CONTACT: Ray Kirsch, 651-653-0618 or ray@foodalliance.org

1/9/04
SAINT PAUL, Minn.—Food Alliance Midwest has a limited number of travel scholarships available for Extension educators in the Upper Midwest to attend the Food Alliance’s Third Annual Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 12. The meeting will be held in Bloomington, Minn., at the Radisson Hotel South from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p. m.

Scholarships will reimburse Extension educators for up to 200 miles of travel to attend the meeting. Scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and/or to reserve a scholarship, please contact Food Alliance Midwest Certification Coordinator Ray Kirsch at 651-653-0618 or ray@foodalliance.org.

The Food Alliance is one of the nation’s leading certifiers of environmentally friendly and socially responsible farms and foods. Food Alliance’s Midwest regional affiliate, a collaboration of the Land Stewardship Project and Cooperative Development Services, finished 2003 with 49 retail grocery partners. More than 65 farms and ranches growing over 100 different products have been certified by Food Alliance Midwest. For more information on Food Alliance Midwest, visit http://www.thefoodalliance.org/midwest.html.

At the annual meeting, educators will have an opportunity to learn how farmers are using Food Alliance certification and how Food Alliance marketplace partners—distributors, retailers, and food service providers—are working with certified farms to capitalize on consumer demand for regional, environmentally friendly, socially responsible foods.

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