Homegrown Prosperity

Homegrown Prosperity

Thursday, September 14^th
5:00-9:00pm
Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at the Kaufmann Center

Homegrown Prosperity will celebrate the great promise of food to connect people and grow strong communities, and highlight the farmers and community leaders who are leading this groundbreaking work. Now, more than ever, we need the ingenuity and hard work of farmers to reinvigorate local economies. In Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, rural and urban citizens are showing a way forward: building food systems together that revitalize economies, create meaningful jobs and refortify the fabric of their communities.

In the context of shrinking state and federal budgets, national Farm Bill negotiations, and a need for collective visioning that brings people together, we will:

• Elevate a vision for a more just, resilient and durable economy rooted in family farm agriculture and good food.
• Underscore the role of public institutions in fostering opportunities for farmers to thrive on their land and build new markets, and for eaters to access healthy food and participate in the culture of agriculture.
• Engage a new and broader audience in the food and farming conversation
• Elevate the profile of family farmers and community leaders in the festival region.

Featured Speakers include:

• Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding
• Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto
• Braddock Mayor John Fetterman
• Earl Gohl, Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chair
• Dawn Plummer, Pittsburgh Food Policy Council and PSU Extension Panelists
• Leslie Schaller, Director of Programs, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet)
• Raqueeb Bey, Black Urban Gardeners (BUGS), Farmers of Pittsburgh Co- op, and Grow Pittsburgh
• Sky Harman, Harmony Farm
• Maureen Hogan, District Director, Penn State Extension of Allegheny County, Penn State Center Pittsburgh

Draft Agenda:

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Community at the Confluence

Friday, September 15^th
8:30am – 12:30pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Pittsburgh Airport

When Farm Aid comes to town, food and farm leaders from the festival region get to connect with each other and with leaders from across the country who join us each year.

Draft Agenda: