Conventional industrial agriculture is systemically flawed, generating enormous collateral environmental, human and economic damage. To face the challenges of erratic climate, natural resource destruction, increased population, and the hardship economics of farming, we need skilled regenerative farmers and a more localized food system. This session will feature three leading figures working on different aspects of the movement to radically transform agriculture. We will begin with an introductory discussion with the whole group, followed by three separate, simultaneous breakouts: 

1. Regenerative Agriculture: Bringing life back to soils depleted by agrochemicals and destructive practices is the key to ensuring the land’s capacity to produce sufficient amounts of healthy food. With: regenerative agriculture consultant Jonathan Lundgren, owner of Blue Dasher Farm, where he combines cutting-edge science with hands-on experience to remove the barriers to adopting regenerative agriculture.

2. New Farmers: The average age of American farmers is close to 60 years old. Activist-farmer Severine von Tscharner Fleming is the founder and Director of Greenhorns,  a national organization promoting, recruiting and supporting new farmers. She will explore the challenges and triumphs of becoming a farmer, what you need to know if you are contemplating becoming a farmer, and what agricultural reforms are needed to increase new farmers’ chances for success. 

3. Local Food: Michael Ableman, based at Foxglove Farm in British Columbia and co-founder/Director of Sole Food Street Farms, is one of the early visionaries of the urban agriculture movement who has developed urban farms in California and British Columbia; and has worked on and advised dozens of projects throughout North America and the Caribbean. Founder of the nonprofit Center for Urban Agriculture, he is the subject of the award-winning PBS film Beyond Organic narrated by Meryl Streep. His books include: From the Good Earth; On Good Land; Fields of Plentyand Street Farm; Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier.