local thought leaders on Friday, Oct. 23. Keep reading to review the agenda. Register for the events here!

Thursday, Oct. 22 

5:30 p.m.         Local Food – Cultural, Social, Economic Catalyst 

Jose Cardenas, Executive Chef, Jose’s Grill International Cuisine

Susan Delbert, Executive Chef, National Press Club

Mike Curtin, President, DC Central Kitchen

Betti Wiggins, p.m., Executive Director, School Nutrition, Detroit Public Schools

Facilitator:  Sabine O’Hara, Dean, UDC CAUSES 

6:30 p.m.        Food Tasting

Register for the opening event here!

Friday, Oct. 23

9:30 a.m.        Welcome

                              Ronald Mason, President, UDC

                              Muriel Bowser, Mayor, District of Columbia (invited)

                              Ellen Harris, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, USDA BARC
                              Tommy Wells, Director, District Department of Energy and Environment

9:45 a.m.         Food Production – New Models for new Markets

                             Maria Moreira, Flats Mentor Farms

                             Jeremy Andrews, Sprout Urban Farms (invited)

                             Facilitator: Elanor Starmer, National Coordinator for Local and Regional Food 
                             Systems, USDA

11:00 a.m.      Food Distribution – Meeting Urban Needs

                             John-Mark Hack, Local Foods Association

                            Arthur Neal, USDA, Agricultural Marketing Services

                            Facilitator: Dan Roberts, Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory, USDA 
                            BARC 

1:00 p.m.       Concurrent Roundtables:

                      Roundtable 1: Innovation in Food Production and Food Markets

                        Bill Blevin, PlantsMap Electronic Plant Management System

                        Stanley Jackson, Anacostia Economic Develop.m.ent Corporation (invited)

                        Thomas Kakovitch, KI Industries, Aquaponics, Water Quality and Energy Efficiency                           Systems

                        Byunggu Yu, Clearton Technology Systems Optimization

                        Facilitator: David Fleisher, USDA, Agricultural Research Services

                     Roundtable 2: Capturing the Value Added Chain

                       Craig Caston, Pro Fish (invited)

                       Charley Coiner, Coosman

                       Dr. Patrick Canning, Senior Economist, USDA Economic Research Service 

                       Facilitator: William Hare, Associate Dean, UDC CAUSES

                    Roundtable 3: Urban and Rural Agriculture – A Regional Approach

                        Lorette Picciano, Executive Director, Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural 

                        Che Axum, Director, Center for Urban Agriculture, UDC CAUSES

                        Elanor Starmer, National Coordinator for Local and Regional Food Systems, USDA

                       Facilitator: Rudy Arredondo, President, National Latino Farmers and Ranchers 
                       Association

2:45 p.m.      Closing the Loop – Soil and Water Management

                           Sally Brown, Professor of Soil Science, University of Washington

                           AG Kawamura, Co-Chair of Solutions form the Land, Former California Secretary 
                           of Agriculture

                           Facilitator: Deborah Atwood, Meridian Foundation

4:00 p.m.     Wrap up Session and Next Steps

Register for the Urban Agriculture Symposium here!

Saturday, October 24: Green Living Expo – World Food Day     

Hosted in conjunction with the UDC Farmers Market in front of the David A. Clarke School of Law, celebrate healthy cities and healthy people with us!