2015 Conference

The 2nd Annual GrowRIVERSIDE Conference:

“The Future of Local Food” – June 11th & 12th

GrowRIVERSIDE: The Future of Local Food was presented by Seedstock in partnership with the City of Riverside will examine the city’s initial steps to build its local food system as well as explore through keynotes, plenary discussions and breakout sessions, the agricultural methodologies and business models to further strengthen the community, environment and economy.

Event Date: June 11 – 12 with Community Day on June 13, 2015
Location: Riverside Convention Center

2nd Annual GrowRIVERSIDE Conference

Attendees convened at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, CA for a series of keynotes, plenary discussions and breakout sessions that explored the following focus areas:

  • Production – Increasing local food production in a sustainable manner; Economically viable urban farming business models; Innovative growing technologies
  • New Business Creation – Creating new farming enterprises and food businesses; creating additional capacity in the form of new farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs
  • Local Food Sales and the Marketplace – Understanding what buyers want; investigation of the various local food sales channels
  • Community Impact – Local food access for all; food policy to benefit community, economy and environment; health impact

2nd Annual Citrus Circle Dinner – Thursday, June 11 from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

The 2nd Annual Citrus Circle Dinner took place at the California Citrus State Historic Park and highlighted local food in Riverside as well as feature networking, live music and a keynote presentation on the benefits of urban agriculture and building the local food marketplace.

Select Confirmed Speakers:

  • Mark Winne– Co-founder, Connecticut Food Policy Council 
  • Robert Egger– Founder and President of L.A. Kitchen
  • Dwight Detter– Local Forager for Whole Foods Market
  • Rodney K. Taylor– Director of Nutrition Services, for the Riverside Unified School District
  • Robert Tse– State Broadband Coordinator for USDA CA Rural Development
  • Erika Block– Local Orbit
  • Viviana Franco– From Lot To Spot
  • Bob Knight– Founder of Inland Orange Conservancy and Old Grove Orange, Inc.
  • Rishi Kumar– Founder of The Growing Home
  • David Rosenstein– Ourfoods, Founder of EVO Farm and Chair of the Aquaponics Association – Western Region
  • Pierre Sleiman– Founder of Go Green Agriculture
  • Krysia Zajonc– CEO and Co-founder of Local Food Lab
  • Jim Bergantz– Sales Engineer at Agra Tech, Inc.
  • Mateo Aguilar– Co-founder of Local Food Lab
  • Hop Hopkins– Co-founder of Panther Ridge Farm

2nd Annual Grow Riverside Conference – Community Day (June 13)

Intended for the citizens of Riverside, but open to all, Community Day was FREE to all attendees and offered opportunities for farmers and Riverside residents to connect and help build our shared food future in a fun and collaborative hands on setting. Community Day also offered a series of hands on workshops including:

  • How to grow food at home
  • Starting a Cottage Food Business
  • Water Saving Techniques
  • Pest Management that is kid friendly
  • CA native plants that WOW

… and more!