1,200 member strong locavore group Georgia Organics holds it's annual conference March 11-12 in Savannah, GA

When one thinks of hotbeds of the locavore movement sweeping our country, the places that are often mentioned in the press include Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California, or even New York. The beautiful state of Georgia is not usually mentioned as an innovator. One local organization working to change this (mis-)perception is Georgia Organics.

Georgia Organics, a member-supported not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting sustainable foods and local farms in Georgia, traces its root back to the 1970s. Founded on the belief that a sustainable local food system is critical to the future of Georgia's health, environment, and economy, Georgia Organics works tirelessly to integrate healthy, sustainable, and locally grown food into the lives of all Georgians. The organization boasts a diverse membership of over 1,200 members and will be holding its popular annual conference in Savannah on March 11-12 this year.

Past speakers at the event have included noteworthy individuals like renowned author Michael Pollan and Carlo Patrini, the founder of the global Slow Food movement. Pollan delivered an educational and entertaining keynote address last year, covering topics as diverse as energy and climate change, the health-care crisis, a food reform, the problem of monocultures and the benefits of polycultures, local economies, and elements of change we need to move sustainable food and farms forward.

The keynote presentation at this year’s event will be delivered by Vandana Shiva, a world-renown advocate for organic agriculture and ecological prosperity who has written more than 20 books (including Soil Not Oil, and Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply), and has published over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. Shiva, who holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics, was named an environmental “hero” by Time Magazine in 2003.

There will also be plenty of good food, a farm-to-table feast, a children’s conference and feast, and over 75 exhibitors displaying their products and service in the expo hall. These include local companies engaged in growing and selling local food, clean / green tech firms, farmers and more. Exhibitors at this year’s conference include innovative companies from across Georgia, such as The Spotted Trotter (local meats and charcuterie), PodPonics (locally-grown, all-natural lettuce and specialty greens), and Café Campesino (fair-trade organic coffee), to name just a few.

A special feature at this year’s conference will be the premier of the documentary “GROW!”, an Anthony-Masterson film shot in Georgia, which will be shown at the conference at 8 p.m. on Friday evening in the Oglethorpe Auditorium at the Savannah Convention Center. For more information on this ground-breaking film about the local food movement in Georgia, funded by a combination of grants, private donors and a funding campaign on Kickstarter.com, turn to this article.

Readers can learn more about the event by visiting the Georgia Organics website, where they can register online.

So, Go Grow! We’ll see you in Savannah.