Registration Open for Long Island Food Conference

The North Shore Land Alliance and Hofstra University will host the Long Island Food Conference, to be held at Hofstra University on Saturday, April 25th from 8am to 5:30pm. This seminal event is a forum to educate people about growing food, making healthy and sustainable food choices, and incorporating broader policies and programs that affect our food sources in our communities. Plenary speaker Stephen Ritz will kick off the event by sharing inspiring stories of how he has helped community families grow more than 30,000 pounds of vegetables in the Bronx through his organization Green Bronx Machine. Mr. Ritz was recently named a 2015 Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize. Along with the workshops and networking forums held throughout the day, Mr. Ritz will bring a great deal of knowledge about urban and suburban growing to the audience. Over the course of the daylong conference, workshops and panels will be led by local educators and professionals on various subjects from composting to hydroponic gardening. Featured workshops include: “From Hive to Table: Basic Beekeeping Practices and Honey Extraction,” “Garden Gold: Best Soil Practices and Composting,” “From Seed to Superfood: Eating Locally on Long Island Year-Round” and “Community Garden Toolkit Essentials.” There will also be farm and food related exhibitors, including local CSA farms and service gardens, who will share information about programs and products, and plenty of interactive kid’s activities too. Partners of the event also include the Long Island Group of the Sierra Club, EcoScraps, Edible Magazine, Slow Food Huntington and iEatGreen. Admission to the Long Island Food Conference is $25 for adults, $15 for college students, and free for Hofstra students and children. For more information about the conference please visit www.lifoodconference.com or contact North Shore Land Alliance at 516-626-0908.