The seminar, which is open to the public, will be 3 to 5 p.m. in Curtiss Hall Auditorium on the ISU campus in Ames. The purpose of the seminar is to explore and discuss food distribution networks in other parts of the country that may be models for Iowa farmers.

Featured speakers include Anya Fernald, who directs the Growers Collaborative that distributes produce from small family-owned farms to public and private schools, colleges, hospitals, and corporate cafeterias in the Sacramento/Bay areas of central and southern California. The collaborative uses an on-line purchasing system and is operated by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers based in Davis, California.

Joining Fernald will be Christopher Fullerton, who currently works for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture located in Millheim, Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to PASA, Fullerton worked 14 years for the Tuscarora Organic Growers Co-op that serves the Washington, D.C., and mid-Atlantic areas. Formed in 1988, the coop works with more than 25 producers to bring an estimated 50,000 cases of produce from farm to city, offering locally grown, certified organic produce all 12 months of the year.