May 17, 2018 @ 2:00 pm – May 19, 2018 @ 5:00 pm
DESCRIPTION
Back To Your Roots 2018 is pleased to bring you three internationally renowned Masters in their fields, Dr. Chuck Fluharty, President & CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute, Jean-Martin Fortier, Farmer & Author, The Market Gardener, and Joel Salatin, Third Generation Farmer & Author: You Can Farm, Salad Bar Beef, Pastured Poultry Profits and Many More.
THE NEED: REBUILD OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM, THE BACKBONE OF RURAL ECONOMIES
Families would become self-sufficient, communities would thrive and the earth would be more wholesome.
THE FACTS: PERSISTENT POVERTY IS STIFLING OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES
- The median household income in Louisiana is $12,471 less than the U.S. median household income.
- Over 20 percent of the population lives in poverty
- Farmers are aging and small family farms are dying off because of the notion that you cannot make a living farming.
THE ANSWER: EMPOWER A NEW GENERATION OF FARMERS WITH MODELS THAT ARE FINANCIALLY LUCRATIVE, REPLICABLE AND SCALABLE TO INFUSE INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The goals of the conference are:
- Advance sustainable agriculture as a tool for community revitalization in parishes facing persistent poverty by rebuilding the local food system and supporting other creative placemaking initiatives.
- Educate the public on the environmental benefits of organic production and the mutually beneficial programs provided by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- Inspire a new generation of farmers and dispel the myth that you cannot make money farming!
