On Saturday, February 2, 2013 Orange County UF/IFAS Extension will host its Sixth Annual Eco-Nomic Living Expo. This year we are pleased to welcome Emily Ellyn as our closing keynote speaker.

Emily Ellyn is the Home Ec teacher you always wanted! She takes the retro, remixes it and makes it rad. She urges everyone to dig through their mom's recipe boxes, dust off their pressure cookers and crock pots, and take the old and make it new through retro recipe re-dos!

Emily currently divides her time between finishing her Ph.D in Food Service Education at University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management in Orlando, teaching food and beverage classes, doing consulting work, and developing her Retro Rad culinary TV career after appearing on The Food Network’s "Next Food Network Star."

The opening session, entitled "Beautiful Landscapes - the Key to Healthy Communities", will be presented by Katy Moss Warner. Ms. Warner is currently President Emeritus of the American Horticultural Society (AHS), a national, not-for-profit, member-based organization with a bold vision of "making America a nation of gardeners, a land of gardens." Prior to becoming AHS President, Katy was Director of Disney's Horticulture and Environmental Initiatives at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. She is the author of numerous publications, most notably The Gardens of Walt Disney World Resort, and has hosted garden tours across the globe.

Following the general opening session, participants can attend up to four 25-minute educational workshops. Renowned gardening expert Tom MacCubbin will teach two sessions, including an open Q/A with audience members. Other workshops include: "The Poultry Raising Phenomenon", "Culinary Tourism", "Seven Simple Ways to Save Water", and "Square Foot Gardening". Vendors will be on site to share their products and new technologies related to sustainability. Orange County Master Gardeners will also be on hand at their Mobile Plant Clinic to answer homeowners gardening questions. The Expo will conclude with a free "Adopt-A-Tree" event sponsored by Orange County government.

The Eco-Nomic Living Expo has won national and regional awards in the areas of environmental education and program marketing. The program seeks to provide research based solutions to real world problems. Topics addressed include sustainability, local food production, water conservation, financial management, and landscaping. The goal of the Eco-Nomic Living Expo is to motivate participants to develop habits that will have a low impact on the environment; and to help participants understand how to incorporate "sustainable" living and make it a lifestyle choice.

UF/IFAS Extension Orange County is the local affiliate of UF/IFAS Extension. University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible. While extending into every community of the state, UF/IFAS Extension has developed an international reputation for its accomplishments in teaching, research and extension.

For more information, visit http://orange.ifas.ufl.edu/ocs/ocs.html or call 407-254-9200.