Rethinking Food Systems at the 2024 Perennial Farm Gathering
Thank you for joining us in Spring Green and Madison, Wisconsin in October!
To gather in person for the first time in five years at the Perennial Farm Gathering was a special experience for our PFG2024 attendees. In total, 400 of us joined together at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin (and live online) in October to share stories from our work in perennial agriculture. Over half of the attendees were farmers, many from Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Nonprofits and researcher/educators representing 30 states made up another large part of the audience.
Just a week earlier, Hurricane Helene swept through Appalachia and the widespread devastation kept some of our friends at home to support recovery efforts. Community organizers in attendance responded quickly, convening a pop-up session at the gathering to discuss how we could support Appalachian groups working to recover farms and communities washed away in the storm surges. They’ve compiled a list of resources here that organizations can use to support relief efforts.
Pre-gathering activities brought guests out to Savanna Institute’s Campus in Spring Green for our third annual open house event, organized by Campus Engagement Manager Erin Crooks Lynch. Tours of North Farm showed off hazelnut alley cropping and chestnut silvopasture plantings established by Farm Director Erik Hagan and the farm team. Guests traveled from around the region to join with local community members for perennial food tastings and Bluegrass-folk fusion music from The Iowans. They sampled Midwest-grown berry juice from Viroqua Aronia Company and River Hills Harvest and enjoyed community art together.
On Sunday, about an hour east of Spring Green in Madison, a group of beverage makers and berry growers gathered for an in-depth libations workshop with Stan Frankenthaler of Culinary Innovation Consulting, Heidi Leuszler of Berries and Flour, Derek Nedvek from The Flower Factory, Ele Muni of Farmers and Robots, Dave Buehler from Buehler Organics, Carolyn Pettit from Canopy Farm Management, and Savanna Institute’s Tree Crop Breeder Lily Hislop.
At the same time, 75 changemakers convened at the first Annual Meeting and Networking Event of the Agroforestry Coalition, a cross-sector group of 90 organizations and 200 members that formed in 2022 to advance agroforestry nationwide. Led by Facilitator Kitt Healy, they discussed everything from policy questions related to the Farm Bill, market development and cooperatives, biodiversity and climate research, and agroforestry technical assistance – to name a few topics of conversation. Email [email protected] to join the listserv for upcoming discussions.
On Monday, October 7th, Chef Sean Sherman kicked off sessions with his keynote address, “The (R)evolution of Indigenous Foodways.” The Sioux Chef founder reminded us to apply the past as we’re planning the future, a framework that helped guests think about ways colonialism destroys Indigenous food systems and capitalism downsizes plant diversity in our diets. Then Chef Sherman asked us to consider: What if we made food taste like the place where we live?
In his work as a chef, author, and food advocate, Chef Sherman has conducted deep and broad research into Indigenous food traditions throughout Turtle Island, publishing many of those recipes in his 2017 cookbook with Beth Dooley, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, and another cookbook forthcoming in 2025. His nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) is doing the work to educate and employ native chefs, who reimagine traditional recipes at the Indigenous Food Lab and Owamni by The Sioux Chef, a full-service Indigenous restaurant in Minnesota.
Chef Sherman was one of 35 speakers, 20 sessions, and 35 Nutshell Talks that made up the program for the event organized by Savanna Institute’s Heather Driscoll. Guests heard tips for growing high-quality berries, farm hacks for agroforestry, culinary creativity with fruits and nuts (see the resources), friendly debates on profitability vs biodiversity, grazier stewardship stories, and visioning sessions that sent our community off with ideas for integrating perennials ethically on the landscape. Make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube page and Perennial AF Podcast to receive video and audio recordings as they are posted over the next few months.
This year’s Deep Roots Award was extended to Dr. Don Wyse, co-founder of University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative who passed away unexpectedly in 2024, and Jacque and Dan Enge, co-founders of the Veggie Emporium based in Wisconsin, received the 2024 New Shoots Awards.
We were happy to see so many of you bring back t-shirts, books, and posters to share perennial education with your community! Event art and photography credits go to Wil Crombie and Nicktae Hasslet Marroquin from Man Alone Media.
What to do Next?
- Download the Attendee Contact List – Guests have opted in to share their contact information for personal connections.
- Take the Event Evaluation – If you did not complete an in-person event evaluation, you can share your feedback online here with the Savanna Institute to help us plan future events.
PFG2024 Sponsors
The Savanna Institute is incredibly grateful to our group of sponsors this year who helped make the event possible through their financial and in-kind support. Thank you to Tyra Payer for leading sponsor and coalition communications.
- Compeer Financial
- Canopy Farm Management
- Agroforestry Coalition
- Marbleseed
- NĀTIFS
- American Farmland Trust
- River Hills Harvest
- American Hazelnut Company
- The Nature Conservancy
- USDA National Agroforestry Center
- University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry
- Wisconsin Farmers Union
- Wormfarm Institute
- Alliant Energy
- Cutler Fence
- Nature’s Path Organic
- Scattergood Friends School
- Green Lands Blue Waters
- Midwestern BioAg
- Appalachian Forest Farmer Coalition
- Organic Valley
- SARE
- GrassWorks Inc
- Forrest Keeling Nursery
Thank you for food and beverage donations from Enos Farms, Meadowlark Organics, Viroqua Aronia Company, American Hazelnut Company, Nature’s Path Organic, Nature’s Keepers, and Buehler Organics.
We look forward to seeing you all at the next gathering!
