Inaugural Farm to Table International Symposium Announced in New Orleans

New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and SoFAB Institute to Partner

The inaugural Farm To Table International Symposium (F2Ti), featuring the brightest thought leaders and leading practitioners in the burgeoning farm-to-table movement, will be held in New Orleans, August 2 – 4, 2013.

The August Symposium takes place in tandem with the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s Annual Foodservice & Hospitality EXPO, an event featuring related exhibits and attracting food and beverage professionals from across the Gulf South Region.

F2Ti explores the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of food and drink sourced locally to globally. Topics include farming and aquaculture, fisheries, sustainability, social and digital interactive media, food security and safety, food law and policy, food science and GMO, artisanal and slow food and drink, and fair trade.

F2Ti is produced by the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in partnership with the SoFAB Institute. SoFAB documents and celebrates the food and drink of all cultures through exhibits, programming, and a range of media. SoFAB is home to several entities, among them the SoFAB Center for Food Law, Policy & Culture, the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, Museum of the American Cocktail, and SoFAB Media. F2Ti is the second exclusive trade show production of the Convention Center’s recently established Tradeshows and Conferences division. The Convention Center also owns and produces the International Disaster Conference and Expo, held each January.

The announcement took place at the Frederick Douglass Garden of the Sankofa Community Development Corporation. Chef Dominique Macquet of Dominique’s on Magazine prepared a locally-sourced lunch for those in attendance. The menu featured dishes created with herbs, vegetables and greens grown in Sankofa’s Frederick Douglass Garden: a freshly baked baguette sandwich with Tuscan ham, butter lettuce and herbed aioli; a red and golden beet salad with goat cheese sourced from Ryals Goat Dairy in Mississippi; mint infused iced tea; and strawberry-lemon trifle.

Chef Macquet, who hails from the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and has been a prominent fixture in the New Orleans restaurant scene for 16 years, said, “I have cooked with ingredients from all over the globe, but the ingredients I have found locally are truly the best. It makes such a difference in the quality and taste of a dish when you use ingredients that are sourced within 30 to 50 miles. At least 85% of the dishes on my restaurant menu locally sourced, including herbs grown at my restaurant using hydroponic and aquaponic systems. The flavor of fresh herbs can change the whole meal.”

Kevin Morgan-Rothschild of Verti Farms (Formerly A.M.PS.) demonstrated a desktop aquaponic that runs on rainwater and is used to grow the herbs used in Chef Macquet’s restaurant, Dominique’s on Magazine.

Chef Macquet also demonstrated a hydroponic tower which runs on rainwater and is used to grow herbs used in his restaurant. Dominique’s is the fourth restaurant in the United States to utilize an on-site hydroponic tower.

For information on exhibiting, please contact F2ti Conference Director Jimmy Mouton at 504-582-3000 or jmouton@mccno.com.