'Future of Food' Urban Farming Field Trip to Explore Urban Ag Endeavors in Inland SoCal
Slated for Saturday, May 20, 2017 the 'Future of Food – Urban Farming Field Trip' will visit a series of innovative urban farming ventures in Inland Southern California that have emerged to grow the local food marketplace, increase food access, advocate for food equity, and improve health and nutrition. The field trip hosted by Seedstock, a social venture that seeks to foster the development of sustainable local food systems, will also include lectures from experts in urban farming.
The tour is the third in a series of Seedstock ‘Future of Food’ field trips that was recently launched to facilitate the exploration of food system innovations that are generating economic and community capital.
Early Bird Discount Tickets are available for a limited time, so grab your tickets before it's too late!
**Profit generated from the trip will be donated to the participating organizations below**
Scheduled Field Trips Stops include:
• Sarvodaya Farms is the educational, community-based urban farming initiative of The Growing Club, based in the Pomona Valley of California. Through this initiative, The Growing Club seeks to demonstrate how urban farms can be centers of social, economic, and ecological regeneration and healing in (sub)urban centers. The farm’s goal is to educate the community about regenerative urban farming through its farmer training program, community events, and workshops.
• Huerta del Valle operates a 62 family community garden and 2.5 acre urban farm in Ontario. Its mission is to create healthy food access for low-income community members, create community empowerment through food, create job opportunities and educate community members about sustainable agriculture. Huerta’s overarching goal is to provide all 160,000 people in the city of Ontario with accessible organic food.
• Amy’s Farm is a real, working polycultural farm focusing on sustainable, organic methods to farming. The farm provides fresh produce to the local community and offers education with hands-on, guided tours to visitors of all ages through its educational 501c3 non-profit organization. Amy’s Farm was founded in an effort to provide residents of San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties and surrounding areas the opportunity to visit and experience a true operating urban farm.
Confirmed Speakers include:
• Rishi Kumar - Urban Farmer, Co-founder and Director of The Growing Club
• Arthur Levine - Projects Manager at Huerta Del Valle Community Garden
• Randy Bekendam - Farmer and Manager of Amy's Farm
Seed sorting with my mom @paulahyppolite, she’s just as crazy and passionate about planting as I am. We’re looking forward to all the plans in store for this year. #growninhaiti #seeds #seedstock #seedcleaning #harvest #variety #local #haiti #ayiti #reforestation #preservation #nogmos #nopesticides #noherbicides
Happy Colorado Craft Beer Week! Here is a picture from the recent interview we did with @halfpennybrewing and @seedstockbrewery about their collaboration fest brew! The interview will be released later this week so stay tuned and have a Colorado #craftbeers #craftbeers #craftbrew #coloradobeer #colorado #coloradocraftbeerweek #seedstock #halfpenny #collaboration (at Seedstock Brewery)
'Future of Food: Urban Ag Field Trip' to Explore Urban Farming Operations in L.A. County
Press release from our friends at Seedstock. We had a wonderful time at their Grow Local OC event and are planning to attend this field trip as well:
Slated for Friday, January 27, 2017, the Seedstock 'Future of Food - Urban Ag Field Trip' will look at the impact of urban farming in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States.
The trip will offer an excursion into the diversity of urban farming and state-of-the-art hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic agriculture operations in Southern California. Tour participants will be treated to lectures and sessions from pioneering farmers who are embracing innovative business models and growing systems to both increase food security and take advantage of the escalating demand for local food.
"Urban agriculture ventures ranging from commercial hydroponic enterprises and rooftop aeroponic farms to community gardens planted atop formerly vacant lots are not only disrupting the food system, but also generating community and economic capital," said Robert Puro, co-founder and CEO of sustainable agricutlure social venture Seedstock. "The tour will give attendees an up close and personal look at the impact and future of agriculture in cities."
Scheduled Field Trips Stops include:
The University of Southern California (USC) Teaching Garden - The USC Teaching Garden utilizes aeroponics to challenge the food systems status quo on campus. It was established to supply fresh produce to the university's on-campus restaurants, dining halls, catering services, and hotel, while also teaching students and staff about flavor and sustainability. The garden utilizes aeroponic towers to produce chemical-free fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers without traditional soil growing media.
Local Roots Farms is an indoor vertical farming company based in Los Angeles that designs, builds, deploys, and operates controlled environment farms. Situated in shipping containers, the farms (called TerraFarms) grow with up to 99% less water, 365 days a year, pesticide and herbicide free, and with absolute consistency in production. Their plug and play form provides an innovative solution to the retail and foodservice sectors by greatly reducing supply-chain risks such as price volatility and food safety exposure.
The Growing Experience (TGE) is a seven-acre urban farm in North Long Beach that is located on a previously vacant lot. TGE is unique in that it is owned and operated by the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA), which manages 3,229 units of public and other affordable housing for the county's Public Housing program. The urban farm utilizes traditional as well as aquaponics growing systems to help meet the needs of the community by increasing access to healthy foods.
A farm-to-fork lunch hosted by Local Roots Farms featuring lettuce grown on site in the company's TerraFarms will be provided by lunch sponsor Tender Greens.
To register and learn more, follow this link:
http://seedstockurbanag.eventbrite.com/
About Seedstock
Seedstock is a social venture that fosters the development of robust and sustainable local food systems through consulting services and the use of a variety of tools, including the news and information blog Seedstock (http://www.Seedstock.com) and live events. Seedstock works with government agencies, municipalities and all private sector stakeholders to create a sustainable food ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and investment.
When a wine grower rocks the cardoons and zinnias of #flowersonyourhead. And in her day job she's holds it downs as the Secretary of Agriculture for the leading Ag state in the US, #california. Yay Sec. Karen Ross. #muirranch #schoolgarden #cagrown #local #organic #schoolgarden #teachersofinstagram #growlocaloc #seedstock (at California State University, Fullerton)
Grow Local OC: The Future of Urban Food Systems Conference has High-Quality Speakers and Tours
Slated for Thursday, November 10 (Conference Day) and Friday, November 11 (Future Farm Field Trip) at California State University, Fullerton, Grow Local OC: The Future of Urban Food Systems Conference presented by Seedstock and the OC Food Access Coalition will focus on the community and economic development potential of urban and local food systems efforts in Orange County – to improve food access and health outcomes, connect people to their food, and create new jobs and business opportunities by employing innovative business models and farming systems of the future.
The conference will serve to galvanize the citizens, growers, advocates, government officials and other major stakeholders in Orange County around the positive economic and community development outcomes that can result from the creation of healthy and vibrant local food systems in the county and on its fringes.
Use promo code ‘Agritecture’ for a discount when registering here: http://growlocaloc.eventbrite.com
November 10 (Day 1): Grow Local OC Conference Day
Attendees will convene at the Titan Student Union at California State University, Fullerton in Fullerton, CA for a series of panels and keynotes that will address the positive community and economic development outcomes that can result from the creation of healthy and vibrant urban food systems. Confirmed speakers for the November 10 conference day include:
Karen Ross – Secretary of the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture
Rachel Surls – Sustainable Food Systems Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension
Chef Adam Navidi – Future Foods Farms, Oceans & Earth Restaurant and Chef Adam Navidi Catering
Frank Fitzpatrick – Owner, 5 Bar Beef
Nate Storey – CEO of Bright Agrotech
Tim Alderson – Executive Director of Seeds of Hope
Ed Horton – President and CEO of Urban Produce LLC
Megan Penn – Executive Director of Orange Home Grown (OHG)
Rishi Kumar – Co-founder and Director of The Growing Club
Colin and Karen Archipley – Archi’s Acres
Christina Hall – Executive Director of OC Food Access Coalition
Dwight Detter – Executive Director of Slow Money SoCal
Sara E. Johnson – Director of the Urban Agriculture Community-based Research Experience (U-ACRE) program at California State University Fullerton
Aaron Fox – Assistant Professor, Urban & Community Agriculture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Chris Higgins – General Manager at Hort Americas
November 11 (Day 2): Future Farm Field Trip
The second day of the event offers an Urban Food Systems field trip. Participants will have the opportunity to tour a diversity of innovative urban and state-of-the-art agriculture operations across Orange County – from an aquaponic community garden to an indoor vertical hydroponic farm and more – that are utilizing innovative growing systems and business models to grow the local food marketplace in SoCal. Participants will be treated to lectures and sessions that examine urban farming and community garden operations that are embracing innovative supply chain models to both increase food security and take advantage of the growing market demand for local food.
Scheduled stops on the field trip include:
Urban Produce
Irvine-based Urban Produce is an indoor vertical farming operation that uses advanced hydroponic technologies in a controlled environment. Urban Produce currently grows and sells organic microgreens that are available throughout southern California
Riverbed Farm
Riverbed Farm in Anaheim is an aquaponics community farm that uses minimal water to operate and produces over 2,000 pounds of food for underserved residents.
Future Foods Farms
Future Foods Farms, located on 25 acres in Brea, California, produces all organically grown products in several 2,000-4,000 square-feet greenhouses and is one of the largest aquaponic farms in the state.
Alegría farm
Alegría farm supports more than 60 cultivators growing over 50,000 plants utilizing hydroponic and natural, nutrient-dense configurations. The farm’s resource-efficient technologies demonstrate how urban microfarms can supply communities with locally grown, fresh produce while reducing transportation and preserving natural resources.
Mile High Brew Review Interviews The Owners & Brewers Of Seedstock Brewing Company!
We will find out how Frank Thomas, Ron Abbott & Jason Abbott got together to create this brewery. Their styles of beer and overall philosophy of brewing are what they use to stand out among the crowd of beers and breweries in the state. Simple, yet flavorful, their beers are made in styles that are distinct to each of their preferred beer styles. Join us and see what the minds behind Seedstock Brewing Company have to say!
Seedstock Brewing Company is located at:
3610 W. Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80204
Want to know more about your local breweries and their leaders? Feel free to comment on which breweries we should talk to next and keep watching Mile High Brew Review for more as we venture across the land looking for more beer!
Always exciting on the homestead. Tent plus seed stock got flooded last night. Good times. Been at it all morning saving what we can and soaking whatever we couldn't. Planning on just scattering random seeds all over the yard to see what nature decides I should eat. #growninhaiti #random #storm #flooded #rain #seedstock #tentlife #haiti #ayiti #homestead #mountainlife #⛈ #aftermath
