Keynote Address

Gary Nabhan

Farmers and Farm Workers as Innovators

Keynote Address
Thursday, February 13—6-7:15 pm

Exhibit Hall

One thing is for sure: innovation often comes from the margins. And most in the farm and food workforce have been marginalized at one point or another in their lives and livelihoods. While farmers are often stereotyped as risk aversive and conservative, now more than ever there is evidence that proves that prejudice to be flawed because there is innovation—and resistance to the status quo—expressed throughout farm country. Through adaptations such as soil microbial management, agroforestry, agrisolar, novel crop selection, seeds, and energy, the growing number of farmers, farm workers, and food service workers are meeting the new normal of climate uncertainty.

Gary Nabhan is an Arab-American agroecologist, foodshed restorationist, and internationally-celebrated nature writer. He has been honored with a James Beard Award, a MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship, lifetime achievement awards from Slow Food, Chef’s Collaborative, Edible Communities, and other professional societies. Born in the Midwest, he worked on farms and prairie restoration projects there before moving to Arizona, where he focuses on home-grown solutions to climate change, including agrisolar and agroforestry systems. There on the desert’s edge, Gary grows many varieties of perennial fruits and nuts, species of agaves (century plants), and dozens of spice crops. His books and podcasts are featured at garynabhan.com.

Keynote Recording

---