Organicology Conference to Feature One-Day Sustainability Course

The inaugural Organicology conference, scheduled for Feb. 26 to Feb. 28 in Portland, Ore., is devoting the first day of the event to an intensive course on implementing sustainability. The program is included in the overall agenda for registered Organicology participants or as a single day breakout session for anyone involved in any aspect of food and agriculture, including grocery retail, foodservice, farmers, manufacturers, and distributors.

Lectures, panels, and interactive workshops will focus on helping attendees integrate the ideals and practices of integrating sustainability into their operational models. Among the day's activities, business strategist and environmentalist Gil Friend, president and c.e.o. of Natural Logic, Inc., will lead an interactive workshop on the principles of sustainability and systems thinking in business design, and Frederick Kirschenmann, a Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, will present research on the specific ways food and agriculture is likely to be affected by climate change, increasing energy prices, water issues, and other trends.

Complementing the day's learning will be a panel of four organic industry leaders sharing know-how on executing sustainable practices in their various business environments: Elysa Hammond, ecologist and founder of sustainability programs at Clif Bar; Albert Straus, founder of Straus Family Creamery; Diana Crane, sustainability director at PCC Natural Markets in Seattle; and Ron Katz, founder of Organic Apparel.

The one-day Sustainability Business Intensive costs $400. For more information or to register online, visit www.tilth.org/organicology or call (503) 378-0690.

Organicology was founded by Oregon Tilth, a certifier for organics, and a nonprofit research and education membership organization dedicated to biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture; Organic Seed Alliance, which supports the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of agricultural seed; the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association, which works to foster sustainable business practices in the organic food trade through educational programming and annual reporting by member businesses; and employee and grower-owned Organically Grown Company, the largest organic fresh produce purveyor in the Pacific Northwest.