From climate change to wedding flowers, this January event aims to educate, inspire and delight.
They’ve been the top stories of 2019 — and likely will be for years to come: Climate change. The disappearance of family farms. How to eat sustainably. The connection between nutrition and wellness. Unleashing the potential of hemp. Biodiversity in our foods. Cutting food waste. Honey bees in crisis.
For three days in January, the 21st annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference will dig deep into these issues, hosting top-seeded speakers such as Bettina Ring, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, sustainable farming expert and author of the book “Resilient Agriculture, Laura Lengnick, and Food Network’s Chopped Champion Tanya Cauthen.
Boasting 48 sessions and more than 40 speakers from across Virginia and beyond, the Saturday through Monday event also aims to inspire and delight, offering yoga sessions, tips for making okra marshmallows, a blueprint for gardening with kids, how-to sessions on backyard vegetable growing and a primer for planting wedding flowers.
One standout for foodies: The conference is hosting a free and open-to-the-public sample-and-sales showcase on Sunday, Jan. 12. The Taste of Virginia Expo and Market will gather two dozen makers of food, libations, handicrafts and herbals. Cauthen, of Belmont Butchery in Richmond, will lead a local food cooking demonstration during the event.
Expect to find Virginia-grown maple syrup, herbal infusions, gourmet jellies and culinary blends, hand carved items, lavender products, mustards, salsas and sauces, as well as birdseed wreaths and homemade lip balm.
“The last couple of years it’s really been kind of expansive,” says VABF president Brent Wills. “We wanted to showcase what our members do to an audience that’s interested in supporting small, local, diversified farms.”
Saturday night, author and filmmaker Charles D. Thompson Jr. will screen his latest project “Homeplace Under Fire: The Farm Advocate Story,” which was produced by Farm Aid. This event is also free and open to the public.
After stops in Richmond and Hot Springs, 2020 is the first time the conference will be held in Roanoke. Also this year, organizers worked with host Hotel Roanoke to cook with local food grown by VABF member farms for the conference’s catered meals.
The event is Virginia’s premier gathering of organic farmers, gardeners, foodies, educators, advocates and supporters of sustainable agriculture. Over the past few years, VABF leaders have made it a priority to reach an ever-widening circle.
“I think what we’re starting to understand is that the health of our soil, the health of our farming practices ultimately determines the health of us as humans,” says Wills. “Sort of our unofficial slogan for this year is: ‘Healthy soils grow healthy people.’”
Other topics that will be tackled: How to start a community food forest, landscaping with edible plants, raising backyard chickens and rabbits, growing African ethnic vegetables, cultivating medicinal mushrooms and saving seeds.
“If I had to sum it up,” says Wills, “I would say: Everybody eats. We are trying to educate society as a whole about where their food comes from and how it’s raised.”
The Virginia Biological Farming Conference will be held at Hotel Roanoke from Saturday, Jan. 11, through Monday, Jan. 13. For more information and to buy tickets, head to vabf.org.
About the Writer:
Christina Nifong is a writer with a decades-long career profiling interesting people, places and ideas. She’s recently launched a new email newsletter focused on life in the slow lane, called Nourishing Stories. Sign up and find more of her work at christinanifong.com.
