Convergence = Sustainability Workshop Ag Trade Show, Augusta Civic Center

Wednesday, January 13^th, 2010at 12;45 p.m. Harold/Arnold/Ft. Western Room at Augusta Civic Center. – Maine Farm Bureau is sponsoring a conference called Convergence=Sustainability.  At times there is a rift and controversy over which types of food production is “better” – organic or conventional.  The purpose of this conference is to bring together both types of farmers and everyone in between for discussion on ways to work together.

To ensure food is available to all, the general population as well as producers need to better understand the differences and similarities that can and already coexist at the farm level.  All farmers, whether conventional or organic have the same objective: to produce good, safe , high quality, fresh food.

Dr. Jon Foley will be the keynote speaker at 1 p.m.  Dr. Foley is the Director of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota, and a McKnight Presidential Chair in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior.  He will discuss the “need for a new green revolution and what it could look like for Maine.”

Husband and wife team Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak, faculty at the University of California, Davis, will discuss ideas that stem from their book: Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food at 2 p.m.

Margaret Smith, Cornell University will discuss the “process of genetic engineering: what it can do, risks and benefits,” at 2:30 p.m.  She currently serves half time as the Associate Director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station and half time in research and extension related to plant breeding.

At 3:15 p.m. – Leonard Gianessi, Director of the Crop Protection Research Institute will discuss, “new directions in pesticide research and biotechnology.”

At 4 p.m. a panel of Maine growers, ranging from organic to conventional, large and small will discuss developing a new strategy for policy, research, and business and ways to work together for the common good.

The conference will wrap up with a reception at 5 p.m.