The Center for Rural Culture

Join Airile Farm for a full day, knowledge-packed event featuring two successful and unique farm operations from the Northeast: Half Pint and Essex. Whether you’re a backyard gardener, a small farmer, a food policy expert, or a buyer and eaterof local food, you’ll want to learn more about the key elements of these farms’ thriving systems.
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Location: 6809 Airlie Rd, Warrenton, VA 20187 Get directions

January 10th Sponsored by:

Seminar on Traditional Foods & Healthy Communities, with Sally Fallon – author of Nourishing Traditions and President, The Weston A. Price Foundation

This daylong seminar will raise awareness and educate communities about their health, their food supply and sustainable farming practices for environmental preservation. Hear from many experts, as well as Sally Fallon, on the important links between health and communities. Delicious Lunch provided.
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Who should come: Everyone – whether you are a student, doctor, mother, farmer, healthcare provider, teacher, anyone who is interested in radically strengthening the very foundations of their health and community.
Time: 9:00am-6:00pm
Location: Montpelier Center for Arts & Education 17205 Mountain Road - Montpelier, VA 23192 804-883-7378 Get directions
Admission: $65 in advance by January 1st. $75 at the door. Students, Center for Rural Culture members, and Weston A. Price members -$50. Please pay by mail or at the door.
Pre-register online NOW!

January 11th Sponsored by:

Sally Fallon Meet & Greet, Book Signing & Lecture

Meet nationally renowned author and lecturer Sally Fallon. Bring or purchase your own "Nourishing Traditions" book to sign. Two hour lecture entitled: "The Oiling of America/The Cholesterol Myths" will explore how the false cholesterol theory caused Americans to abandon traditional whole foods and created an epidemic of chronic disease. Delicious food and alcohol/non-alcohol beverages available for purchase before, during and after event!
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Who should come: Everyone – whether you are a student, doctor, mother, farmer, healthcare provider, teacher, anyone who is interested in radically strengthening the very foundations of their health and community.
Time: 11:00am-1:00pm
Location: Ellwood's 4 N. Thompson St., Richmond, VA Get directions (Please note the change in venue…if the new Community Café is open by the 11th, the event will take place at the new café, which is right next door to the store).
Admission: FREE. Although admission is free, seating capacity is limited so registration is highly suggested. Registration is FULL at this time. If you would like to place your name on a waiting list, please call customer service at Ellwood Thomson’s @ (804) 359-7525 or email Cynthia Watkins at cwatkins@ellwoodthompsons.com.

January 16th and 17th

Future Harvest presents the Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Agriculture Conference: Connect Locally

On January 16 and 17, 2009, aspiring, transitioning, and experienced farmers will come together with regional buyers, backyard gardeners, parents, students and others interested in local foods to share information and learn about sustainable agriculture at the 10th Annual Conference of Future Harvest – A Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (CASA). The 2009 conference theme, “Connect Locally: Food, Farms and Communities,” emphasizes making and sustaining connections between producers and consumers.
Location: Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Frederick, Maryland Get directions
Pre-register online NOW!

January 31st Sponsored by:

Center for Rural Culture’s Fourth Annual Grower’s Workshop

The Center for Rural Culture, in conjunction with Whole Foods, is providing this educational opportunity for both new and experienced growers who wish to grow produce and provide value added products for market. Participants will gain valuable knowledge about the business of growing for market. This is a popular workshop that fills up fast, so register early.
Time: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Location: J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Western Campus 1851 Dickenson Road Goochland, VA 23063 Get directions
Admission: $35 in advance by January 28th, 2009 Pre-register online NOW or $45 at the door (Same day registration does not include lunch).

February 27th and 28th

10^th Annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference

The Virginia Biological Farming Conference began in 2000 at Camp Blue Ridge in Montebello up in Nelson County. This conference is an offspring of an earlier program called the Virginia Sustainable Agriculture Conference which was held from 1985 to 1997. All of these conferences have been co-sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension and by the Virginia Association for Biological Farming. All of these conferences have promoted ecological agriculture.
Conference speakers will discuss the use of parasitic nematodes for natural pest control, ecological livestock raising, greenhouse production of naturally-grown vegetables, small-scale production of small fruit, managing family and farming, sheep and goats, permaculture, ecological weed management, selling at farmers’ markets, agriculture economics, vermi-composting, marketing organic produce to restaurants, farmscaping for biological insect control, grass-fed beef, gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, certification programs and building healthy communities.
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Location: Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Frederick, Maryland Get directions

The Center for Rural Culture, a 501c3 (non-profit), is organized for the charitable and educational purposes of educating, promoting, and inspiring members of the community to sustain a culture that builds individual and local economy, protects natural and historical resources, and maintains the rural character of the community.