Released October 26, 2009
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- Utah State University Extension co-sponsors the Urban Farming Conference Monday, Nov. 16, at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W. 3100 S. in West Valley City.
The conference is designed to support the growth and vitality of urban farmers working along the Wasatch Front by providing information from small sustainable farm and ranch experts from Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Montana.
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon will give opening remarks and Salt Lake County Commissioner Jim Bradley is the keynote speaker. Workshop topics include scaling up to larger markets, farm to school, creating partnerships in marketing and a panel discussion on the face of urban farming.
“We are seeing a new trend in our parks, community gardening and urban farming,” said Corroon. “In the new parks Salt Lake County purchased, we will set aside land for farming or gardening. In our existing regional parks, we are now master planning in areas for community gardens.”
He said community gardens increase residents’ sense of community ownership and stewardship, provide a focus for neighborhood activities and expose inner-city youth to nature. They also connect people from diverse cultures, reduce crime by cleaning up vacant lots and build community leaders. He said there has been an especially keen interest from the refugee population who grow some of their native plants and vegetables in the community gardens.
Bradley said it is the wave of the future as governments transform wasted resources into opportunities to produce food and fuel for their communities.
“This effort is also important because it can save taxpayer money while still allowing for protected open space,” he said. “For Salt Lake County, this program makes a lot of sense. We make land available and let farmers do the rest.”
There are approximately 580 family farms located on 107,000 acres in Salt Lake County. Sustained development in the county is quickly transforming remaining farmland and open space into neighborhoods and shopping centers. Many citizens of Salt Lake County are becoming keenly aware of the negative impacts on their local economy and environment as food production moves farther from the place of consumption. The conference will address these issues and will provide a broad range of information and ideas.
Additional conference co-sponsors include Salt Lake County, the Southwest Marketing Network, the National Center for Appropriate Technology, the Western Rural Development Center, USDA Risk Management, the Utah Office of USDA Rural Development and Utah’s Own.
Admission is $25 per person and includes conference materials and lunch. On-site registration the day of the conference is $35 per person and is on a first-come, first-served basis and can only be paid for with cash or check. Visit http://wrdc.usu.edu/urbanfarming for further registration information.
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