January 21st through January 23rd, Jessica Smith attended and spoke at the Horticulture Congress in Indianapolis. Though I was unable to attend due to my school schedule, these conference events are by far my favorite aspect of being involved in a small business. They allow for a sense of unity, in that many people are getting together to discuss local food, health foods, small business or horticulture (not to mention you can occasionally find some sort of tasty food sample).
In addition, they make for wonderful opportunities to meet and educate new farmers. Processors and marketers are the face of the good foods movement, but farmers are the real power behind it. It is our job to support these farmers by helping to educate them and the consumer so that we can sell their product.
We plan to continue our outreach at several conferences throughout the year. Farmer outreach and consumer education are fundamental principles in our business plan, and we take them very seriously. We help others learn, as we learn ourselves, as we continue our work in good food!
Conner Smith