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June 2, 2016 | seedstock

(Orange County, CA) – Grow Local OC: The Future of Urban Food Systems, slated for Thursday and Friday, November 10-11, 2016, will explore innovative urban food system developments underway in Orange County and cities across the country that increase the supply of locally grown food in the marketplace, tackle food poverty and access challenges, improve health outcomes, and support entrepreneurship in urban and indoor farming.

On day one of the conference attendees will convene at the Titan Student Union at California State University, Fullerton for a series of panels and keynotes that will explore a variety of topics, including: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Urban Food Production; Expanding Local Food Access; Building a Regional Food System Infrastructure; The Confluence of Food System and Community Development; and more.

“Orange County and urban centers across the country whose agricultural roots have been paved over must develop innovative solutions to support robust food systems that increase food access, stimulate urban farming- focused food production endeavors, and enhance the health of the population,” said Seedstock co-founder and Grow Local OC event organizer, Robert Puro. “The conference seeks to unite citizens, growers, advocates, government officials, and other major stakeholders to forge new partnerships and, ultimately, engender creative local food system solutions to bolster community, economy and environment.”

The second day of the event offers an Urban Food Systems Field Trip. Participants will have the opportunity to tour a diversity of innovative urban and state-of-the-art agriculture operations across Orange County – from an aquaponic community garden to an indoor vertical hydroponic farm and more – that are utilizing innovative growing systems and business models to grow the local food marketplace in southern California.

“Our conference, although designed with Orange County in mind, can be a model for any and all cities looking to enhance its urban food system infrastructure and assist growers, entrepreneurs, and advocates in their success,” said Christina Hall, executive director of OC Food Access Coalition and co-organizer of the conference. “We encourage advocates, entrepreneurs, farmers, community members, students, food service businesses, city planners and all other interested parties to join us and share their innovative ideas at the conference.”

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Registration: For more information go to http://growlocaloc.com/conference and to purchase early bird tickets, please visit http://growlocaloc.eventbrite.com/

Sponsorship: If you are interested in sponsoring the conference, please email sponsor [at] growlocaloc [dot] com or go to http://growlocaloc.com/sponsorship

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About Seedstock:

Seedstock is a social venture that fosters the development of robust and sustainable local food systems through consulting services and the use of a variety of tools, including the news and information blog Seedstock (http://www.Seedstock.com) and live events. Seedstock works with government agencies, municipalities and all private sector stakeholders to create a sustainable food ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and

About OC Food Access Coalition:

At OC Food Access (www.OCfoodaccess.org), we are developing innovative, community-based strategies to end hunger and deliver nutrition – not just calories – to the underserved in our community.

The Coalition was founded in 2010 in response to a call for county-wide coordinated action among hunger, health and food systems stakeholders. Together we work to define the gaps in services and resources that prevent healthy food access, and ultimately help define and implement sustainable solutions to hunger.