Grow Your Food Business at the 2017 Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting

Sustainable ConnectionsWhat: 2017 NW WA Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting
When: Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 8:30am-5pm
Where: Bellingham Technical College
Registration and Details: www.sustainableconnections.org
Price: Early bird –  Sustainable Connections members $39, non-members $49

The Northwest Washington Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting, a one-day conference for food and farming businesses of all kinds to connect, network, and learn, will be held February 21, 2017.

The Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting is one of the leading food and farming businesses conferences held in our region, generating approximately $500,000 in new business to business sales each year. The Trade Meeting fosters direct connections between regional farmers, fishermen, food artisans, restaurants, grocers, and all others interested in sourcing local ingredients or selling local food. There will be facilitated networking, one-on-one consultations for food buyers and sellers, and a number of educational workshops.

The theme of this year’s conference will be The Future of Local: the power of storytelling and collective marketing. There will be ample opportunity for local food business owners, from farmers to restaurateurs, to learn how to increase their businesses’ success and resiliency with workshops like:

•         The Power of Many: Co-ops, collectives, and collaborative business structures
•         The Skinny on Seafood
•         Packaging and Processing
•         Direct Marketing & Consumer Education
•         On-Farm Food Safety Plans
•         Growing a Sustainable Restaurant or Grocery

In addition, the Northwest Washington Chef’s Collective will be partnering with the Bellingham Technical College Culinary Arts program to create a gourmet and seasonally inspired seven-course lunch for all attendees. Again, early bird registration ends December 15th, pricing and registration can be found on the Sustainable Connections events webpage.