2022 Conference
The 2022 Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference was in-person at Texas State University from August 7-9. We brought in approximately 380 people for three days of education and networking around small-scale and sustainable agriculture. SPI awarded a total of 33 scholarships to socially disadvantaged, new/beginning, and veteran farmers and ranchers.
Browse our event info by clicking the links below.
At the conference:
- Pre-conference Workshops on Sunday, August 7
- General Sessions on Monday & Tuesday, August 8-9
- Crops
- Livestock
- Business, Finance, and Marketing
- "The Big Picture" (policy & social issues)
- Research
- Technology
- Start up/Homesteader
- Niche topics
- Exhibit Hall & Networking
- Monday evening Social Hour
- Monday evening Banquet Dinner w/ Keynote Speaker Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin
- Silent auction
Keynote Speaker:
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin began working on economic development projects with indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988. He served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and as an advisor to the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He was a founding member of the Fair-Trade Federation in 1994. He led the creation, strategic positioning, and launch of Peace Coffee, a Minnesota-based fair-trade coffee company. He went on to work with woodland owners in the Midwest and internationally supporting the organization of several Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified operations.
He is owner-founder of Regeneration Farms LLC, and Founder and President of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance. Regi has pioneered innovations in a Regenerative Poultry System that is at the center of a multitude of national and international initiatives. The system is uniquely aligned with the conditions of small farms and marginalized communities and is designed for large-scale and global impact. At the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, Regi's current work covers communities in the US (Northfield, MN, Omaha, Mead and Winnebago NE, Pine Ridge SD), Hazelton British Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. During the 2020 MOSES conference, Regi received one of the first "Changemaker" awards for innovation and lasting impact.
A native Guatemalan, Regi received his agronomy degree from the Escuela Nacional Central de Agricultura studied at the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala then graduated from Augsburg University in Minneapolis with a major in international business administration and a minor in communications. Regi lives in Northfield MN with his wife Amy and their kids William, Ana Nicktae, and Lars Decarlo.
The Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference is jointly hosted by the Small Producers Initiative, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, and Council for Healthy Food Systems, with generous assistance from NCAT's Southwest Regional Office.
We also want to thank our 2022 planning committee members Tim Auld, Kay Bell, Kara Kroeger, Alex Racelis, and Pam Walker.