Michael Pollan, Michael Pollan, Michael Pollan

Guess who's the keynote speaker at the Georgia Organics 12th Annual Conference? You got it: paladin of the dinner plate, Michael Pollan. His bestselling book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, is almost by itself responsible for the current crusade of fervid localists and foodies against the inner aisles of the grocery store, stacked as they are with the polysyllabic preservatives and refined sugars of the corn industrial complex. Count me among the converted, although my own personal agricultural history brought me to his book in the first place. We all hope this is a lasting revolution, that Pollan can be our Harriet Beecher Stowe for a prismatic and vexed issue in a like-minded world.

Simply put, this is a huge coup for Georgia Organics. The celebrity that Pollan brings to the conference should make it the most successful yet. Beside, it's in Atlanta. Attendance will be through the roof. I'm having goosebumps with the hope that this could be a watershed event for the state.

Michael Pollan would be enough, but Georgia Organics has absolutely outdone itself. Have a gander at this preliminary schedule of workshops:

• Whole Farm Planning: Alex Hitt (confirmed)

• Mushrooms: Tradd Cotter (confirmed)

• Intensive Urban Agriculture: Will Allen (confirmed)

• Urban Homesteading: The Dervaes Family (requested)

Personally, I'm excited about each one, but Will Allen, a recent recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, is another unbelievable guest. Here's a video of him talking about his work.