A big thank you to the partners, presenters, attendees, sponsors, donors, trade show exhibitors, staff, board members and Geneva Park for making the first Ecological Farmers of Ontario Conference a success! The Conference took place on December 4-6 in Orillia, and gathered over 200 participants from across the province, for two days of in-depth learning, an opportunity to connect with old friends and new acquaintances, and the chance to be re-energized and inspired for the season ahead!
There were over 30 workshops to choose, as well as a Keynote address from Abe Collins and a Plenary session. Summaries of these workshops will be posted as articles on this blog and in the EFAO bi-monthly newsletter. Stay tuned as we are working on making a number of them available as podcasts so that you can listen in on some of the fantastic presenters you may have missed.
It should also be noted that it was not all business at the Conference! With the help of food donors, we were able to provide and enjoy delicious meals prepared with local and organic ingredients by Chef Andy and staff. Conference-goers also experienced a hike through the picturesque venue, live music, yoga, a silent auction, and even had the chance to show off their dancing socks and moves, as we celebrated EFAO’s 35th anniversary with Contra Dancing. During Friday’s 35th Anniversary Dinner, long-standing members of the EFAO provided insight to the history, struggles and victories of ecological farming over the past 35 years.
The conference could not have happened without the support from the ecological farming community. EFAO and FarmStart would like to thank everyone who made this milestone event possible. Special thanks to our Supporting Partners for all their hard work and generosity: Farms at Work, The Bauta Family Initiative on Seed Security and Everdale. For a complete list of conference sponsors please visit: conference.efao.ca/our-sponsors
