Farm to Table Conference

I would have liked it if there was healthy lunch options. You can only eat so many tasters. The concession stand should not have been open

What I liked about this conference was that it featured small local food businesses selling things from maple syrup to honey to cheeses. Lots of these were organic or homemade.
Away from these vendors was my favorite part, a section where Community Kitchen Pittsburgh hosted «Project Lunch Tray». This project works with students from the Pittsburgh public schools to create a school lunch entry to propose to their schools. Not only are these young students taking part of their own health, they are learning about what makes it a healthy lunch. These lunches that the students create have to meet USDA guidelines and must be affordable for distribution to all students. Of course, it has to taste great too. Not an easy task! This was a competition among 8 schools, so I got to see these kids present their meals to judges and share their experiences. What a great project to inspire young students!

This was a lot of fun with so much information on urban farming, CSAs, locally-​made foods… I left with a tote bag full of goodies and a stack of cards to look things up later.
I will definitely try to make it next year!

It was great. Tables and demos all over the convention center, but not spread out too far.

As with anything, this will take some time to get its groove and really get going but, what my wife and I saw was a good start. The presenters we saw on the day we were there were informative and entertaining, especially Nigel Tudor from Weatherbury Farms. Right now, a lot of the conference (probably 70%) is related to farmers showcasing their CSAs and such but we did encounter some awesome vendors too, like a local honey provider. It would be nice if they could have some locally sourced concessions there as well but I believe that is the DL Lawrence Convention Center not allowing that.

Not as large as I was hoping or expecting, but some good information.

Pretty crowded, lots of samples! We ended up buying 3 peacock feathers, 3 jars of pickles & a jar of honey. I’d like to see more vendors & exhibits next year!

I stopped by here yesterday with my girlfriend at around 2:30 or so. We got our tickets through living social and so they were $ 15 for both of us instead of $ 15 each.
It was held on the second floor of the convention center, in the back. Whenever I walked in I was surprised at how small it was with around 30 vendors or being there. While many vendors were giving out free samples, it was to get you to buy their product. It almost felt liking walking through the strip district on a Saturday. I also do not think that I really learned anything which was sad.
The bottom line for me is that I would not head back here next year. Even though it only cost $ 15 for both of us, I felt that it was at least $ 11 more than it was worth.