Our
KEYNOTE
SPEAKERS
Diane Flynt
Key Note Title: Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: Apples, Appalachia, and the Land We Inherited
Three hundred years of southern apple history, told by the woman who knows it best.
Apples are not just a fruit. In the South, they are a story, and it is one that runs three hundred years deep, winding through displacement, prohibition, power, resilience, and revival. Diane Flynt, founder of the legendary Foggy Ridge Cider and author of "Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South," is one of the few people alive who can tell that story the way it deserves to be told.
In this keynote address, Diane brings southern apple history to life in ways that will genuinely surprise you. She'll take you through the forced displacement of orchards in the Shenandoah and western North Carolina when national parks were established, the quiet devastation Prohibition brought to Appalachian orchard culture, and the unexpected pockets of the South that once had thriving apple traditions most people never knew existed. She'll also offer a fascinating primer on apple biology and shine a long-overdue light on the Indigenous communities and enslaved laborers whose knowledge and work built the South's most celebrated orchards and nurseries.
This is history that connects directly to the land you farm today.
Don't miss it.
Paul Ronk
Ronk Family Maple Farm
Natasha Zoe
JarHead Farms and JarHead Kitchens
Duane Brown
Aroma of the Andes
Key Note Title: From Raw to Remarkable: How Cooperation
Changes Everything
What does it take to turn a bucket of maple sap, a harvest of Colombian coffee beans, or a basket of West Virginia-grown fruit into something truly extraordinary? It takes vision, craft, and more often than not, the power of working alongside people who get it. This keynote panel brings together three members of the Mountain State COHOP Cooperative to share their stories of transformation, from farm to finished product, and the remarkable things that happen when farmers stop going it alone.
Meet Duane Brown of Aroma of the Andes, whose family's journey from the hills of West Virginia to a Colombian coffee farm is as rich as the shade-grown beans they harvest. Hear from Paul Ronk of Ronk Family Maple Farm, who turned a mountain full of maple trees into a thriving value-added operation, crafting everything from infused syrups to maple apple butter in honor of the son who helped him dream it up. And meet Natasha Zoe of JarHead Farms and JarHead Kitchens, a Marine Corps veteran who came home to West Virginia and is building something genuinely groundbreaking, a certified naturally grown u-pick farm alongside an FDA-inspected co-packing kitchen designed to help other producers bring their own value-added products to life. Natasha and Paul are also both mentees in the Transition to Organics Partnership Program, bringing an extra layer of intentionality to everything they grow and make.
Together, this panel will dig into what it really means to add value to an agricultural product, why cooperative membership has been a game-changer for each of them, and the unexpected collaborations and opportunities that have grown out of showing up for one another. Whether you're just starting to think beyond raw commodity or you're ready to take your value-added product to the next level, this conversation was made for you.