The Organic Center and FFAR to take stage prior to Expo East in September

Today's food and agriculture system faces serious challenges – how to feed an ever-growing population in a sustainable way, how to manage increasingly scarce water resources, how to improve human health and perhaps the biggest challenge of all: how to fight climate change.

The Organic Center will address these challenges in two research conferences in September during the week of the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore. "The Center is pleased to bring stakeholders together to tackle these multifaceted challenges to organic farming – and agriculture as a whole," said Dr. Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center.

On September 11, The Organic Center will hold its annual Organic Confluences Summit which this year will focus entirely on how the organic sector can fight climate change. Scientific experts, farmers, policymakers and organic stakeholders will address the current impacts of climate change and best practices within the organic sector for mitigation and adaptation, while examining methods for encouraging the adoption of strategies for fighting climate change.

Partnering with The Center for Organic Confluences will be the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), The Climate Collaborative, and the International Society of Organic Food and Agriculture Research (ISOFAR).

Climate change mitigation and adaptation isn't the only critical issue the Organic Center will be tackling. The Center has also teamed with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) on September 10 to examine the top research needs for moving organic forward.  Participants will take a deep-dive into scientific concepts that merge soil health, climate change, weed ecology, and plant breeding to better understand the leverage points where solutions would have the biggest impact on advancing the organic sector.

Both the FFAR conference and the Organic Confluences Summit will be held at the Hilton Baltimore. Contact The Organic Center for questions on either event.