Community Agri-Business Alliance (CABA) will meet on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Mill Spring Agricultural Center, located at 156 School House Road in Mill Spring.

Guest speaker Lynn Sprague, Polk County Agricultural Economic Development Director, will lead a discussion on the new state food safety act and how it will affect small farmers.

The conversation style program will include a question and answer session that will give attendees the opportunity to find out more about this issue. The event is free and open to the public, with food provided in potluck style.

CABA is a membership organization for the support and development of Mountain BizWorks Alumni in Polk County and surrounding areas in partnership with the Polk County Office of Agricultural Economic Development.

For the past 20 years Mountain BizWorks has been committed to celebrating the spirit of small business ventures in Western North Carolina, with the fundamental commitment to economic empowerment. The focus of this particular alliance has a special emphasis on agriculture, but the friends of agriculture are also encouraged to participate.

The Polk County Office of Agricultural Development is focused on both creating new agricultural businesses and enhancing existing operations as part of a rural development and community strategy.

This project was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2010-49400-21817.

Anyone interested in learning more about the food safety act is encouraged to bring a dish and enjoy the peer group environment and networking session on Thursday, Jan., 27 from 6 – 8 p.m.

For more information call Jo Ann Miksa-Blackwell at 828-894-1000 or Lynn Sprague at 828-894-2281.