The LSU AgCenter and the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate LSU AgCenter’s organic fertility research project, located on property near the Convention Center. Dr. Rogers Leonard, Associate Vice Chancellor and Program Leader for Plant and Soil Sciences, LSU AgCenter, and Dr. Bobby Fletcher, Jr., Assistant Director, LSU AgCenter, Convention Center officials, plus representatives from the local urban farming community were on hand for the event.
For the next two years, research on Bella Rosa tomatoes will be conducted on the one-quarter acre plot to evaluate the effectiveness and economics of organic fertilizer versus conventional fertilizer used in vegetable gardening, to monitor disease, and to study the microbial qualities of irrigation water over the growing season.
The tomatoes will be harvested in June, and a preliminary report of the findings will be presented at the 2nd Annual Farm to Table International Symposium at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Aug. 2-4. This annual event brings together the leading practitioners in the burgeoning farm-to-table movement to explore the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of food and drink sourced locally. The event is presented by the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, in partnership with the SoFAB Institute and the LSU AgCenter.
About The Farm to Table International Symposium
The Farm to Table International Symposium (F2Ti) is an annual event featuring the brightest thought leaders and leading practitioners in the burgeoning farm-to-table movement. F2Ti explores the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of food and drink sourced locally. Topics include the best practices for urban farming, bringing products to market, sourcing locally, sustainability and the latest with the imposing Food Safety Modernization Act. F2Ti is produced by the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in partnership with the SoFAB Institute and the LSU AgCenter.
About the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
With 1.1 million square feet of contiguous exhibit space, an award winning staff and first class amenities, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (MCCNO) is the sixth largest convention center in the nation and a consistent Top 10 host of the largest number of conventions and tradeshows annually. A leading rainmaker of the city’s hospitality industry, MCCNO event activity has produced $39.12 billion in economic impact since its 1985 opening, including $2.19billion in new tax revenue.
About the SoFAB Institute
The SoFAB Institute documents and celebrates the food and drink of all cultures through exhibits, programming, and a range of media. Because everyone eats, all aspects of food and drink—culture and geography, anthropology and history, economics and politics, law and policy, media and the arts, science and technology—reveal the state of the world. SoFAB, home to several entities, among them the SoFAB Center for Food Law, Policy & Culture, SoFAB Culinary Library & Archive, Southern Food & Beverage Museum, Museum of the American Cocktail, and SoFAB Media, is growing into the nation’s most comprehensive institution studying food and drink.
About the LSU AgCenter
The LSU AgCenter’s mission is to provide the people of Louisiana with research-based educational information that will improve their lives and economic well-being. We have offices in each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes and 17 research stations across the state. In addition, our Baton Rouge-based faculty are housed in 11 academic departments on the LSU campus. At the LSU AgCenter we aim to develop the best use of natural resources, conserve and protect the environment, enhance development of existing and new agricultural enterprises, and develop human and community resources.
