A Local Food Connections Workshop will be held Saturday, November 10, 2012, from 9am -4:00 pm at the Sedgwick County Extension Center in Wichita, sponsored by the Our Local Food-South Central Chapter. Local producers, grocers, restauranteurs, institutional food buyers, other food businesses, and locavores (supporters of local food) are invited to attend this daylong event that will focus on networking, and building marketing skills and business relationships to simplify these challenges. 

Local food connections can be the most challenging step for food businesses and producers interested in making local food an option for consumers. For consumers it can sometimes be challenging to find local food, especially year round. Busy schedules can add yet another tier to the challenge.

Featured morning workshop sessions will cover the following topics: Planning Crops for Consistent Yields, Regulations of Selling & Buying Animal Products, Post-Harvest Handling, Liability Insurance for Market Farms, Niche Marketing for Livestock Products, Nose-to-Tail Meat Use, Local Food as a Marketing Tool, Love Local Food, Eating by the Calendar, and Preserving the Harvest. 

In the afternoon a panel of local food buyers and growers will provide opportunity for questions about buying and selling local food. Diana Endicott of Good Natured Family Farms in Kansas will be the featured keynote afternoon speaker.

Cost to attend is $25 for members of the Our Local Food program and $35 for non-members, which includes a local food lunch. Registration and a full schedule can be found at www.kansasruralcenter.org. The registration deadline is November 7, 2012.

For questions about the event or membership status, contact Natalie Fullerton, Our Local Food – South Central Coordinator, at 402-310-0177, southcentral@ourlocalfoodks.org. 

Our Local Food is a network of local farms, farmers markets, food businesses, and consumers committed to increasing the diversity, production, and sales of fresh, local foods in Kansas.  For more information about Our Local Food visit www.ourlocalfoodks.org