Excitement is mounting and those of us involved in the North Dakota Farmers’ Market & Growers Association, are counting down the days until the local foods conference.

This celebration of all things local foods is how a small, but determined group of individuals set out to make sure this year’s conference is something special.

We started planning this event last November and we only recently put the lid on the schedule. It will be held March 21-23 in the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck that starts off with an hors d’oeuvres social, followed by a full schedule of events the following two days.

We’re also going to have some surprises that won’t be revealed in this article, so you’ll just have to come to find out. The conference is open to the public.

Our keynote speaker, Christy Rost, who is a nationally known chef and TV personality, decided to have a book signing as well. Her cookbook “At Home With Christy Rost” will be the featured cookbook.

We’ve also been talking to young people about getting involved in this organization. Many of us are aging and we’d like to transition to the next generation of local foods producers. We think that’s important so we’ve set up a panel of young people in their 20s who already have experience either in farmers’ markets or growing garden vegetables and flowers.

In addition, we are short one director on the board and would love to see someone from southeast North Dakota step forward and fill that position. We’re having our annual meeting during the conference so someone new could be elected to the board. Several other board members’ positions are up for re-election. We’d love nothing more than to have new people challenge for those positions.

One of the things I’ve learned personally since November, in visiting people across the state, is our organization has lacked an important element in local foods and that’s education.

One-hundred percent of the people that I have met, spoken with on the telephone or have had communications with in emails, have all said conference attendance would be better if we offered educational opportunities.

We listened and we believe we’ve done a good job of providing that in the seminars. Food safety, soil health, how to market your items properly at a farmers’ market, hands on wellness, farm to school, market display, feeding your community and others are all on the agenda.

And this is just the beginning. Some of us are already working on the 2025 conference to secure speakers and sponsorships. We’ve heard the membership loud and clear and those educational opportunities are going to continue into the future.
Attendance has been down in the past five years because of limited educational opportunities. Take a look at the schedule yourself on the NDFMGA website. We think this is a really good start and now that we are gaining some traction back, the sky is the limit.

As an example, I’ve found out through enquiries there are people all across this nation who are willing to come to North Dakota if it can help. What I didn’t know is these people set their schedules well in advance and that’s why 2025 is already on the radar.

As an example, we’ve booked a speaker for next year who has spent a career in growing plants and flowers in greenhouses. I’m also in communications with professors at the University of Vermont, UC-Davis and Michigan State University regarding their expertise on local foods.

But for now, we look forward to March 21-23. There’s something for everyone at this conference, we’ve insisted upon it. And, we’ve opened it up to the public so anyone who is interested in local foods, may register and join us.

Details may be found at (ndfarmersmarkets.org). You can register and pay for it online and a complete schedule is listed so you are aware of the individual events.
Hope to see you there.