A very special thank you to all of those that participated in this year’s 2024 South Dakota Local Foods Conference! It is our hope you had a great time cultivating community connections through various discussions, workshops and keynotes centered around the importance of supporting local foods systems and producers!
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.
Our conference planning committee works year round to put on this locally sourced grassroots event. Please share your feedback with our conference planning team to better the user experience for future guests.
Please share your experience with us by filling out this short evaluation survey.
SDSU Registration Crew!The Pioneer RoomThe Journey Museum ArtAttendeesAttendeesSARE PanelAttendeesPumpkins supplied by Garden of Weedin’ FarmAttendeesTable DecorGeb, our guide for this year’s event! SDSU Horticulture TableJenny Behlings Flower Center PieceBreadroot TableSARE TableAttendeesBreakfastNell’s Gourmet BreakfastBreakfastTable Decor Drawn by 2nd GradersAttendeesAlan Carter, Blackhills MushroomsAttendees Farm To School Farm To School Farm To School Delicious BreakfastDelicious BreakfastDelicious BreakfastMama’s Batch GranolaUSDA NRCS TableDakota Food Fresh TableTable Decor Drawn by 2nd GradersKeynote: Mariah GladstoneKeynote: Mariah GladstoneAttendeesKeynote: Mariah GladstoneKeynote: Mariah GladstoneKeynote: Mariah GladstoneBear Butte Gardens AggregationGeb and his new pet!Listening Session with Blake PulseListening Session with Blake PulseAttendees Dakota Rx Program with Geb and Jared.Pupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopOur Pumpkin Winner! Pupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPupmkin WorkshopPumpkin Winner AnnouncementFirst, second and third place! First, second and third place! First, second and third place!
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
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 GrassLaura 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
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm– Social Hour
Live music and food at the Diamond E Collective
523 Main St Rapid City, SD 57701
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
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
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.
Native Tea Time Workshop with Mariah Gladstone, Piikuni (Blackfeet) and Tsalagi (Cherokee)
Connections Across the Generations
Friday, November 8th, 2024 – 12:45-2:15pm MT – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
For thousands of years, Indigenous people have hunted, fished, farmed and foraged for food on this continent. Mariah practices many of those traditions today and teaches others how to incorporate indigenous foods into their contemporary diets.
She will bring a variety of plants she has grown and foraged that have traditionally been used to make tea, such as cedar, yarrow and mint. She will make some teas for participants to sample, then work with them to create their own personalized teas to take home. Throughout this hands-on workshop, Mariah will also discuss traditional Native foodways, changes that took place with colonization, and what is happening with the Indigenous Food Movement today.
Mariah Gladstone, Piikuni (Blackfeet) and Tsalagi (Cherokee), grew up in Northwest Montana on and near the Blackfeet Reservation. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Environmental Engineering and returned home where she began her work on food advocacy. She developed Indigikitchen, an online cooking platform, to revitalize and re-imagine Native foods. She then earned a Master’s degree at SUNY-ESF in the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Mariah has been recognized as a Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow. She has shared the importance of reconnecting to traditional foods at events throughout North America and abroad, as well as through appearances on the Today Show, CBC, and more.
Spiced Pumpkin – Fall Bouquet Class Flower Arranging Workshop with Jenny Behlings
Connections Across the Generations
Friday, November 8th, 2024 – 2:30 – 4:00 pm MT – The Joe Rovere | Minnilusa Pioneer Room
Spiced Pumpkin Fall Bouquet Class by Jenny Behlings. Hands on floral design class creating a fall centerpiece featuring a fresh pumpkin and dried flowers. Make, Display and take home. This workshop has a $10 fee. Registration required, limited to 20 attendees.
Jenny Behlings trained in floral design and greenhouse management at the University of Minnesota – Waseca then owned and operated a flower shop in Custer, SD for 35 years. She is certified through the American Institute of Floral Design and the Society of American Florists. She has designed at the White House; for national, state, and local events; and many, many weddings!
