USA: Organic Center's VIP Dinner expects 500 attendees

The Organic Center is holding its 12th Annual VIP Dinner on 5 March 2015 in Anaheim, California. With over 500 attendees expected, it is the largest organic business networking event in the USA, the association reports. Stakeholders will feast on an all organic dinner created by a celebrity chef, listen to a thought-provoking discussion of food politics from a nationally respected sustainable food advocate, hear updates on the latest organic research, participate in science-focused social media festivities, and enjoy a rhythm and blues band.

The theme of this year's dinner is Where Science Meets Soul. Attendees will celebrate The Center's work to bring to the public eye the scientific findings behind organic food and farming and will learn about current research developments in the organic sector. The annual fundraiser, held in conjunction with Natural Products Expo West, raised more than US$500,000 last year for the work of the group.

Designing the menu will be Chef Susan Feniger, a 30-year restaurant industry veteran, celebrity chef, and cookbook author. The keynote speaker at the dinner will be Anna Lappé, author of three books, including the national bestseller Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, which links the current conventional food system to global warming and is regarded as one of the best environmental books of the decade. Lappé is widely respected for her work on sustainability, food politics and social change, and with her mother Frances Moore Lappé, leads the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute. More information is available here.