Farming - it's more than food, it's our future

OTTAWA, Nov. 30 /CNW/ - Farmers and agricultural industry leaders from across Canada will gather in Ottawa to celebrate the role of agriculture in Canada and to hear from a range of speakers who will speak about how farming is poised to make a difference on such challenging issues as food security, climate change and water scarcity.

This year's speakers include:

    
    -  Joel Cohen, writer and co-executive producer of The Simpsons
    -  John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Games
    -  Peter Mansbridge, anchor of CBC's The National
    -  Michael Specter, staff writer at The New Yorker
    

Conference attendees will also hear:

    
    -  consumer, industry and youth perspectives on what's shaping
       agriculture now and in the future,
    -  how industry can connect with some of its most vocal opponents,
    -  academic perspectives on the power of knowledge in agriculture, and
    -  human resources lessons from the field
    

Hosted by nine of Canada's leading agricultural associations, the GrowCanada(R) partnership meets annually in December to educate, inspire and challenge Canada's farming community to continue to achieve excellence in its joint pursuit of developing new products and new solutions to challenges of producing food, energy, and industrial products here in Canada and around the world.

Media are invited to attend the conference, which is being held at the Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive, November 30 - December 2, 2010.

A full listing of conference speakers can be found at www.growcanadaconference.ca

For further information: Nadine Sisk, cell: 613-218-6063, [email protected]