“Grow Riverside: Citrus and Beyond!”
Presented in partnership with the City and Community of Riverside by Seedstock, this social venture focused on the development of urban agriculture strategies and solutions that cities, such as Riverside, can use to reconnect with their agricultural roots and create economic opportunities that citizens, growers, advocates, government officials, and other major stakeholders can leverage to foster a robust and sustainable local food future.
Event Date: Wednesday and Thursday, March 19-20
Location: Riverside Convention Center
This event featured a broad lineup of speakers ranging from urban agriculture entrepreneurs, USDA representatives from the Farm Service Agency, Rural Development program and Natural Resources Conservation Service to investors, funding and policy experts, sustainable farmers and aquaponics practitioners and buyers and distributors of local produce; and covered a variety of topics, including: Local Agriculture Grow Strategies, Urban Agriculture Policy, The Market Opportunity for Urban Agriculture, Innovative and Economically Viable Small-scale Agriculture Solutions and more!
Speakers included:
- Richard Conlin– Former Seattle City Councilman and Creator of Seattle’s ‘Local Food Action Initiative’
- Curt Covington– Managing Director, Agribusiness Banking Division for Bank of the West
- Don Nishiguchi– Regional Local Produce Buyer, Southern Pacific Region for Whole Foods Market
- Pierre Sleiman– Founder of Go Green Agriculture
- Val Dolcini– State Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA)
- Representative Mark Takano– California’s 41st Congressional District
- Rickey Smith– Founder of Urban Green
- Martin Anenberg– Founder of So Cal Farm Network
- David Rosenstein– Founder of EVO Farm and Chair of the Aquaponics Association – Western Region
- Ronaldo Fierro– Owner, Salted Pig and W. Wolfskill
- Colin and Karen Archipley– Founders of Archi’s Acres and the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training program (VSAT)
- Glenda Humiston– California State Director for U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development
- Etaferahu Takele– County Director/Area Advisor Farm Management/Agricultural Economics
- Leah Di Bernardo– Co-leader of Slow Food Temecula Valley and Exec. Chef & Founder of E.A.T. Extraordinary Artisan Table
- Gregg Warren– American AgCredit
- Rodney K. Taylor– Director of Nutrition Services, for the Riverside Unified School District
- Gabriel Ruiz– Unity Farm
- Clay Monroe– Principal Account Manager for the City of Riverside Public Utilities Department
- Milt McGiffen– Cooperative Extension Vegetable Crops Specialist & Plant Physiologist
- Mark Hoddle– Director, Center for Invasive Species at UC Riverside
- Bob Knight– Founder of Inland Orange Conservancy and Old Grove Orange, Inc.
- Fortino Morales III– Community Garden Coordinator at University of California, Riverside
- Don Webber– Partner, Cultivating Good, Inc. and Owner of Harvest 2U
- Erika Block– Local Orbit
- John Gless– Gless Ranch
- Robert Hewitt– USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- . . . And more!