TIFTON — The 22nd Annual Georgia Organics Conference and Expo was held at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus on Feb. 8 and 9.

The conference, which is held in a different location every year, features workshops, booths, farm tours, a Farmer’s Feast and opportunities to network for attendees from all over the state.

Alice Rolls, president of Georgia Organics, a nonprofit focused on connecting organic food from Georgia farms to Georgia families, said that one of their goals was to increase the number of organic farmers in Georgia.

The organization holds the Golden Radish awards, which recognizes schools that are integrating farm-to-school programs in the schools and are working to get healthy, local foods served in the schools. Rolls said that within five years, 50 percent of the school districts in the state participate in the Golden Radish program.

They also work to support the organics community and provide education about how organics and farms can help communities.

“Our goal is that Georgia will have this network of food oases that are also playing on each other, building, strengthening, creating that whole beautiful network throughout the state,” Rolls said.

The keynote speaker for the conference was Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton.

Awards were given out at the Farmer’s Feast.

The 2019 Land Steward Award winner was Al Clark from Clark & Sons Organics in Bulloch County. The award is given to honor an individual or individuals who have contributed greatly towards the organic agriculture movement in Georgia.

The 2019 Barbara Petit Pollinator Award was given to Shirley and Charles Sherrod from Lee County, civil rights pioneers who advocated for the rights of black landowners and farmers in South Georgia. This award is given to honor an individual or organization for outstanding community leadership in Georgia’s sustainable farming and food movement.