Farm Science Review Utzinger Gardens Workshop Promotes Local Foods

Writer(s): 
Utzinger Gardens

COLUMBUS, Ohio – When planning your next meal, why not think local?

That’s one message Susan Broidy hopes participants will take away from the “Local Foods for Thought” presentation during this year’s Farm Science Review Sept. 16-18 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.

Broidy is a program assistant for the Seeds Community Gardens program in Ohio State University Extension's Clark County office. The overall goal of the workshop, she said, is to get more people to learn about the benefits of local foods and urban agriculture. Those benefits include supporting local growers and producers, getting a boost in nutritional value from local foods, and fostering a sense of community, said Broidy, who will lead the presentation Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. in the Utzinger Garden at the Review.

“We want to help people think about buying and supporting local foods,” she said. “Why not grow food in your own backyard? We can show you how.

“Why not go to the farmer’s market so you know where your food comes from and support the local producer? Why not take advantage of local foods’ increased nutritional value?”

The program, which is designed to create or increase connections between people who produce food and those who consume food, is one part of the larger effort by Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) to promote local foods and urban agriculture.

Local foods programming occurs in every Ohio county, with efforts including market and community gardens, vocational agricultural training, urban agriculture, farm-to-school programs, and local food councils.

It’s all part of the work OSU Extension is doing to advance the well-being of Ohio communities by holistically addressing multiple issues related to local food systems, from production through consumption. The works focuses on four areas: Food Production, Food and Family, Food and Business, and Food and Community, Broidy said.

The presentation on local foods is just one of several topics that Review participants can learn about during this year’s event.

Sponsored by CFAES, the Review features educational workshops, presentations and demonstrations delivered by experts from OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, which are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college.

Other Utzinger Garden workshops include:

  • Hydrangeas for Ohio Gardens.
  • The Fun Guys Fungus Amongus.
  • Gardening Myths and Legends.
  • Backyard Strawberry Production.
  • Lyme Disease Is Here: Now What?
  • Annuals for Ohio Gardens.
  • No Fail Perennials.
  • Plants for the Fall Vegetable Garden.
  • Specialty Vegetables for the Ohio Plate.
  • Top 10 Pests.
  • Color in the Fall Garden.

Farm Science Review is known nationally as Ohio’s premier agricultural event. It annually draws more than 130,000 farmers, growers, producers and agricultural enthusiasts. An estimated 620 exhibitors with some 4,000 product lines will set up shop at the three-day farm show, an increase from 608 exhibitors last year, organizers said.

This year, the Review is also celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its partnership with Purdue University Extension. Educators and researchers from Purdue will also present educational workshops.

Review pre-show tickets are $7 and are available for purchase at all OSU Extension county offices, many local agribusinesses, and also online at fsr.osu.edu/visitors/tickets. Tickets are $10 at the gate. Children 5 and younger are admitted free.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 16-17 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18.

More information can be found at fsr.osu.edu.

Writer(s): 
Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
For more information, contact: 

 

Susan Broidy
937-521-3860
broidy.5@osu.edu