The Purchasing Seminar will be held June 5-7 at the Sheraton hotel Kansas City at Crown Center.

WASHINGTON – Kathleen Parker, a political writer whose columns are syndicated nationally by the Washington Post, will offer insights into the rapidly changing political outlook at the 39th annual Purchasing Seminar sponsored by MEAT+POULTRY’s parent company, Sosland Publishing Co.

The seminar will be held June 5-7 at the Sheraton hotel Kansas City at Crown Center.

A columnist since 1987, Parker has worked for five publications around the country, including The Weekly Standard, Time, Town & Country, Cosmopolitan and Fortune Small Business. The 1993 winner of the H.L. Mencken Writing Award presented by the Baltimore Sun, Parker won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2010. She is a regular panelist on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and MSNBC’s “Hardball.” While describing herself politically as “mostly right of center,” Parker became the target of criticism from conservatives in 2008 when she characterized vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as “clearly out of her league” following a series of media interviews by Gov. Palin.

Kathleen Parker, a political writer whose columns are syndicated nationally by the Washington Post, will offer insights into the rapidly changing political outlook at the 39th annual Purchasing Seminar.

Other new presenters at the 2016 Purchasing Seminar will include Patrick D. Mitchell, a longtime purchasing executive for Keebler, Kellogg, Wrigley and Mars, who will discuss how procurement has evolved in recent years and how it will change over the decade ahead. 

Joshua Sosland, president of Sosland Publishing Co.

“Between varied influences ranging from zero-based budgeting, ingredient market volatility and the effects of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the requirements of purchasing excellence have grown more demanding,” said Joshua Sosland, president of Sosland Publishing Co. and editor of Milling & Baking News, a sister publication of MEAT+POULTRY. “The 2016 Purchasing Seminar promises to provide insights into what will drive ingredient markets in the year ahead, how the economic and political landscape is changing as well as ways the ground beneath purchasing executives’ feet is steadily shifting.”

Other confirmed topics and speakers at the 2016 seminar include grains and global food demand, Steve Freed, ADM Investor Services, Inc.; wheat and world prospects for new crop, Bill Lapp, Advanced Economic Solutions; feed grains and millfeed, Ankush Bhandari, The Gavilon Group L.L.C; world wheat and the impact on markets, Drew Lerner, World Weather, Inc.; sugar/sweeteners, Craig Ruffolo, McKeany-Flavell Co.; edible oils and shortening, Paul Meyers, Foresight Commodity Services, Inc.; and energy markets, Tim Statts, Schneider Electric. Additionally, breakout sessions will be offered on the subjects of dairy, spices, nuts, proteins, risk management, eggs, cocoa and fruit.

For registration information, please contact Christina Sullivan at (816) 756-1000 or csullivan@sosland.com. Information about the seminar also may be found at www.purchasingseminar.com.