SAVANNAH, Georgia – Farmers, industry specialists and education representatives turned out in record numbers for the 2012 Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah Jan. 5-7.

The event, conducted by the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, is the largest educational conference and trade show in the southeast for growers, vendors and suppliers of producing and marketing specialty crops, fruits and vegetables. The event boasted over 100 educational sessions on crops ranging from blueberries to watermelon and also included roadside marketing and food safety programs.

Several sustainable agriculture-related programs were held, including a daylong track on organic production. Topics covered included strategies for managing nutsedge, managing diseases in cucurbits, modifying cultivation equipment for larger scale organic production, and Natural Resources Conservation Service programs for improving pollinator habitat.

Brent Johnson of Johnson’s Backyard Garden in Austin, TX discussed strategies for organic farming and shared production successes in managing over 50 acres of organic crops. Members of Southern region SARE had the opportunity to tour his farm last August and experience first-hand why he’s quickly become a household name in the Austin community.

Brent Johnson of Johnson's Backyard Garden talks to members of Southern SARE during a tour of his farm last August. Photo taken by Candace Pollock

Nancy Lee Adamson with The Xerces Society presented a session on the importance of native pollinators and how to manage native pollinator habitat to improve crop production. The sessions were a taste of what individuals can expect to learn in upcoming Pollinator Conservation Training Short Courses taking place throughout the Southern region this year.

The first training course will be held in Florida on Feb. 2. The courses are designed to educate participants on native pollinators in their area, specifically bees, and strategies for conserving and creating native pollinator habitats.

With interest in local foods increasing, and the challenges farmers face in direct marketing their products to consumers becoming more apparent, two sessions were held on a potential new method of delivering local products.

Julia Gaskin, the sustainable ag coordinator with the University of Georgia, and Tommie Shepherd, a UGA ag economist, discussed the potential for developing food hubs in Georgia and throughout the Southeast. Read the supporting article.

A food hub is an infrastructure that helps connect small-to-mid-size farmers with their local community by providing a distribution outlet for their products. The most recently developed food hub in the South is GrowFood Carolina. Launched in October of last year by the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League with the assistance of a Southern SARE Sustainable Community Innovation Grant, the food hub delivers fresh produce from area farmers to restaurants, grocery stores, schools and food banks in and around the Charleston community.

Georgia Sustainable Agriculture Consortium

The newly created Georgia Sustainable Agriculture Consortium is leading the way in creating at least two food hubs in Georgia within the next five years. According to the USDA, there are currently over 116 food hubs across the U.S. and the number continues to grow.

For more information about the SE Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference, log on to http://www.seregionalconference.com/. For additional photos of the conference, visit our Flickr site.