Conference

Information on 2012′s Conference coming soon!

2011 Winter Park Harvest Conference: A Local Food Conference & Food Enterprise Summit: Sat Nov 19th: 9am – 5pm

Click HERE to Purchase a ticket. Tickets are $50 ($60 with optional boxed lunch).

If you are interested in participating in Investor Showcase – You can apply here

The Harvest Conference is the first event of its kind in Central Florida. This event seeks to foster the synergistic relationships and pioneering food initiatives that will fuel the growth of our local food economy for years to come.

We are bringing together the local food advocates, food enterprise entrepreneurs and thought-leading producers that have been the backbone of the local food movement in Central Florida to date.

As the agenda will testify there is something for everyone from the “Ag-curious” neophytes to old-school dirt farmers.  Please join us on Saturday November 19^th for this seminal event and lend your vision to Central Florida’s Local Food Movement.

Saturday November 19th – 9am -5pm – at the Winter Park Garden Club – Mead Garden, 1300 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, Florida.  (map)

8:00 Registration

9:00 Welcoming/Agenda

9:15 Activating Community Capital in an Agricultural Economy
We will show examples of how communities have come together to close-the-loop of their agricultural economies’.  Through working together, building capacity, capital, security and friendship can be created.

9:45 From Asset Mapping to Gap Analysis: Where Are We, and Where Are We Going?
As an evolving agricultural community we collectively address what we have accomplished, while identifying all of the ways we can better connect and close-the-loop.  Each member of the community will help identify assets and gaps while getting to understand and appreciate the role each other plays.

10:15 Break

10:30 Call to Action: Activating our Local Food System
Now that we know where we are and where we are going, we need to know how to get there.  It is time to break into teams and formulate an action plan on how we are going to reconnect our local food system.                          

11:50 We Are All In This Together:  Talking About Community
A successful agricultural economy must understand how to partner, collaborate, and support each other.

12:15 Lunch (BYO Lunch or catered box lunch, prepay with your registration)

12:15- 2:45 The Hard to Ask Questions:  Experts from Finance to Licensing Share How to Make Your Business Work
Experts will set-up in a trade-show style format to answer your questions and build new relationships.  Not all of us have it all figured out, while some of us are visionaries, we may draw a blank when it comes to legalese.  Professionals will include business and finance experts, accountants, lawyers, government regulators, marketing consultants etc.

1:15 Bringing it to Market
“To Market, To Market…..” A discussion for start up and expanding businesses on sales, marketing, and the current local, state and federal guidelines for operating a food business.

2:00 Educating the Public
From Consumer to Co-Producer: A discussion on educating a growing community of conscious consumers on the realities and importance of a local food systems.

3:00 Break

3:15 Woody Tasch – Slow Money – Live Via Skype
The final session of the day will kick off with a keynote address from Woody Tasch, the author of “Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing As If Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered” and the father of the Slow Money Movement.  With his characteristic good humor, Woody will share the Slow Money philosophy, its investment strategies and his national perspective on the how to build a thriving local food economy.

4:00 Slow Money Investors Showcase
In the finals session of the day twelve pre-qualified local food enterprises will pitch their business or initiative to the attending local food stakeholders, area investors, investment club and like minded entrepreneurs. These businesses and organizations will be pre-selected based on their commitment to the Slow Money principles, relevance to the local food shed, economic viability, and scalability. To apply to present your business please click here – You can apply here

Purchase tickets to the Conference HERE