Mark Kastel, Cornucopia Codirector and Senior Farm Policy Analyst, will make a return visit to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Conference this year. The 28th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference will be held in Durham, North Carolina, November 15-17.
Kastel, who delivered the keynote address a few years ago, when CFS held its conference in South Carolina, will give three separate talks this year. GMOs: Moving Forward will look at emerging science on GMOs, the current labeling wars at the state level and in Washington, and discuss how we can protect non-GMO food on the farm and in the marketplace.
Kastel will also drill deep into the Threats Facing Organic, Local and Direct Agricultural Marketers from an agribusiness lobby and a complacent USDA that would like to co-opt the marketplace value of what we have built together. His presentation will be in one of the “What’s the Big Idea” talks, a new feature this year at the conference, modeled after the ever-popular TED talks.
Finally, refined over many years, Kastel will present his Guerrilla Marketing Workshop aimed at equipping farmers and retailers with the tools to competitively excel in a food world dominated by the likes of Whole Foods, Walmart and Amazon.
This year’s keynote will be presented by Sandor Katz, a well-known author, engaging speaker and guru of fermented foods. The conference features top-notch speakers, hands-on intensives and tours, an exhibit hall and seed exchange, and pick-of-the-season, organic food supplied by local farmers.
For more information on the conference, click here.
