Upcoming Events in the Northwest

February 26-28: Organicology

Oregon Tilth, Organically Grown Company, Organic Seed Alliance and the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association have teamed up to create what promises to be the most intensive and outrageous trade event of the year.  We have combined our experience and expertise to bring you a high energy networking opportunity loaded with unparalleled educational programming relevant to all aspects of the organic foods trade.

Seed producers, farmers, brokers, distributors and retailers, researchers and educators, logistics supporters, materials suppliers, chefs, food policy activists, and, of course, eaters of great food - all will find topics of interest and sources of inspiration at Organicology. To register or find more details visit http://www.tilth.org/organicology

March 9th: Portland's 9th Annual Farmer Chef Connection. For details visit http://portlandcc.org

Hosting a networking event for food producers and buyers? Let us know and we'll post information about your event here. Just send an email with the details to erika@ecotrust.org.

Do you want to host an event to bolster your regional food economy, and need some help getting started?

Building Local Food Networks: A Tool Kit for Organizers provides guidance for establishing local food networks in general, as well as specifics about organizing a Farmer-Chef Connection gathering in detail. Extensive appendices provide sample materials, templates and tools for organizers.  The Toolkit is available for $35 as a pdf download.

The Learning Community

In conjunction with the Toolkit, Ecotrust has launched an online, interactive learning community to stimulate peer-to-peer exchange of ideas, questions, and lessons learned around the topic of building local food networks. In the recipe for creating food and farm networks, there may not be such a thing as “too many cooks in the kitchen.” The interactive forum creates and sustains a virtual, national network of individuals working to create more sustainable food systems in their own region. To join the community, visit localfoodnetworks.net.

By clicking this link you will be directed to a site where you may request an invitation to the Building Local Food Networks learning community by following these three steps:

1. Enter your name and email on this site and submit your request.

2. You will receive and email invitation with a link to Building Local Food Networks.

3. Establish your member profile, enter the forum and access the toolkit.