Is our future any food from anywhere at anytime? Or is there a possibility that we could, together, build an alternative that is so deeply rooted in our farms and our communities that it becomes the preferred choice? How do these competing visions fit with our current understanding of energy use, of climate change, of rural development, of food quality and health, of organic certification? This year's Spring Growth conference takes on these important questions, with the help of some luminaries of the sustainable agriculture and local food movements.

***Featured Speakers***

* Fred Kirschenmann, long-time organic farmer from North Dakota, is currently chair of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. He'll talk on the long-term implications of energy, climate, and our continually consolidating agriculture, and the alternative vision that he has been so instrumental in advancing for 20 years.

* Molly Anderson is now U.S. Regional Director at Oxfam America and formerly Director of the Agriculture, Food, and Environment Program at Tufts University. She is a nationally-respected leader in the growing Community Food Security movement, and will talk about the intersection of sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and access to good food for people of all income levels.

* Lawrence Woodward is the director of the Elm Farm Research Centre, in Berkshire, UK, a world leader in organic agriculture research and education. His topic is the relationship of soil quality to food quality, and the importance for the organic movement to make this connection in the public's mind. (Lawrence Woodward has worked closely through the years with Hardy Vogtmann, whom some may remember from MOFGA's Farmer to Farmer conference several years ago).

* Jan Schrock is Senior Advisor for Heifer International, whose core mission is helping people around the world to build local food production capacity. She'll be joined by Amy Burchstead of Buckwheat Blossom farm in Wiscasset, and program leader for Heifer in northern New England.

* Finally, a panel of Maine Farmers and others involved in the food system, including Jo Barrett of King Hill Farm and Jim Amaral of Borealis Breads, will respond to the presentations, and offer their perspectives on what's needed as we lead Maine towards a local, organic food system, and set an example for the rest of the country.