The first Guelph Organic Conference was held in Room 103 of the Guelph University Centre on March 18th 1982. Thirty people attended that event organized by two students, Ricardo Ramirez and Ignacio Villa, to examine the future of organic farming.

Twenty-five years later, what was considered to be a “one-time event” has grown beyond what the founders could ever have imagined. This year’s conference is expected to draw over 1500 people, 130 exhibitors and rather than take place in one classroom in the University Centre, will take up the entire building in addition to other buildings on campus. According to Natalie Cajic, in charge of media relations for the conference, “The Guelph Organic Conference is one of the oldest and most reputable organic conferences
in North America.”

The growth of the conference over the past two decades has mirrored the explosion in popularity of organic food. “The mass media is paying more attention to [organic food] so consumers are demanding it. Now the retail sector is paying more attention to the organic conference,” notes Cajic. “Before it was a small niche, but now it’s becoming more main stream. It’s not unusual to walk into a grocery store and see a shelf of organic products.”

Back in the 1980’s there were 150 certified organic farms in Canada. Now there are over 3500. The evolution of the organic movement and conference over the years are reflected in the conference themes themselves. From “Regenerative Agriculture” in 1983 to “Marketing Organic Food” in 1987, to “Meeting the Organic Demand” in 1993, to “Organic Goes Mainstream” in 2003. The sudden growth in popularity of organic products has come with new challenges as well

as rewards. “Back in the 80’s organic food was grown locally,” notes Cajic. “Today up to 85% of organic food is imported, mostly from the States.” The organic movement is asking itself how to get consumers back to buying locally grown organic food, says Cajic. This was reflected in the theme for last year’s conference: Local Organic...A Global Solution.

This years conference, to be held from January 26th to 29th, carries the title: Living Organic - the next 25 years. The issues for the organic movement today and in the future are vastly different from what they were 25 years ago. “Back then, there weren’t things like Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to worry about, but biotechs are big business now,” observes Cajic. “In the 80’s, using fossil fuel energy to grow food wasn’t even a consideration. With rising energy costs and climate change, it’s become more of an issue today.”

This year’s conference will include a workshop on controlling GMO contamination in organic crops and developing a diverse organic acreage. But more and more it is not the workshops that are drawing participants, but the participants themselves, “This conference is the marketing and networking event for organics in this country,” says Cajic. The conference will be attracting big players in the organic industry this year including Organic Meadow, Harmony Organic Dairy Products and Nature’s Path Foods.

Though the conference has become more attractive
to larger companies, many of the workshops are still geared towards the small organic farmer at the conference’s roots. “The conference is still relevant to the little guy,” says Cajic.

www.guelphorganicconf.ca