The USDA Nebraska Food and Agriculture Council in cooperation with U.S. Congressman Brad Ashford, invites you to attend, the first conference of its kind in the Omaha Metro Area, the ‘Local Foods for Local Tables’ conference. The event will be on August 14, 2015, at the Dining Hall of the Omaha Home for Boys, located at 4343 N. 52nd Street in Omaha, Neb. from 9 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Keynote speakers will be Anne L. Alonzo, USDA administrator for Agricultural Marketing Service, and Brian O’Malley, chef instructor and interim executive director at the Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metro Community College.
The purpose of the conference is to highlight Local/Urban Foods Initiatives in the Greater Omaha Area with a focus on technical, financial and educational support services available through USDA agencies and partners.
Partners in the conference include: United States Department of Agriculture, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, Nebraska Extension, Omaha Home for Boys and the Omaha Planning Department Housing and Community Development.
The conference is open to the public and begins with registration check-in starting at 9 a.m. There will be two roundtable sessions on production, distribution and consumption of local and urban grown foods. Tours, interactive displays and an open house of the Cooper Farm Urban Agriculture Education Center will follow from 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. at 8502 Mormon Bridge Road.
Members of the press are invited to attend both the media event at 9:05 a.m., the conference and the afternoon tour but should register – as the conference will only accommodate 180 individuals. Both media and the public may pre-register by contacting the USDA Farm Service Agency by phone at 402-437-5581 or contacting Gina Germer at gina.germer@ne.usda.gov or Sarah Heidzig-Kraeger at sarah.kraeger@ne.usda.gov. Once registration reaches occupancy level, registrations will end so please register as soon as possible. Lunch will be provided courtesy of Farm Credit Services of America.