Feb

Apply Now to be a Presenter at the PVGrows Spring Forum

Do you have a business, project, or venture that involves local food? Could your enterprise benefit from the insights and experience of a network of passionate and experienced Pioneer Valley residents? PVGrows invites you to submit your enterprise as a case study for the PVGrows Spring Forum: Working Together to Make Local Food Work. April 11, 2012 — Smith College Conference Center, Northampton, MA, from 9am to 1pm.
The Spring Forum will feature a unique format in which over 120 attendees form teams around pre-selected projects. If your project is selected, a team of 15-20 members of the PVGrows network will work with you at the Forum to forge potential solutions to the challenges and opportunities you have identified. This is a great opportunity to widen your advisory network, receive productive feedback, and discuss collaborative ways to move your project forward.

PVGrows invites applications from a diverse range of exciting and innovative food-related enterprises that are starting up or currently underway in the Pioneer Valley. Farmers, processors, distributors, institutions, food service providers, educators, schools, and non-profit community organizations are all encouraged to apply. Applicants will be asked to describe enterprise goals, current opportunities and challenges, resources needed, and whether or not the enterprise impacts under-served communities in the Pioneer Valley.

Applications will be accepted until March 1. Download HERE.

Frequently Asked Questions for Presenter Applicants.

The PVGrows Spring Forum

Working Together to Make Local Food Work

Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

9am – 1pm (lunch included)

Smith College Conference Center, Northampton.

This event is Free. $5 donation requested for lunch. Program and registration details will be posted here as plans are finalized. To receive an invitation to the Forum, become a member of PVGrows.

About the PVGrows Forum

Every year PVGrows hosts two (Fall and Spring) networking forums open to anyone working to build a healthy Pioneer Valley Food System.

Participation in the Forums allows PVGrows Members to:

Broaden and deepen your relationships with others. The premise is that each of us plays a unique role in the development of the food system, and we need to understand how we fit in.
Learn about the components of the Pioneer Valley food system. PVGrows Forums are open to all levels of experience, and are designed to be interactive so that we learn from each other.
Take collaborative action. PVGrows aims to amplify the good work that you are already doing. Working Groups are a flexible tool for moving your work forward with new partners.

To date, individuals from over 250 organizations, businesses, schools, and initiatives have participated in PVGrows Forums.

Read our February 2012 article about the PVGrows Forum.

***PVGrows is grateful to the Making Good Food Work conference for providing the template for the Spring Forum.***