Horticulture for Food and Fun:
2007 Horticulture Industries Show
The 26th annual Arkansas/Oklahoma Horticulture Industries
Show (HIS) is set for Friday, January 5th and Saturday, January
6th from 9-5 at the Holiday Inn City Center, in Fort Smith,
Arkansas.
The show's theme for this year is "Horticulture for
Food and Fun." Each day kicks off with a keynote address.
This year, Drs. Ed Mahoney and Carla Barbieri, of Michigan
State University, will present the keynote addresses.
Dr. Mahoney is an associate professor of tourism and agriculture
at Michigan State University. He has developed new web-based
surveying methods for understanding the extent and impacts
of agricultural diversification, agritourism, and farm marketing.
He and Dr. Barbieri have co-led the annual North American
Farm Market Survey. They will present some of the survey's
findings, and their implications for horticultural producers,
in the Farmers' Market Growing/Sustainable Agriculture track.
Each day's keynote address will be followed by several
concurrent sessions organized around the topics of Christmas
Trees, Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Farmers' Market Growing/Sustainable
Agriculture, and Public Gardens/Master Gardeners. Attendees
will also have time to visit the trade show.
Farmers' Markets and Sustainable
Agriculture
In the Farmers' Market Growing/ Sustainable Agriculture track,
several farmers from Arkansas and Oklahoma will address different
topics related to direct marketing, agritourism, and sustainability.
Cathie Greene, of Wild Things Farm in Pocola, Oklahoma, runs
a 90-acre 'u-pick' operation, and hosts a variety of agritourism
activities including a corn maze, group tours, and a summer
camp.
Lisa Merrill and Lisa Becklund will relate their experiences
on their 7-acre Living Kitchen Farm and Garden in Bristow,
Oklahoma, where they use the vegetables they grow as the
basis for cooking classes, meal delivery service, "kitchen
coaching," and farm-to-table dinner parties.
The track will also feature several presenters from the
Fayetteville Farmers' Market, including Jim Lukens, whose
talk is titled "Farmers' Markets as a Destination." The
Fayetteville Market on the downtown square is a popular place
for friends and families to meet, shop and be entertained.
The Kerr Center sponsors the HIS Show, along with the University
of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa Community College,
and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
The show's program and registration forms are available
on the H.I.S. Show website at http://home.okstate.edu/
Okstate/dasnr/hort/hortlahome.nsf/toc/HIS. More information
is available via email to donna.dollins@okstate.edu or
by phone at 405-744-6460. |
