Gearing up as EcoFarm Conference brings organic focus back to Monterey

The EcoFarm Conference returns to Monterey on Jan. 18-21.
(Via Facebook)

The annual EcoFarm Conference returns this week to the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Monterey, and Lily Belli is excited to attend for the first time.

This story was originally featured in this week’s Lily Belli on Food newsletter. Be first the first to hear about food and drink news in Santa Cruz County — sign up for Lily’s email newsletter here and text alerts here.

The annual EcoFarm Conference returns this week to the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Monterey. Founded in 1981, this four-day event running from Wednesday through Saturday is the oldest and largest organic farming conference west of the Mississippi. Through more than 60 workshops, tours, panels, tastings and networking events featuring some of the most accomplished and forward-thinking leaders in ecological farming, this event strives to facilitate an exchange of ideas and resources to advance sustainability and justice in agriculture.

If you work or are interested in any facility of organic agriculture, this is a must-go event. I’m excited to attend Thursday for the first time, and will be taking in workshops on farming through the wildfire season and on food and farming reporting, among others.

If you’d like to attend, it’s not too late. Check out the full list of workshops at eco-farm.org. Tickets are $435 for the full conference and daily rates range from $55 to $260.