Organic Connections Conference and Tradeshow: Nov, 2012

	"Designing a Resilient Agriculture for a Changing World." Dr. FREDERICK L. KIRSCHENMANN Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the Western world has created economies based on cheap, abundant natural resources to maximize efficient production for short term economic returns. While agriculture has been enormously successful in its singlular goal of maximizing yields, the resources on which it depended---cheap energy, stable climates, abundant fresh water and minerals, healthy soils---are now in steep decline. Our new challenge will be to design a new agriculture that is resilient in the face of our new challenges.
	Dr. FREDERICK L. KIRSCHENMANN Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a longtime national and international leader in sustainable agriculture, shares an appointment as Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and as President of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York. He also continues to manage his family's 2,600-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota.
In January 2008, he assumed a half-time appointment at Stone Barns, dividing his time between Iowa and New York, to explore ways that rural and urban communities can work together to develop a more resilient, sustainable agriculture and food system. In April 2010, the University Press of Kentucky published a book of Kirschenmann’s essays, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher, that trace evolution of his ecological and farming philosophy over the past 30 years. He has written extensively about ethics and agriculture, with articles published in a number of books and professional journals. On his own farm he developed a diverse crop rotation that has enabled him to farm productively without synthetic inputs (fertilizers or pesticides) while simultaneously improving the health of the soil. He converted the farm to a certified organic operation in 1976.

	Mathew Holmes Matthew Holmes is Executive Director of the Canada Organic Trade Association, and serves as processing chair of Canada's organic standards technical committee, as well as regulatory chair of Agriculture Canada's Organic Value Chain Roundtable.
He has long been a champion of trade equivalency for the global organic sector, and leads Canada's program for organic exports. In October, he was elected to the World Board of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. Holmes is a regular writer and international speaker on regulatory developments and market trends, and is co-author of the annual chapter on Canada in FiBL & IFOAM’s The World Of Organic Agriculture. He lives with his family in Atlantic Canada. The website for the OTA is www.ota.com/otacanada.html

	Arran Stephens Arran Stephens, President and Founder, Nature’s Path Organic Foods Arran was born and raised on his family’s farm on pristine Vancouver Island. Dad Rupert pioneered organic mulching methods in the 1950’s, guiding his son to: “Always leave the soil better than you found it,” —a guiding philosophy for life.
At 23, Arran returned from 7 months in India with $7. On a hope and a prayer, he opened Canada’s first vegetarian restaurant. LifeStream®, Canada’s first natural food supermarket followed in 1971 and operated until being sold in 1981. Life-partner Ratana and Arran began Nature’s Path out of the back of their vegetarian restaurant in 1985, and in 1990, the company became one of the very first third-party certified organic processors in North America. Nature’s Path Foods Inc. is today North America’s largest organic breakfast foods company, with certified state-of-the-art processing facilities in WA, WI and BC,. The company also owns 3,000 acres in Saskatchewan which are cooperatively farmed. Arran has been a staunch opponent of GMO proliferation since 1990 and currently serves on the Rodale Inst Board, other non-profit boards and is a founding member of the Non-GMO Project. Nature’s Path supports various non-profit and charitable organizations that protect endangered species, endangered kids, food banks, Gardens for Good, and has committed $600,000 to the California Ballot Initiative for Mandatory GMO Labeling. Nature’s Path remains proudly independent, family-owned and *not for sale*. As entrepreneur, artist, writer, ecology advocate and seeker, Arran has an enduring commitment to family, community, sustainability and spirituality. www.naturespath.com

	Dr. Don M. Huber
Dr. Don M. Huber Emeritus Professor of Plant Pathology Purdue University Dr. Don M. Huber has a long, varied and highly productive career focused on plant physiology, microbiology and pathology. Don grew up on crop and dairy farms in Arizona and Idaho. His training from both University of Idaho (B.S. and M.S.) and Michigan State University (PhD, 1963), was augmented by U.S. Army military service in sensitive areas such as global epidemiology, national production capabilities and national security. Huber began his 50-year academic career with eight years of service as a cereal pathologist at the University of Idaho. He taught, researched and published at Purdue for thirty-five years. His field: soil-borne disease control, physiology of disease, and microbial ecology — a perfect fit which reinforced his unique military work. He is now Professor Emeritus of Purdue University. Professor Huber became an army officer in the active Reserve in 1957. Early in his military career he researched to study the impact of nuclear war with specific effects of fallout on agriculture and ways to recover from such an attack. Retiring from military service after more than 41 years, Dr. Huber teaches courses on anti-crop bioterrorism and serves as a consultant on biological weapons of mass destruction and emerging diseases. For five years, Don grew cotton in Indiana at Purdue to evaluate disease interactions. This work was integrated into his overall research on the physiology, ecology, and control of diseases of wheat, corn, and soybeans, providing a revealing background for understanding the physiology of plants which are sprayed with glyphosate. Dr. Huber proved that the herbicidal mode of action of glyphosate is through pathogenic action, not a direct phytotoxic effect on the plant. Glyphosate stimulates hormonal systems in the plant to act as metal chelators which “take out” (immobilize) Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, B, Zn and other trace minerals. The plant’s defense system is effectively shut down and/or damaged, enabling soil-borne pathogens to kill or severely damage the plant. Therefore, glyphosate is an essential predisposing factor, but it does not actually kill the weeds. If the pathogens are not present (in sterile soil), plants are temporarily stunted by glyphosate, but do not die. Glyphosate also is an effective bactericide in the soil, and has recently been patented as a bactericide. By drastically reducing beneficial bacteria populations in the soil, fungal pathogens in the soil multiply with far less competition.

	Food Sovereignty Dr. Nettie Wiebe How we farm and what we eat are increasingly determined by a small number of global players. But this is neither ecologically nor economically sustainable. Taking back control over our food systems, achieving FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, requires major changes. It opens the way to creating healthier communities, better environments and more delicious, nutritious eating. We'll explore the challenges and opportunities of food sovereignty
Dr. Nettie Wiebe teaches ethics as the Professor of Church and Society at St. Andrews College, University of Saskatchewan and farms with her husband near Delisle, Saskatchewan. They grow organic grains and pulse crops as well as raising cattle. They have four children. Nettie served as Women’s President of the National Farmers Union from 1989 – 1994 and was elected President of the NFU in 1995. She was the first woman to lead a national farm organization in Canada. She continues to work locally, nationally and in the international arena, for the NFU within the Via Campesina, a global movement of peasants and small-scale farmers. For more than 20 years, Nettie Wiebe has been a “public intellectual”, combining her philosophy education with her passion for social justice. She is known across Canada and around the world as an advocate for farm families and rural communities, women’s equality, human rights, peace, economic justice, environmental care and food security.