USA: NOFA Summer Conference

Source: Northeast Organic Farming Association

The NOFA Summer Conference is the largest annual conference on organic growing in the Northeast of the USA, NOFA reports. The annual summer conference is expected to draw over 1200 attendees from across the entire Northeast region this year. It is hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and will take place from 10 to 12 August 2012. NOFA Summer Conference attendees register for a weekend of keynote speeches, over 225 workshops, a country fair, a farmers' market, over 100 exhibitors and vendors, a children's conference, a teen conference, live entertainment and silent auction. 

Workshop topics for 2012 include various topics like alternative energy and the environment; animals, crops, farm economics and management; farming and the community; food and family; food and farm education; food preservation and cooking; politics and policy; practical skills; soil and fertility; and urban agriculture. Most workshops are held in and around the UMass Amherst campus. 

The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) is a community including farmers, gardeners, landscapers and consumers working to educate members and the general public about the benefits of local organic systems based on complete cycles, natural materials, and minimal waste for the health of individual beings, communities and the planet.