Provender speakers, Planting Seeds, Harvesting Wisdom

The 35th Annual Provender Alliance Conference is held in Hood River, OR and while you need to be a member to attend the conference there are several speakers which are available to the public.  All talks are $10 at the door and held at the Hood River Inn, Hood River, OR


Solutions from the Underground

Paul Stamets Weds. Oct. 5th 8:00 to 10:00 PM 

 As we are now well engaged in the 6th Major Extinction (“6 X”) on planet Earth, our biosphere is quickly changing, eroding life support systems. Unless we put into action policies and technologies that can cause a course correction in the very near future, species diversity will continue to plummet, with humans not only being the primary cause, but one of the victims. What can we do? Fungi, particularly mushrooms, offer some powerful, practical solutions. Paul will present six inventions, which help steer ecosystems and humanity to a healthier future. He will discuss the evolution of mushrooms in ecosystems and how fungi can help heal environments. As environmental health and human health are inextricably interconnected, fungi offer unique opportunities that capitalize on mycelium’s diverse properties. Fungi are the grand molecular dis-assemblers in nature, decomposing plants and animals, creating soils and the food web of life. Paul will demonstrate that mycelium offers many of the solutions we sorely need

The Future of Food: Challenges and Opportunities
Dr. Steve Jones Thurs. Oct 6th 8:30 to 10:00 AM

Let us for a moment ignore footprints and food miles and other terms commonly used to describe our local food. It is easier, then, to bring the focus back to the farmers who surround the urbanized regions of the Pacific Northwest and to address ways to help these farmers survive. In fact, something as mundane as wheat or barley may even have a place in this effort. It is difficult to find a region of the United States that at one time did not grow grains for local uses like bread, pastries, and malt. But today there are vast areas of highly diverse farming systems that have lost their rotational grains, and with them the benefit that grains bring to farming systems. Fortunately, recent developments in small grain movements across the country have shown not only that the grains are back but they bring with them a sense and taste of regionality. They also bring added values at many levels that can help in revitalizing small communities.

Thinking Outside the Box  
Jesse Ziff Cool Friday Oct. 7th 8:30 to 10:00 AM

In the midst of the big picture of how to create impact within the food system, how do we reach out in our local communities and create change, one person at a time? As a leader, an individual’s methods that are inspirational, inclusive and manifest excitement can’t help but create a ripple. Thinking outside the box, shifting the audience, not just the believers, remains a wonderful part of the work we do in our industry of offering to others good, wholesome, real food.