Deputy Secretary Merrigan will travel to Chicago, Illinois to keynote the “The Many Faces of Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” conference on Friday, February 3, 2012. This one-day conference is coordinated by USDA’s Illinois Rural Development and Food and Nutrition Service Midwest Offices. It will offer organizations, state and federal economic development institutions and businesses an opportunity to learn about successful models to develop local and regional food systems as part of a broader economic development strategy. Attendees will also learn about resources available from USDA to support this work.
The conference, which will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will focus on the job-creation potential of regional food systems and how USDA’s efforts through the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative have helped spur economic growth. Speakers include: Illinois State Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development; the CEO of the Farm Credit Administration; President and Founder of FamilyFarmed.org; and the VP of Sustainable Agriculture, Sysco Corporation, among others. Discussion topics range from Financing Local Foods and Best Practices to Urban Opportunities. The Deputy Secretary will be the keynote speaker at the opening session.
Several local representatives of USDA will participate in this conference as well. In compliance with House Report #112- 284, USDA has calculated the total combined travel costs to be approximately $1800.00 for the 5 local and traveling USDA staff attending and we are including this information with this posting. As well, please see link below for full agenda:
http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/events/2012/know_your_food.cfm#
While in Chicago, the Deputy will also host a Know Your Farmer/Energy, Environment and Conservation roundtable with local leaders interested in the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative and USDA’s programs that support the President’s vision for a new era for American-made renewable energy by working with scientists, farmers and entrepreneurs to help develop a nationwide biofuels economy that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
