Georgia Organics 15th Annual Conference & Expo Keynote Speakers:
Will Allen & Michel Nischan
We are incredibly excited to announce that our keynote speakers will be Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power, Inc., a farm and community food center in Milwaukee, and Chef Michel Nischan, food policy advocate and founder of the non-profit Wholesome Wave.
Get to know Nischan and Allen by watching interviews and other videos about below.
Allen is the leader of the growing urban agriculture movement, which seeks to reshape metropolitan areas into centers of food production and cooperative communities. He is the paragon of "Blight into broccoli," a reclamation philosophy surrounding urban agriculture.
Allen, son of a sharecropper, former professional basketball player, ex-corporate sales leader, and now farmer, promotes the belief that all people, regardless of their economic circumstances, should have access to fresh, safe, affordable, and nutritious foods at all times. Heís a philosopher farmer, and upholds the powers of compost and community.
In 2008, Will was named a John D. and Katherine T. McArthur Foundation Fellow and was awarded a prestigious foundation ìgenius grantî for his work ñ only the second farmer ever to be so honored. In May 2010, Time magazine named Will to the Time 100 Worldís Most Influential People.
Nischan is owner and founder of Dressing Room, his homegrown restaurant in Westport, CT, and CEO and president of Wholesome Wave, which is dedicated to nourishing neighborhoods by supporting increased production and access to healthy, fresh, and affordable locally grown food for the wellbeing of all.
Using private funds, Wholesome Wave creates chapters in multiple states to double the value of food stamps, officially known as SNAP benefits (EBT), WIC FMNP Coupons and WIC Senior Nutrition Coupons spent at participating partner markets and farm stands across the country.
Basically, Wholesome Wave leverages existing government food nutrition programs to encourage shopping at local farmers markets, by creating an incentive; every EBT or WIC dollar spent at a WWG partner market becomes two dollars.
A proponent of sustainable farming, local and regional food systems, and heritage recipes, Nischan has long been a leader in the movement to honor local, pure, simple, and delicious cooking. Nischanës restaurant is a community gathering place, with a philosophy: "We believe that the food we grow and cook in the place that we call home defines who we are."
Conference registration will open in December. And while you're at the conference you may as well attend a farm tour, a workshop, sit in on an incredible diversity of education sessions, and the best networking and confluence of the local food movementís inspirational community.
In 2012 we are partnering with the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network, due to Columbusí proximity to the Alabama border. ASAN is helping identify presenters and tour opportunities in Alabama and is promoting the conference to their community.
We are fortunate to once again welcome Advocate level sponsor Whole Foods Market. Contact Sandy Layton at sandy@georgiaorganics.org if you would like to sponsor or exhibit at the Georgia Organics Conference.