Join colleagues from around the country this November in Des Moines, IA, to network, learn and enjoy the best locally grown foods the Midwest has to offer!

“Women are the fastest-growing segment of new farmers in America, and have been the drivers behind the healthy food and farming movement for decades,” says Leigh Adcock, WFAN executive director. “WFAN’s staff and board are thrilled for the opportunity to host this national conference in the Midwest.” The three prior conferences were held in Pennsylvania and Vermont, and hosted by WFAN’s colleagues at the Women’s Agricultural Networks in those states.

“Cultivating Our Food, Farms and Future” is the theme of the 4th National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture. This is the first time this biennial conference has been held in the Midwest, and we are hoping that will encourage women farmers, landowners and advocates from both coasts and everywhere in between to come together for 2 days of informative workshops and inspiring keynotes.

Danielle Nierenberg of Food Tank and Kari Hamerschlag of Environmental Working Group are confirmed keynote speakers. See the sidebar at right for information on their amazing work.

Workshop tracks will include farming, advocacy and land health topics. Click here for the Call for Proposals; the call is open from Feb. 15 through April 30, 2013.

The conference workshops will close on Friday, Nov. 8 at noon, and participants will then have the opportunity to take part in a variety of field tours, including the annual Tri-State Harvest Gathering for Women in Sustainable Agriculture in southeast Minnesota.

We expect 350-400 women and men from all over the US to attend this conference, creating a unique opportunity to reach this growing segment of sustainable agriculture practitioners with your products and services

. Click here for a sponsor packet.

For more information on this conference, please contact conference coordinator Carol Schutte. Click here to email her, or call her at 641-357-3394.

Our Keynote Speakers

Danielle Nierenberg is an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She recently spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America meeting with farmers and farmers’ groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, and journalists collecting their thoughts on what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while also protecting the environment. She is widely published and speaks at events worldwide. Danielle served as the Director of the Food and Agriculture program at the Worldwatch Institute. She is a co-founder with Ellen Gustafson of FoodTank, the food think tank.

Watch the FoodTank video trailer.

 

Pakou Hang is a seasoned community organizer and strategic consultant with particular expertise in New American communities. Born in 1976 in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand, but now naturalized as an American citizen, Pakou is a member of the Hmong community. Active in politics, Pakou served as a deputy political director to Senator Paul Wellstone and campaign manager in the election of Mee Moua to the Minnesota legislature. She has helped her family farm for over 20 years, and works with a group of Hmong farmers in the Twin Cities area. Pakou is currently working with the Institute for Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives at the University of Minnesota to examine traditional Hmong medicinal plants. and at the Latino Economic Development Center of Minnesota to explore barriers to immigrant farmers in rural communities. 

Watch Pakou talk to school kids about leadership, and her work with the late Senator Paul Wellstone.

 

Kari Hamerschlag is senior food and agriculture analyst at Environmental Working Group. Kari focuses on healthy, local, organic and sustainable food and agriculture policy. She started her career 20 years ago as an organizer, researcher and advocate for socially and environmentally sound development policy, mostly focused in Latin America. Prior to joining EWG, she worked for nearly a decade with a number of non-profits on fair trade, sustainable food and ag policy issues. Kari has a Masters from UC Berkeley in Latin American studies and City and Regional Planning. She is an avid telemark skier and loves hiking with her dog Shoki in the East Bay Hills.

Check out Kari’s Twitter feed.