March 26, 2008
Contact: Katherine Lang, North Country Regional Foods Initiative, 315-379-9192

April 18 Conference Examines How NNY Communities Can Help
Regional Foods Initiatives

Tupper Lake, NY � As local foods �grow� in the marketplace, who benefits, and how can North Country communities best position themselves to support and encourage food and farm entrepreneurship from the ground up?

On April 18th more than two dozen panelists will collaborate with town and county officials, economic developers, planning board members, state and federal representatives, and regional farmers and food entrepreneurs to answer these questions at The Role of Adirondack North Country Foods in Community and Economic Development Conference at The W!LD Center in Tupper Lake, NY.

Conference organizer and North Country Regional Foods Initiative Coordinator Katherine Lang, says, �This conference will showcase on-the-ground successes and identify untapped opportunities for enhancing regional food entrepreneurship. The policy forum is intended to create ideas and provide critical regionwide networking necessary to generate action steps for Adirondack-North Country communities.�

Deputy Commissioner Jerry Cosgrove of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets will open the conference.

A general session will identify challenges and opportunities for facilitating local food and agriculture initiatives. Work sessions will focus on Community-Based Marketing Infrastructure, Resources for Agricultural Entrepreneurship, the Taste of Place: Developing Regional Identity Around Food & Agriculture, Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well-Being, and Land-Use and Agricultural Economic Development.

The opening session panel on facilitating foods initiatives includes Adirondack Harvest Chairman Tom Both. Both says, �Adirondack Harvest began by enlisting the support of the Essex County Board of Supervisors which has provided funding for promotion and farmer and consumer education and resolutions for such efforts as the annual Adirondack Harvest Festival Week. We are now replicating that success with government representatives throughout Northern New York.�

Panelists talking about marketing regional foods via farmers markets, on the internet, to chefs and restaurant owners include Ruby Sprowls, the coordinator of the Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative, an online initiative of the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce showcasing such products as wool yarns, wood goods and maple syrup.

Sprowls says, �The Cooperative�s most important role is helping our members understand the Internet marketplace and how to be successful in it with services encouraging them to develop an appropriate presence on the web and e-commerce selling opportunities.�

Agricultural entrepreneurs at the conference include Mercer�s Ice Cream Marketing Director Roxaina Hurlburt. The Mercer�s processing plant in Boonville, NY, uses milk from local farms to make ice cream, yogurt, and, using a trade-secreted process, wine ice cream. Quality Dairy Farms, Inc. purchased the processing business in 2002.

Hurlburt says, �The Lewis County Board of Legislators was essential in establishing the feasibility and opportunity for nine local dairy farmers to become value-added processors and sellers. The ongoing involvement of the Pride of New York program and the Cornell Cooperative Extension has been irreplaceable. It also took a lot of hard work and a long-term commitment by the farmers, and we are now seeing the payback and making our first international shipment this spring.�

At the April 18 conference, economist Nelson Bills of Cornell University�s Department of Applied Economics and Management will present data on regional trends in farm and food production. Understanding these trends can help set the stage for a wider conversation on the private and public initiatives needed to support local entrepreneurs.

Bills says, �A challenge for community and government representatives is balancing dependence on the local property tax and farm profitability with funding requirements for local public services. Both state and local policies that protect the land base are required to keep land in farming. To facilitate the discussion I will summarize policy initiatives designed to moderate property tax liabilities on farm businesses and mention complementary programs to increase the economic viability of local farm and food production.�

The Conference Policy Forum will identify action steps, including those in the policy arena, to support local and regional food initiatives and capitalize on the positive ways they impact Adirondack North Country communities. Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) Executive Director and Cornell Cooperative Extension Assistant Director Rod Howe says, �This forum is designed to engage participants in a shared listening and brainstorming session that will set the stage for regional collaboration, including the development and implementation of food and agriculture-based community and economic development strategies.�

The cost of The Role of Adirondack North Country Foods in Community and Economic Development conference is $25 per person; registration deadline is April 11. Register at www.regonline.com/northcountryfoods or call Anita Morrill at 315-379-9192 x234.

This regional foods conference is organized by the North Country Regional Foods Initiative, a project of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties with funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to the Economic Development Administration University Center at Cornell University and the Cornell University Community and Rural Development Institute (CARDI). Adirondack Harvest, the Adirondack North Country Association, GardenShare, Inc., New Strategies Project and the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets have provided additional support. # # #

The Role of Adirondack North Country Foods Conference participants (alphabetically):
� Molly Ames, Farm Business Management Educator, New Strategies Project Co-Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County - 11:15am-12:30pm Agricultural Entrepreneurship panel

� Nelson Bills, Professor of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University - 11:15am-12:30pm Land Use and Agricultural Economic Development panel

� Craig Bilow, Regional Brand Builders and Sustain Brand products - 11:15am-12:30pm Taste of Place: Developing Regional Identity Around Food & Agriculture panel

� Tom Both, Chairman, Adirondack Harvest � 9:30-11am How Local Food & Agriculture Contribute to Community & Economic Development panel

� Patrick Clelland, General Manager, Paul Smiths College Dining Services - 11:15am-12:30 pm Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well Being panel

� Kristin Colarusso, Family and Community Program Team Leader, Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County will moderate the 11:15am-12:30pm Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well Being panel

� Rosalind Cook, Community Food Security Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County � moderator of 11:15am-12:30pm Community-Based Strategies for Strengthening Local Food and Agriculture panel

� Jerry Cosgrove, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets � opening remarks and 11:15am-12:30pm Land Use and Agricultural Economic Development panel

� Anita Deming, Executive Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County moderates 11:15 am-12:30 pm Agricultural Entrepreneurship panel

� Diane Eggert, Executive Director, Farmers Market Federation of New York - 11:15am-12:30pm Community-Based Strategies for Strengthening Local Food and Agriculture panel

� Michael Farrell, Director, Cornell University Uihlein Forest and Sugar Maple Research and Extension Station at Lake Placid - 11:15am-12:30pm Community-Based Strategies for Strengthening Local Food and Agriculture panel

� Susan Fuller of Fuller Communications will moderate the 11:15am-12:30pm Taste of Place: Developing Regional Identity Around Food & Agriculture panel

� Richard Halpin, State Extension Specialist and Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County � welcome remarks

� Rod Howe, Director, Cornell University Community and Rural Development Institute will moderate 11:15am-12:30pm Land Use and Agricultural Economic Development panel

� Roxaina Hurlburt, Marketing Director, Mercers Ice Cream � 11:15am-12:30pm Agricultural Entrepreneurship panel

� Ian O�Brian, Waterside Caf� Manager, The W!LD Center � serving an Adirondack North Country Foods lunch of locally produced foods

� Brad Jackson, Director, Franklin County Industrial Development Agency Executive - 11:15am-12:30pm Land Use and Agricultural Economic Development panel

� Delta Keeney, Miracles by the Acre Community Supported Agriculture - 11:15am-12:30pm Agricultural Entrepreneurship panel

� MaryBeth Knowlton, R.D., Nutritionist, Jefferson County Public Health - 11:15am-12:30pm Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well Being panel

� Terry Martino, Executive Director, Adirondack North Country Association, moderating 9:30-11am How Local Food & Agriculture Contribute to Community & Economic Development panel

� Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator, Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation - 9:30-11am How Local Food & Agriculture Contribute to Community & Economic Development panel

� Jim McKenna, President, Lake Placid/Essex County Tourism Bureau - 11:15am-12:30pm Taste of Place: Developing Regional Identity Around Food & Agriculture panel

� Michele Ledoux, Executive Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County � co-moderator of 1:45-2:45pm Policy Forum & Action Steps session

� Roseanne Murphy, Deputy Regional Director, Empire State Development Corporation - 9:30-11am How Local Food & Agriculture Contribute to Community & Economic Development panel

� Lynne Perry, Special Events Coordinator, The W!LD Center � welcome remarks

� Monika Roth, Agriculture Development Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County - 11:15am-12:30pm Taste of Place: Developing Regional Identity Around Food & Agriculture panel

� Jack Salo, Director, Rural Health Network of South Central New York - 11:15am-12:30pm Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well Being panel

� Paula Schafer, Agriculture Economic Development Educator, Farm to Chef Express program, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Washington & Saratoga Counties - 11:15am-12:30pm Community-Based Strategies for Strengthening Local Food and Agriculture panel

� Dr. R. David Smith, Coordinator, Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, Cornell University � co-moderator of 1:45-2:45pm Policy Forum & Action Steps session

� Ruby Sprowls, Coordinator, Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative � 11:15am-12:30pm Community-Based Strategies for Strengthening Local Food and Agriculture panel

� Jennifer Wilkins, Director, Cornell University Farm to School Program - 9:30-11am How Local Food & Agriculture Contribute to Community & Economic Development and 11:15am-12:30pm Connecting Local Foods with Health and Well Being panels

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