Farmer Forums
The 2012 Farmer Forum
featuring Chris Blanchard of Rock Spring Farm
On Saturday, March 10, 2012, Green City Market and Kendall College will host Chris Blanchard for two back-to-back presentations on growing and organizing your small farm business.
Join us at Kendall College, 900 N. Branch St. Chicago IL, for this unique educational event!
Schedule:
2:30- 4 PM Scaling up to Fill the Plate: Sizing your Vegetable Operation with Chris Blanchard
4:30- 6 PM Capturing and Organizing Data for Organic Certification, GAPs compliance and Other Endeavors with Chris Blanchard
6- 7:30PM Reception in the Kendall College Wine Room
This event is FREE FOR GREEN CITY VENDORS and open to other farmers' market vendors and CSA farms in our region for only $10! Space is limited, so e-mail admin@greencitymarket.org with "Farmer Forum" in the subject line to reserve tickets today! Tell your friends! Complimentary parking will be available for cars, trucks and small vans. There will be ample street parking for larger vehicles.
Chris Blanchard owns and operates Rock Spring Farm, with fifteen acres of certified organic vegetable, herb, and greenhouse production north of Decorah, Iowa, selling produce year-round through a 200-member CSA, food stores, and a farmers market since 1999. Prior to 1999, Chris managed student farms, worked as an intern, packing house manager, plant breeding assistant, and farm manager, and provided consulting for a major organic processor, in California, Wisconsin, Maine, and Washington state. Under the banner of Flying Rutabaga Works, Chris' workshops about farm business concepts, food safety, organic vegetable production, and scaling up to farmers throughout the country have gained a reputation for fresh approaches, down-to-earth information, and honesty. He also co-directs the MOSES Organic Farming Conference. Check out Chris at http://www.rsfarm.com/ and http://www.flyingrutabagaworks.com/.
Scaling up to Fill the Plate: Sizing Your Vegetable Operation - With pressure from every direction to scale up market farming operations to meet the growing demand for local food, growers need to consider their goals, roles, capacity, and skills. Join Chris Blanchard for an exploration of the challenges and opportunities in expanding your market farm.
Special thanks to the Liberty Prairie Foundation for their generous support of the 2012 Farmer Forum.
The Liberty Prairie Foundation is a leader in developing and supporting enterprises that build and strengthen our local food system. The Farm Business Development Center, a business incubator program, is one of several programs located at the Foundation’s 100-acre certified organic farm in the Prairie Crossing conservation community in Grayslake, Illinois. The incubator program provides land, infrastructure, and learning resources to help beginning farmers develop the entrepreneurial skills, farming knowledge and market networks needed to become successful farmers.
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