The Local Foods Conference celebrates all aspects of the local food system and our goal is to have learning experiences available for everyone, from growers to processors, retailers, culinary professionals, small business owners, researchers, educators, community organizers, students, and youth. For instance, a sample of presentation topics that will be featured at this year’s conference include: mushroom foraging, grasslands, sheep shearing, produce prescription programs, cooking classes for CSA members, and online marketing.
Our conference will feature 2 keynote speakers: Indigenous culinary expert Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet and Cherokee), who will speak on her Indigikitchen project that utilizes online cooking classes to reimagine Native cuisine. Local celebrity chef Justin Warner, who has appeared on several Food Network programs and will talk about his experience being part of “food television;”.
Friday, November 8th, 2024
- 8:00 am – Registration and Breakfast
- 9:00 am – Breakout Sessions:
- SARE Panel – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
- Youth Led Sustainable and Ethical Beekeeping – Marla BullBear, Lakota Youth Development
- SOYL (Sowing Opportunities for Youth Leadership) Sustainable Agriculture Project – Sharon Oney & Destiny Durham, Youth & Family Services
- Multi-state safe and humane shearing workshops – Jaelyn Whaley, SDSU Extension
- Join the Movement: Farm to School’s Impact and Future in South Dakota Anna Tvedt, SDSU Extension; Megan EisenVos, Dakota Rural Action; Janelle Peterson, SD Department of Eduction; Malisa Nyles, SD Specialty Producers Association – Wells Fargo Theater
- The Fungal Frontier: Advancing Sustainable Agriculture through Mushroom Production and Soil Building in South Dakota Alan Carner, Black Hills – Mushrooms – Stanford Adelstein Gallery
- 10:00 am – Break
- 10:30 am – Keynote: A Recipe for Resilience – Mariah Gladstone, IndigiKitchen – Wells Fargo Theater
- 11:30 am – Lunch
- 12:45pm to 2:15pm – Workshop
- Native Tea Time Mariah Gladstone, IndigiKitchen – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
- 1:00 pm Breakout Sessions:
- The Bear Butte Gardens Local Food Aggregation Model Michelle and Rick Grosek, Bear Butte Gardens – Wells Fargo Theater
- South Dakota Grasslands – More Than Just Grass Laura Kahler, South Dakota Grasslands Initiative & Tanse Herrmann, NRCS – Stanford Adelstein Gallery
- 2:30pm to 4:00pm – Workshop
- Spiced Pumpkin – Fall Bouquet Class Jenny Behlings, AAF AIFD PFCI SDCF – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
- 2:30 Breakout Sessions:
- Cultivating Community Through Agritourism: Is it the right step for you? Nancy Kirstein, The Good Earth Farm & Peggy Schlechter, SDSU Community Vitality – Wells Fargo Theater
- Building Resilience in the South Dakota Local Food System Blake Pulse, SDSU Graduate Research Assistant – Stanford Adelstein Gallery
- 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm – Farm Tours:
- Farm to School at Rapid City Catholic School System
- 2101 City Springs Rd Rapid City, SD 57702
- Sacred Storm
- Farm to School at Rapid City Catholic School System
- 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Social Hour
- Live music and food at the Diamond E Collective
- 523 Main St Rapid City, SD 57701
- Live music and food at the Diamond E Collective
Saturday, November 9th, 2024
- 8:00 am – Registration and Breakfast
- 9:00 am – Breakout Sessions:
- Cooking Up Connections Kjersten Oudman, Blue Sky Vegetable Co. & Dr. Joseph Robertson, Mato Ohitika Analytics LLC – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
- Online Marketing – What Trends Work Kristine Reiner, Cash Cow Co-op – Wells Fargo Theater
- Introduction to Beekeeping Bobbi Chambers Wilson, Pasque Flower Beekeeping – Stanford Adelstein Gallery
- Youth – Sensory Local Foods Led by Sydney Trio, McCrory Gardens – Board Room
- 10:30 am – Breakout Sessions:
- Dakota Food Rx: Connecting local foods and healthcare using produce prescriptions Geb Bastian, SDSU Extension & Jared Lukens-Black, Budding Moon Farm – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
- SARE Panel Reducing tillage on SD vegetable farms: What have we learned from the research? Kristine Lang, SDSU Extension; Michelle Grosek, Bear Butte Gardens; Kjersten Oudman, Blue Sky Vegetable Co.; Connor Ruen & Hannah Voye, SDSU Graduate Research Assistants – Wells Fargo Theater
- Wild & Indigenous Foods Akaya (Amanda) Ruiz, Bringing the Sacred Back to the Black Hills HeSapa – Stanford Adelstein Gallery
- Youth – Local Foods & Garden Moves! Led by Anna Tvedt, SDSU Extension – Board Room
- 11:30 am – Lunch
- 1:00 pm – KEYNOTE
- Everything You Wanted To Know About Food Television But Were Afraid To Ask Celebrity Chef Justin Warner – Wells Fargo Theater
- Youth – Creative Hour Led by Sydney Trio, McCrory Gardens – Board Room
- 2:15 pm – Closing Culminating the Connections
A Special Thank You To Our 2024 Sponsors Who Helped Make This Event Happen
Heirloom Sponsors: Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op, SDSU Extension Horticulture;
Perennial Sponsor: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service;
Cultivator Sponsors: McCrory Gardens; Pollinator Sponsors: SDSU Extension Food, Families, and Wellness, Dakota Fresh Food Hub; Seedling Sponsors: Dakota Rural Action, Happy Tracks Heritage Farm, R5DC | North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center, SD Farm to School-DOE, SD Planning Districts, South Dakota Specialty Producers Association, USDA- Farm Service Agency;
Thank you to all on the Coalition conference planning committee who have helped so far with the conference, including members from Dakota Rural Action, South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension, McCrory Gardens, Cash Cow Co-op, Southeast Council of Governments, USDA Natural Resource and Conservation Service, and the North Central Regional Food Business Center.
