Sustainable farming focus of Hiram conference

Staff report

HIRAM

Two Trumbull County men will give talks at the Innovative Farmers of Ohio Conference and annual meeting from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 26 at Hiram College.

The conference theme is “Business of Farming: An Entrepreneurial Approach.”

Innovative Farmers of Ohio is a statewide membership organization dedicated to supporting and growing sustainable farms in the state. To be sustainable, farms must be profitable, farmers must be good stewards of the land and rural communities must thrive.

The organization, with the support of Hiram College and its Hiram Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship, will address the notion of how an entrepreneurial approach can lead to successful sustainable farming.

Keynote speaker is Susan Beal, a staff member for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. She will give the presentation “Vital and Vibrant: Farms, Food and Families.”

Three successful Ohio entrepreneurial farmers will conduct breakout sessions to share their stories.

Aaron Miller has a grass-based farm in Trumbull County where beef, poultry, lamb and pork are produced and marketed directly to Cleveland’s top restaurants.

Floyd Davis, a Trumbull County vegetable producer, sells at farmers’ markets and recently has become a supplier for a suburban school district.

Dan and Ann Trudel have created value-added products at their farm in Knox County, where Brussels sprouts and raspberries are used to create award-winning gourmet foods.

Bob Perry from the University of Kentucky will share his work in coordinating food systems and local sources in the farming community.

Trevor Clatterbuck of Fresh Fork Market in Cleveland will share his story of food distribution for a network of farmers in Northeastern Ohio.

In 2010, Fresh Fork had nearly 500 subscribers who purchased a weekly food delivery. Fresh Fork is a virtual farmers’ market that gets the freshest Northeast Ohio farm products to consumers within 24 hours of harvest. You can find out more about Fresh Fork at its website www.freshforkmarket.com.

Interest has been so strong and farmers so eager to sell through this distribution system, that a winter program was launched this year.

Registration for the conference is $35 for nonmembers and $25 for members. Go to the website — www.IFOH.org — for details, including exhibit and sponsorship opportunities and a link to a map of Hiram.