Virginia Farm to Table Conference 2026
“Resilient Farms and Healthy Foods for the Commonwealth and Common Good”
Tuesday, December 8 and Wednesday, December 9 | 9:00 am- 4:30 pm
Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center
One College Lane, Weyers Cave, Virginia 24486
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/2026VAF2TConferenceReg
This year we’ll talk about strengthening the resilience and connections between farms, food, and health for the Commonwealth and the common good. Conference topics will include presentations, conversation, and discussions around regenerative agriculture, soil health, resilience and the convergence of food systems issues, local and regional food system development, heritage grain varieties, regional value chain connections, and everyday opportunities to impact health in the farm and food system. Producers and practitioners will share their local and regional expertise and perspectives on concurrent session panels.
Featured Speakers and Panelists
Michael Rozyne & Kelsey Gosch
Red Tomato and EcoCertified
Michael Rozyne is founder of Red Tomato, a regional food hub based in Providence, RI that sources from 40 mid-sized fruit and vegetable farms, and distributes primarily to supermarkets, as well as institutions such as schools, hospitals and food banks. RT’s signature program is EcoCertified(TM), verifying local and sustainably-grown apples and peaches. He is manager of the Farming & Food Narrative Project, a social science research project aimed at effective communications with a public audience. In 1986, Rozyne co-founded the fair trade food company Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative.
Kelsey Gosch is the Development and Program Manager of Red Tomato. She supports key projects like the Bypass Network and the Farming and Food Narrative Project. Learn more about Kelsey and her work here.
Bob Jones Jr.
The Chef’s Garden
As so many farmers do, Bob Jones wears many hats at The Chef’s Garden, but they all guide the organization in practices that have made the farm one of the most innovative and well-respected in the world. He is a co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of The Chef’s Garden, which has always been family-owned and devoutly committed to growing exceptional vegetables. Bob champions the farm team’s cutting-edge food safety and food quality programs, making the products grown at The Chef’s Garden some of the industry’s most reliably healthy, safe, and nutritionally dense fresh vegetables. Learn more about Bob and his work here.
Julia Freedgood
American Farmland Trust, Senior Fellow and Senior Program Advisor
Julia is a prominent national expert in farmland protection, land tenure and access, agricultural viability, and food system planning. As Senior Fellow and Senior Program Advisor at American Farmland Trust, she focuses on the planning and policy framework required to support the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers and to advance equitable and just regional food systems to increase food security and combat climate change. She also is involved in other research, extension, and community engagement projects at AFT.
Chef Radelle Reese
Chef Instructor/Assistant to the Chair and Department of Hospitality Management
Photo courtesy of VSU College of Agriculture website.
Learn about Chef Radelle Reese’s work.
Andrea Haubner, MPH
Area Specialized Agent, Community Engaged Health, Southwest District
Andrea joined Virginia Cooperative Extension’s community health team in 2025 after nine years as an Extension Professional. She is from Virginia originally, but life took her to Texas after college where she served as an AmeriCorps member in the 4-H CAPITAL program in Austin, a SNAP-Ed program assistant, and then a Family and Community Health Agent. She is happy to be back home serving the Appalachian area where she grew up. She is passionate about developing programming to improve the health of Virginians across the lifespan. Her programming focuses on food safety, food preservation, and chronic disease prevention and management. When it comes to Andrea’s passions in life, health education for communities is number one. Born and raised in the New River Valley, Andrea is especially passionate about serving Southwest Virginia. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, running, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.
Richard “Rick” Williams
Rick Williams has over four decades of experience in the insurance business specializing in agriculture, commercial risks and country estates. He holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) industry designation and is an associate faculty member for the Risk and Insurance Education Alliance where he teaches classes on insurance and risk management. He’s also served as an agent advisor for a regional insurance carrier, contributing to product development and marketing. Rick owned his own agency for over 30 years before becoming a producer for LD&B Insurance in 2023. He is a licensed insurance consultant and has served in various public service roles, as a Virginia Magistrate and on county agriculture committees. He is currently licensed in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
Ashlie K. Howell
Ashlie K. Howell is an Agriculture and Commercial lender at First Bank and Trust since 2023. She is certified as a Farm Transition Planner and, prior to joining the bank, had over 20 years of lending experience at Farm Credit of the Virginias working with local farmers in the Shenandoah Valley. Ashlie and her husband have a commercial cow/calf and sheep operation and raise and train working border collies for their farm with their two boys.
Tony Banks
Tony has over 35 years of experience in business development, rural economic development, and agricultural policy analysis. He is a Senior Assistant Director at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation in Richmond, VA, where he supports membership with a focus on specialty crops, animal disease, and poultry issues. He staffs the Virginia
Foundation for Agriculture, Innovation, and Rural Sustainability. In this role, he works with farmers, agribusinesses, localities and other entities to develop new value-added enterprises, facilitates strategic discussions on new market opportunities, assists clients with feasibility studies and planning, mentors small businesses, and helps organize agricultural cooperatives.
Previously, he managed several environmental programs and grants for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and worked for wholesale and retail fertilizer and farm supply firms in Virginia and North Carolina. He earned a B.S. in Agronomy and Agricultural Economics from Virginia Tech.
Duron Chavis
Urban Farmer, Educator, Change Maker, Founder of Happily Natural Day
Photo courtesy of Happily Natural Day website.
Robert ‘Bob’ Waring Jr.
Robert ‘Bob’ Waring Jr. is co-owner of Brandon Farms, a third generation family farm located in Dunnsville Virgina, where diverse cover cropping systems are integrated into the operation as a means of increasing soil health. The farm was selected as a case study with the American Farmland Trust, a national organization that highlights US conservation and farm sustainability. Brandon Farms is currently participating as a farm cooperator for Virginia Tech on compost and biochar experimentation, testing the NRCS 336 standard on soil health and productivity. In 2025, Brandon Farms was awarded a “Regenerate Virgina Healthy Soils” grant from the American Farmland Trust and Va Soil Health Coalition, focusing on intense cover cropping systems for economic and climate sustainability.
Bob worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia for 19 years in the area of precision nutrient management, soil health and cover crops. His role as an Environmental Specialist for the Commonwealth allowed for increased focus on the Virginia Agricultural Cost Share (VACS) Program while supporting Virginia’s 2025 Watershed Implementation Plan goals, such as co-lead on the creation of the Whole Farm Approach Agronomic BMP. At present he is a member of the National Association of Conservation Districts Soil Health Champions Network, former member of the Southern Cover Crops Council (SCCC) executive board, as well as past Chair of Virginia’s Cover Crop and Nutrient Management Technical Advisory Subcommittee (TAC).
Currently Bob serves as the Senior Conservation Specialist with the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District, and most recently, appointed to the Agricultural Advisory Committee for the Chesapeake Bay Program as one of two farmers representing the State of Virginia. Within the Agricultural Advisory Committee role, Bob serves as Vice-Chair on the leadership team. In addition, Bob recently participated in the Va Secretary of Natural Resources Chesapeake Bay Advisory Panel focusing on Virginia’s Priorities for restoration implementation.
Tom Croghan
Tom Croghan, a physician-scientist-turned-farmer, is the co-owner and executive winemaker at The Vineyards at Dodon in Davidsonville, MD. He is also the founding Chair of the Dodon Center for Ecological Farming, part of Dodon’s Do Your Part initiative. Widely recognized for its ecological approach to wine growing, Dodon seeks to restore functioning ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, sequester carbon dioxide, and reduce its chemical and physical footprint. In 2024, the vineyard operation was a finalist for Wine Enthusiast magazine’s American Winery of the Year, recognizing its commitment to the environment.
Kathryn (Katie) Strong, M.S., R.D.N.
Northeast District, Specialized Agent for Community Health
Katie joined Virginia Cooperative Extension’s community health team in 2024, after 13 years as an Extension Agent. She develops educational programs focused on community health and wellness, ensuring more Virginians have access to essential resources. Her work helps prevent chronic disease, promote safe food handling, and encourage wise financial decisions, thereby strengthening communities across the Commonwealth. As a Virginia native serving the Northeast district, Katie is inspired by the state’s diverse people and landscapes. Katie is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She believes in the power of food to not only nourish, but, also, empower individuals, families, and communities. Outside of work, Katie enjoys hiking, listening to music, and spending quality time with her friends and family.
Learn more about Katie’s work here.
Meet the Virginia Cooperative Extension Community Health Team here.
Kathy Hosig, PhD, MPH, RD
Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences |Director, Center for Public Health Practice and Research |Initiative Leader for Health & Well-being and Public Health Specialist, Virginia Cooperative Extension
Dr. Kathy Hosig is Director for the Virginia Tech Center for Public Health Practice and Research (CPHPR) and Initiative Leader for Health and Well-being for Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). The mission of CPHPR is to foster interdisciplinary, collaborative public health practice and research activities at Virginia Tech and among external public health agencies, organizations, practitioners and researchers, particularly in Southwest and Central Virginia and Appalachia. VCE has deep connections in communities across Virginia through local offices that house Extension agents who disseminate best practices and evidence-based resources related to health, positive youth development, community viability and agriculture and natural resources. Dr. Hosig has extensive experience in community-based participatory research and has developed and maintained collaborative partnerships at the local, state and national levels for past and current federally funded community-based projects. These projects address issues including obesity, diabetes, mental health and substance misuse prevention. Dr. Hosig leads a team of Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Area Specialized Agents for Community-engaged Health. This team provides technical assistance and support to local VCE Agents to advance VCE’s approach to address community-identified health priorities.
Heather Bruskin
Director of Food Systems Resilience in Montgomery County, Maryland
Michael Carter Jr.
Owner and Executive Director of Africulture and Carter Farms
Michael Carter Jr. is an 11th generation farmer and polymath in the United States and is the 5th generation to farm on Carter Farms, his family’s century farm in Orange County, Virginia where he conducts workshops, events and culturally enriching experiences intersecting various aspects of history, agriculture and culture. In addition he runs Africulture, a non profit dedicated to educating and expounding upon the principles,practices, plants and people of African descent that has contributed to agriculture and also the author of a best selling book of the same name, Africulture.
Learn more at thecarterfarms.com and learnafriculture.com
.
Michelle Edwards
Michelle Edwards is the Director of Regional Planning for the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, where she has worked for the past 15 years. In that time, she initiated the Commission’s efforts to promote sustainable agriculture, including development of the region’s food system plan and various implementation projects. Michelle serves on a number of state and regional committees including the Rappahannock-Rapidan Food Policy Council, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Local Leadership Workgroup, and the Virginia Farm to School Task Force.
Eric Walter
Chief Composting Officer
Eric Walter founded Black Bear Composting in 2010. His journey started at JMU as an English major way back before the upper deck was added to their football stadium. After graduating from JMU, he moved to Chicago and started a small technology company. After almost 20 years in Chicago, Eric sold his business in Chicago and moved his family back to Virginia to be closer to extended family. Now residing in Crozet and working in Crimora, Eric enjoys Black Bear’s mission of converting local organic waste into high-quality compost.
Lodging Options
Approx. miles from the venue: 8.0 mi
Approx. miles from the venue: 12.4 mi
Hampton Inn – Harrisonburg South
Approx. miles from the venue: 9.8 mi
Best Western Plus Harrisonburg
Approx. miles from the venue: 10.0 mi
Approx. miles from the venue: 15.0 mi
Double Tree by Hilton Harrisonburg
Approx. miles from the venue: 15.0 mi
Address: 1400 E. Market Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 22801, USA
Holiday Inn Express options in Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro
Harrisonburg: 196 Burgess Road, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
Staunton: 47 Rolling Thunder Lane, Staunton, Virginia 24401
Waynesboro: 108 Chicurel Lane, Waynesboro, Virginia 22980
Avid Hotels Staunton – an IHG Hotel
Approx. miles from the venue: 15.0 mi
Address: 62 Sangers Lane, Staunton, Virginia 24401 United States
Candlewood Suites Harrisonburg – an IHG Hotel
Approx. miles from the venue: 15.0 mi
Address: 1560 Country Club Road, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
Conference Hosts & Partners
The conference is presented by the Virginia Cooperative Extension in partnership with the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, VT School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, the VT Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia State University’s Small Farm Outreach Program, Virginia Sustainable Agriculture Research Education (SARE), Blue Ridge Community College, and community partners.
Hosts
Eric S. Bendfeldt, Virginia Cooperative Extension and the VT Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation
Mary Sketch Bryant, Virginia Tech and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition
Partners
Thank you to our sponsors and partners!
Music and Networking
An evening networking event will be hosted by the Virginia Soil Health Coalition.
On Tuesday, December 8, join us for an evening of community, networking, and a jam session at The Granary at Valley Pike Farm Market from 5 pm – 7 pm. The Common Grain Alliance and the Virginia Heritage Grains Project will share a brief presentation.
Valley Pike Farm Market is home to a local farmers market, coffee shop, bakery, deli, and wine & beer shop. The barn is over 100 years old and has been restored with great care. David Gardner, a local farmer saved the Sellers barn from demolition to make way for large-scale commercial development. Learn more about David’s work and the venue here.
