Join us for morning continental breakfast, and check in to see announcements for the day, venue map, and more!

Listen in for conference announcements and a warm welcome from the GrowRIVERSIDE team!

Join us for a tantalizing morning keynote from farmer and mentor Javier Zamora. Zamora was born in Michoacan, Mexico, and from age 7, Javier helped tend the family’s vegetable plot and worked in his school’s 5 acre garden. Javier came to Los Angeles at age 20 where he earned his landscaping degree from San Joaquin Delta College and his organic production degree from Cabrillo College and trained at the Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) in Salinas. After completing these rigorous programs, Javier started his farming career on an acre and one-half of organic ground. Today, he is now the proud owner and operator of JSM Organics, cultivating 29 acres of strawberries and unique varieties of vegetables, farms over 100 acres in the Salinas Valley, and mentors seven first generation farmers. Through his mentoring, new farmers have learned where to get financial help, how to look for land, and what resources are available for access to be successful.

Track 1: Rooted in Riverside
Session 1: Made Local in Your Home Kitchen
It's easy to think about making and selling jam from your bumper berry crop, but it's another thing to actually do it legally.  Learn the proper ways to make and sell cottage foods from your kitchen.
Speakers: Isaac O'leary (Foodnome), and Betsy Barone (Riverside County Department of Environmental Health)

Track 2: Urban Agribusiness Development
Session 1: Dig Deep Into Farm Financing
Farm financing and business skills are one of the best ways to manage and mitigate financial risk on your farm. We are ready to help you do just that!
Speakers: Alison Paap (American AgCredit), Paula Musky (Arlan Knudson Insurance Agency), Scott Berndt (Fox Farm), and Carla Panzera (Accion)

Track 3: The Workings of a Sustainable Farm
Session 1: Challenges and Opportunities for Starting an Urban Farm
Get skills to move from survival mode to a more proactive understanding of what your farm needs to thrive, and discuss in frank details the highs, the lows and the in-betweens of urban farming.
Speaker: Joel Salatin (Keynote Speaker)

Track 4: Community Health, Food Justice, and Equity
Session 1: Food Justice and Equity through Community Farms
Learn about how community farms are making it possible for our local residents to practice sustainable farming while reaping the benefits of economic security and food justice.
Speaker: Patrick Mitchell (Five Keys), Arthur Levine (Huerta del Valle), and Maria Alonso (Huerta Del Valle)

Track 1: Rooted in Riverside
Session 2: Selling Safe Produce
Knowing the basics of the Food Safety Modernization Act will aid you in growing and selling safe produce.
Speakers: Donna Clements (Produce Safety Alliance) and Deborah Ghamlouch (Farmer)

Track 2: Urban Agribusiness Development
Session 2: Selling at Farmers Markets
This session will cover what it takes to participate in and be successful at Farmers Markets.
Speakers: Morton Bernstein (Santa Monica Downtown Farmers Market) and Javier Zamora (Keynote Speaker)

Track 3: Workings of Sustainable Farms
Session 2: Riverside's Northside Urban Agriculture Center
Discover the difference Riverside Food Systems Alliance (RFSA) is making in future farming and sustainable farming at the Northside Agriculture Center.
Speakers: Joyce Jong (City of Riverside), David Villarion Gonzalez (FIELD Institute), Kasey Wilson (UCR), and Britt Steele (Growing Hope Project)

Track 4: Community Health, Food Justice, and Equity
Session 2: Let's Get Serious About Food Recovery and Gleaning
Find out what's happening in Riverside County to divert edible food from being wasted or ending up in our landfills and how it's being rescued for redistribution to people in need.
Speakers: Olivia Sanchez (City of Riverside) and Christy Porter (Hidden Harvest)

Our various food trucks will satisfy your hunger cravings!

Join us in the afternoon for farmer, lecturer, and author, Joel Salatin! Salatin raises livestock using holistic methods of animal husbandry, free of potentially harmful chemicals, on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. He has 12 published books, and has been featured in the New York Times bestseller Omnivore’s Dilemma and award-winning documentary Food Inc.. The farm services more than 5,000 families, 50 restaurants, 10 retail outlets, and a farmers’ market with salad bar, beef, pigaerator pork, pastured poultry, and forestry products, and all meat from the farm is sold by direct-marketing to consumers. When he’s not on the road speaking, he’s at home on the farm, mentoring young people, inspiring visitors, and promoting local, regenerative food and farming systems.

Track 1: Rooted in Riverside
Session 3: Growing for Institutions
Explore the who, what, where, when, and how of what it takes to sell to institutions. Hear what buyers and growers have to say about how to make it work for your farm.
Speakers: Scott Berndt (Fox Farm) and Lisa Marquez (Sunrise Produce Company)

Track 2: Urban Agribusiness Development
Session 3: Co-op Models for Agriculture
How a Growers' Cooperative and Consumers' Cooperative will help your Urban Agribusiness.
Speakers: Luis Sierra (CA Center for Cooperative Development) and Sue Struthers (Riverside Food Systems Alliance and Riverside Food Co-op)

Track 3: Workings of Sustainable Farms
Session 3: Successful Backyard Farming
Turn your backyard into a profitable, small-scale, urban farm.
Speaker: Joel Salatin (Keynote Speaker)

Track 4: Community Health, Food Justice, and Equity
Session 3: The ABCs of Food Access Programs
Learn about what's on the menu in the SNAP/CalFresh, WIC, EBT, and Market Match programs and how healthy food access helps our most under-resourced residents secure a healthy diet and help improve the bottom line for our local farms and farmers markets.
Speakers: Aaron Flake (County of Riverside), Socorro Caraveo (County of Riverside), Lorie Brendecke (Riverside University Health Systems), and Lori Butler (Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino)

Discuss the days activities, talk about what's on your mind, or consult with others about best practices!

We conclude our conference with an emphatic call to action, and finish our conference with a big thank you for joining us!

Missed anyone you were looking to network with? We have your back. Talk agriculture and visit our vendors before the conference concludes!

Grab your fork and knife, the Citrus Circle Farm-to-Fork Dinner is back! Enjoy an evening of entertainment, local food, and drinks at Jensen Alvarado Historic Ranch. This is a fundraiser dinner where proceeds support the GrowRIVERSIDE Intiative. Buy Tickets