WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the speakers at the 2010 Agricultural Outlook Forum will include the Co-President of Whole Foods, the recently retired CEO of Sysco Corporation and the CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company. Vilsack will keynote the forum titled "Sustainable Agriculture: The Key to Health & Prosperity." Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will open the annual forum on Feb. 18, 2010, at 8 a.m.

A panel, which features Whole Foods Market Co-President Walter Robb, recently retired Sysco Corporation CEO Richard Schnieders, Bon Appétit Management Company CEO Fedele Bauccio, and Science & Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State Nina Fedoroff, is titled "Sustainability, Stakeholders & Customers: Achieving a Healthier 21st Century."

USDA's Under Secretary Jim Miller will present the foreign trade outlook and Chief Economist Joseph Glauber will deliver the domestic agricultural economic outlook.

The 2010 Outlook Forum will be held Feb. 18-19, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va. It will focus on a broad range of topical issues related to rural communities, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, conservation, and food safety and security. The forum also will feature traditional USDA commodity supply and demand and food price outlooks. USDA will Webcast the entire morning plenary speeches.

USDA has hosted the Outlook Forum since 1923 to provide farmers and ranchers, government, and agribusinesses with sound information for decision-making. Attendees are expected to include members of farm organizations, food and fiber firms, academia, foreign governments, and the news media.

The program and registration information is at: www.usda.gov/oce/forum.

Registration is $350 until Jan. 15, 2019, and $375 thereafter.

Plenary speeches will be Webcast after 3:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 18, and breakout session speech and PowerPoint presentations posted online after 5 p.m. Feb. 19.

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