Does aquaponics, sustainable growing, vermicomposting, or marketing strategies for agriculture interest you?

If so, the Local Foods Connection Conference the place.

These and many other topics will be featured during the day-long conference at a Local Foods Conference on Friday, March 22, at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke's Regional Center at COMtech. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and a Local Foods Lunch will be at noon and costs $5.

It will feature 12 speakers on diverse topics including backyard chickens, vermicomposting, growing mushrooms, aquaponics, and marketing, funding and developing local food councils and community food systems.

Keynote speaker will be Charlie Jackson, executive director and a founder of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, which supports the local food movement to builds healthier communities. ASAP's mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

Conference organizers are Dr. Deborah Hanmer (biology), Dr. Rita Hagevick (biology) and Dr. Brooke Kelly (sociology and criminal justice).

For more information, visit www.uncp.edu/biology/new/local_foods_2013.html or call email tonya.locklear@uncp.edu.