64 Publication of the Northeast Organic Farming Association ISSN 1077-2294
Inside This Issue Features NOFA Interstate Council Retreat 8 Finding NOFAs Voice 36 NOFA Manuals Completed 37 Michael Phillips Honored 37 The Magic of PEAS 37 Supplement on Youth & Agriculture Yale Sustainable Food Project 9 Ridge & Velley Charter School 11 Agriculture as Therapy for the Young 12 The Food Project 14 Rochester School-Community Gardens 18 Vermond FEED Project 20 Seeds Of Solidarity 22 Green Chimneys 24 Farm & Wilderness Camps 26 Finding Common Ground in New Haven 30 YouthGROW in Worcester 32 Departments Editorial 2 Letters 2 News Notes 4 NOFA Exchange 6 Book Reviews 34 NOFA Contacts 38 Calendar 38 NOFA Membership Information 38 by Kathleen Litchfield The NOFA Summer Conference. From the first time I heard the phrase, I knew I had to go. I was interning in northern Virginia, farming 10 acres of organic vegetables and selling them in Wash- ington, D.C. As the relentless sun bore upon my shoulders and sweat trickled beneath my broad- rimmed cotton hat, I paused and held one of 24 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in my hand, pricked up my ears and tuned into our New England farm visitors, two rows away harvesting the hybrids. There are so many workshops that I cant decide which ones to attend, I heard. And theres a big dance Saturday night and a farmers market, and all sorts of things to do and people to meet. That did it. A year after my internship ended, I fulfilled what became my new mission I got involved with the Northeast Organic Farming Association, whose members are the founders and coordinators of the annual conference that is now in its 31st year. While the conference has grown exponentially, evolving with the times and needs of its agricul- tural clientele, it has remained the culminating event of yet another years farming cycle. And while snow is whirling outside my window and Im strapping on cross country skis this afternoon, you can be assured my red pen has already crossed August 2005 in my new calendar the rest of my summer plans are coming after this highlight. Mark Your Calendar: August 11-14, 2005 In case you havent yet heard, or if youve been hibernating for the last three decades, the 31st annual NOFA Summer Conference will descend upon Hampshire College from August 11-14, 2005. From the time the pre-conference gets underway Thursday afternoon through the aforementioned big dance on Saturday evening, this homegrown event will be jam packed with educational, practical and philosophical workshops, films, activities, the fair, the folk dancing and the fun for children, teens and adults. And if youre not one of those, theres probably still something that will knock your socks off in one way or another, including the pre-conference on bio-diesel and the always-lively Saturday evening debate (topic to be determined). Keynoter Satish Kumar Our keynote speaker, Satish Kumar, will address the masses on Friday evening, August 12th. Born in a small village of Rajastan, India, Kumar joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks at age nine. At 18, passionately turned on by Gandhis philosophies, he began campaigning for land reform and peace. Following an 8,000-mile peace pilgrimage during which he encountered some of lifes harrowing adventures, he settled in England and is presently the director of Summer Conference Scheduled August 11 - 14 programmes at Schumacher College, a resi- dential international center for the study of ecological and spiritual values. For the last 30 years since the founding of the NOFA Summer Conference in fact Kumar has been the editor of Resurgence Magazine, a highly regarded tome of ecology, spirituality and frugality. Resurgence is packed full of positive ideas about the theory and practice of good living: permaculture, community supported agricul- ture, local economics, ecological building, sacred architecture, art in the environment, small schools and deep ecology, reads the About page of its website, www.resurgence.org. A writer, philosopher, community activist, nature lover and peace advocate, Kumar epitomizes these ideas and was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Pro- moting Gandhian Values Abroad in November of 2001. Previously, he was awarded honorary doctorates in literature from the University of Lancaster and in education from the Univer- sity of Plymouth. We are honored to have him speak and he is sure to inspire us during his keynote presenta- tion. Watch upcoming issues of The Natural Farmer for a personal interview with Kumar. Help Spread the Word! In a week or so you will be receiving informa- tion in the mail regarding Summer Conference advertisements, exhibits and sponsors. If you or someone you know is interested in purchas- ing an ad in the Summer Conference booklet, hosting a table during the conference, or sponsoring a portion of the conference, youll find all of the info you need in this mailing. Youll also receive a mini-poster that you can post in your community to help NOFA publi- cize the conference. You can even photocopy it and enjoy a winters walk around town putting up posters! In early May youll also be receiving Summer Conference registration information, with a final list of the workshops that have been selected. Logo & Theme Contest Winner Announced Were pleased to announce the winner of this years NOFA Summer Conference Logo & Theme Contest: Randy Buck of Barre, Massa- chusetts. (continued on page 33) The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 2 To the editor: I was disappointed by Karen Franczyks article [in the Fall, 2004 issue ed.] The Price of Organic Consuming. Instead of an analysis of Whole Foods as a purveyor of organic foods, the article reads like an ad for the store. Franczyk offers chatty observations about the customers, but no insight into the prices Whole Foods charges, its contracts with farmers or its personnel policies and salaries. I suppose it would be awkward for an employee of Whole Foods to examine the stores labor policy. I doubt that I am the only TNF reader who would like to know the truth behind Whole Foods reputation as anti-union. Those of us who were friends of Russell Van Hazinga, NOFA-MAs first certified organic dairy farmer, would like to know why Whole Foods dropped Russells products in favor of buying milk from Horizon. Russell was never able to replace that market. A few cents per gallon of savings for Whole Foods pushed Russell into a financial crisis that forced him to sell his cows. If we are going to educate customers and help make people more aware of the issues facing organic farmers, as Franczyk suggests, we should start with the realities of the economic system that gives big entities like Whole Foods much more power than small farms like Russells. For the prices Whole Foods charges, they should be able to afford fair contracts for their farmer-suppli- ers and freedom of association for their employees! Letters to the Editor: The Natural Farmer is the newspaper of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA). Regular members receive a subscription as part of their dues, and others may subscribe for $10 (in the US or $18 outside the US). It is published four times a year at 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005. The editors are Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson, but most of the material is either written by members or summarized by us from information people send us. Upcoming Issue Topics - We plan a year in advance so that folks who want to write on a topic can have a lot of lead time. The next 3 issues will be: Summer 2005 Cucurbits Fall 2005 Alternative On-Farm Energy Winter 2005-06 Organic Fine Dining Moving or missed an issue? The Natural Farmer will not be forwarded by the post office, so you need to make sure your address is up-to-date if you move. You get your subscription to this paper in one of two ways. Direct subscribers who send us $10 are put on our database here. These folks should send address changes to us. Most of you, however, get this paper as a NOFA member benefit for paying your chapter dues. Each quarter every NOFA chapter sends us address labels for their paid members, which we use to mail out the issue. If you moved or didnt get the paper, your beef is with your state chapter, not us. Every issue we print an updated list of NOFA Contact People on the last page, for a handy reference to all the chapter names and addresses. As a membership paper, we count on you for articles, art and graphics, news and interviews, photos on rural or organic themes, ads, letters, etc. Almost everybody has a special talent or knows someone who does. If you cant write, find someone who can to interview you. Wed like to keep the paper lively and interesting to members, and we need your help to do it. We appreciate a submission in any form, but are less likely to make mistakes with something typed than hand- written. To be a real gem, send it via electronic mail (Jack@mhof.net) or enclose a computer disk (MacIntosh or PC in Microsoft Word ideally.) Also, any graphics, photos, charts, etc. you can enclose will almost certainly make your submission more readable and informative. If you have any ideas or questions, one of us is usually near the phone - (978) 355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046. The NOFA Interstate Council website is www.nofa.org. ISSN 1077-2294 copyright 2005, Northeast Organic Farming Association The Natural Farmer Needs You! Advertisements not only bring in TNF revenue, which means less must come from membership dues, they also make a paper interesting and helpful to those looking for specific goods or services. We carry 2 kinds of ads: The NOFA Exchange - this is a free bulletin board service for NOFA members and TNF subscribers. Send in up to 100 words (business or personal) and well print it free in the next issue. Include a price (if selling) and an address or phone number so readers can contact you directly. If youre not a NOFA member, you can still send in an ad - just send $5 along too! Send NOFA Exchange ads directly to The Natural Farmer, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 or (preferably) E-mail to Jack@mhof.net. Display Ads - this is for those offering products or services on a regular basis! You can get real attention with display ads. Send camera ready copy to Dan Rosenberg, PO Box 40, Montague, MA 01351 (413) 863- 9063 and enclose a check for the appropriate size. The sizes and rates are: Full page (15" tall by 10" wide) $300 Half page (7 1/2" tall by 10" wide) $155 One-third page (7 1/2" tall by 6 1/2" wide) $105 One-quarter page (7 1/2" tall by 4 7/8" wide) $80 One-sixth page (7 1/2" tall by 3 1/8" wide), or (3 3/4" tall by 6 1/2" wide) $55 Business card size (1 1/2" tall by 3 1/8" wide) $15 Note: These prices are for camera ready copy. If you want any changes we will be glad to make them - or to typeset a display ad for you - for $10 extra. Just send us the text, any graphics, and a sketch of how you want it to look. Include a check for the space charge plus $10. Advertise in or Sponsor The Natural Farmer Frequency discounts: if you buy space in several issues you can qualify for substantial discounts off these rates. Pay for two consecutive issues and get 10% off each, pay for 3 and get 20% off, or pay for 4 and get 25% off. An ad in the NOFA Summer Conference Program Book counts as a TNF ad for purposes of this discount. Deadlines: We need your ad copy one month before the publication date of each issue. The deadlines are: January 31 for the Spring issue (mails Mar. 1) April 30 for the Summer issue (mails Jun. 1) July 31 for the Fall issue (mails Sep. 1) October 31 for the Winter issue (mails Dec. 1) Disclaimer: Advertisers are helping support the paper so please support them. We cannot investigate the claims of advertisers, of course, so please exercise due caution when considering any product or service. If you learn of any misrepresentation in one of our ads please inform us and we will take appropriate action. We dont want ads that mislead. Sponsorships: Individuals or organizations wishing to sponsor The Natural Farmer may do so with a payment of $200 for one year (4 issues). In return, we will thank the sponsor in a special area of page 3 of each issue, and feature the sponsors logo or other small insignia. Contact for Display Ads or Sponsors: Send display ads or sponsorships with payment to our advertising manager Dan Rosenberg, PO Box 40, Montague, MA 01351. If you have questions, or want to reserve space, contact Dan at (413) 863-9063 or dan@realpickles.com. That we devote an issue of this paper to focusing on programs which connect young people to farming is itself a measure of the problem. The average US farmer is now over 55 and still aging. Children who grow up on farms are, by and large, opting for other careers. We now have more prisoners in America than farmers. The vast store of agricultural know- how and talent that has traditionally been passed from parent to child on US farms is in danger of being lost. That there are programs which con- sciously attempt to bring youth back into the farm- ing picture is indeed news very good news! Whether the hosts are public schools, private farms, non-profit organizations, colleges, camps, or com- munity groups, these programs are rediscovering that there is a natural affinity between kids and the farm experience. Watching a seed sprout, taking care of a calf, savoring ripe fruit on a hot day are magical experiences that no formal learning can duplicate. Their tactile immediacy trumps any other kind of knowledge. But the skills necessary to function in this world are not complex at all. Any child can master them and thus share ownership of the magic. We are fortunate that so many diverse programs for young people are now popping up on farms and in Youth and Agriculture community gardens in the northeast. In most urban areas there is now a way inner city kids can connect to growing food. Educational farms, farm camps, school food programs and private farms are all finding ways to reach youth, often with a therapeu- tic and healing touch. In a time when there is so much wrong with our society so much waste, so much pollution, so much violence it is indeed gratifying to see a healthy bond grow between our young and the culturing of life. For Peace and Justice In Our Lifetimes! Elizabeth Henderson Thanks Liz, I always like to have letters, however critical, because then at least I know folks are reading this rag! I think your beef is with me more than Karen, however. I wanted an article on the organic consum- ers who buy at alternative grocery stores like Wild Oats or Trader Joes. I knew Karen had worked at Whole Foods for several years and was also a solid NOFA member, thoughtful consumer/observer, and small certified farmer who sold tomatoes seasonally to the company. I asked her to write the article not as an analysis of Whole Foods but, being as the issue was on organic consumers, I asked her to write about the consumers she has met and their variety, focus, and reasons for buying there. I didnt ask her to justify the companys prices, labor relations, or purchasing practices. I spent 10 years on the NOFA/Mass certification committee and knew Russell well (and his uncle, our mentor/neighbor here when Julie and I moved to Barre and started to farm). I liked him, enjoyed his free-wheeling attitude, and respected his personal support for those with little power in our culture. But I believe there were more fundamental prob- lems with his relationship with Whole Foods than their need for a few cents per gallon of savings. (continued on page 3) The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 3 In terms of the bigger issue you raise, I struggle with that every day. The lifestyle that I believe in supports local production of most of our food, low- tech preservation methods (given that we live in a region with four real seasons), and a respect for eating seasonally and locally because we understand the pressure any other expectation exerts on our sustainability. But not everyone shares those values. For many they seem old-fashioned or unrealistic. Many today shop, instead, for convenience, price, appearance and on impulse. That consumers feel this way is, I think, the most important reality of the economic system that gives big entities like Whole Foods much more power than small farms like Russells. That is why the work NOFA does to educate and point out viable alternatives in how we eat is so important. CSAs, farmers markets, backyard hoop-houses, artisanal foods, raw milk dairies the growth of these is all encouraging and shows that we are slowly winning the battle for the hearts and minds (and health) of the consumer. Still searching for solutions, Jack Kittredge Dear Mr. Kittredge: I try, with every food item I buy, to pick those which are organically grown or processed. This includes my purchases of milk when the cartons stipulate organic. But I notice lately that every container of organic milk I see is also labeled ultrapasteurized. I think this is new, and a few containers of non- organic milk also, lately, are stamped with this word. Now, one normally assumes that ultrapasteurized means the temperature as which the raw milk is heated is even higher than is the case with pasteur- ization. That may be what they want the public to believe, but I think that is not the case. I remember that about 25 years ago the dairy industry convinced Congress to allow them to label cream ultrapasteurized when it contained a substance that inhibited the normal aging of dairy products cream, only, at that time thus increas- ing its shelf life. And I well remember purchasing a container of heavy cream, and when it stood in the refrigerator long after one would usually leave it, it didnt sour, as pure cream would, but turned into an unholy mess with a repellant, nauseating odor. (continued from page 2) Now, are they doing the same thing to milk? Youll notice that the carton is dated much farther in the future than one normally expects yes, the shelf-life is extended, but if you keep this milk until it sours youre not going to be able to use it to make a cake or baking-soda pancakes with. Youll want to pour it down the drain at once. So Im buying soy milk from now on it tastes just fine and is just as good in cooking as cows milk. Can you find out what ultrapasteurized means? I also thank you for your newspaper. I always look forward to its coming. Frieda Arkin Ipswich. MA Dear Ms. Arkin, Thanks for your letter and your question. I have observed this spread of ultrapasteurization to organic milk with concern. Apparently the pressures of having an extended shelf life are such that some of the national organic dairies have succumbed. Pasteurization, as you know, is performed by heating milk to 145 F for 30 minutes (or to 160 F for 15 seconds) to kill bacteria and enzymes which might break down the milk, thus extending its usable life. This process leaves a few relatively benign microorganisms that can eventually sour milk. Ultrapasteurization kills all organisms, so that the milk will eventually rot without going sour first. It is performed by heating milk to about 285 F (either directly by exposure to super-heated steam, or indirectly via a plate heat exchanger) for a couple of seconds. Unless quickly cooled, this high heat can lead to a burned taste in the milk. Ultrapasteurization, combined with aseptic packag- ing, allows milk to be stored for up to 6 months without refrigeration. Once opened, it will spoil as quickly as regular milk. As far as I have been able to find out, nothing other than heat is added to the milk when it is ultrapasteurized. Many people feel that by heating milk and destroy- ing the natural enzymes it contains, one is losing important nutrients. I concur in this belief. We buy raw organic milk from a neighboring farmer for our personal use. While I share your skepticism about the healthful- ness of pasteurized or ultrapasteurized milk, I must say I have also heard some disquieting things about soy products. I think there is far too much soy in our diets and studies are beginning to find serious hormonal problems associated with excessive consumption of soy products. Rather than opt for soy milk, I would encourage you to hook up with a local provider of raw milk. Many jurisdictions now allow its sale if the farmer meets stringent health requirements. NOFA is consulting with local dairy farmers here in the northeast, encouraging them to comply with local regulations so that they can legally sell raw milk. We are also setting up cooperative networks of consumers so that purchasing raw milk is feasible even for urban households. In Massachusetts please contact NOFA/Mass at 978-355-2853 to find out how to get access to legal, healthy raw milk. Jack Kittredge Dear NOFA, In a recent issue you published an article illustrating use of a 5 gallon plastic pail as a nesting box for hens. I think this design is ill-advised. Ive been using these pails, and have occasionally found one being shared by two hens, even when other pails were available. Today I discovered four hens in one pail, unable to get out. When I liberated them, I found the one on the bottom had died of asphyxia- tion. I have tossed out the pails and will go back to wooden nest boxes. Sincerely, John Mellquist Vershire, VT Dear John, Thanks for the your letter referring to the article on Steven Bibulas operation in the Winter, 2004-05 issue. The advantage of Stevens system is that the pails are light and since they hang on the side of the pen there is no extra work when the pen is moved. But you are right, chickens do love to share nest boxes. We use light-weight luan to make square boxes in our mobile pens here, so I cant speak from experi- ence about the pails. I would think there is some proper combination of size of entrance hole and placement of hole from the bottom that would make a pail asphyxiation-proof, but I appreciate your warning. Jack Kittredge Please help us thank these Friends of Organic Farming for their generous support! The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 4 compiled by Jack Kittredge Half of US food wasted. Anthropologist Timothy Jones of the University of Arizona has studied food loss for the last decade. He estimates that 40% to 50% of US food ready for harvest is never eaten. Some of it is plowed under because of fluctuating commodity prices, some spoils on the way to market, and a surprising quantity is simply thrown out. On average, households waste 14% of the food they have purchased ($590 a year), for a national total of $43 billion a year. source: The Rams Horn, December, 2004 & Acres USA, February 2005 EPA may conduct human tests for chemicals. In setting limits on chemicals in food and water, the Environmental Protection Agency may rely on industry tests that expose people to poisons and raise ethical questions according to a new policy, which the EPA is still developing. It says were going to look at each study on its individual terms and accept studies unless they are fundamentally unethical or have significant deficiencies, said Bill Jordan, a senior policy adviser in EPAs Office of Pesticide Programs. Pesticide makers say human tests give more accurate results about the risks of the products to people and the environment. source: The Associated Press, November 30, 2004 Spring coming earlier. In response to a warming trend in the US Northeast, Spring is arriving up to a week earlier than it did 40 years ago, Cornell University researchers are reporting. They base their conclusion on a study of historical bloom-date records for lilacs, apples and grapes, which suggests that natures calendar is changing due to an increase in greenhouse gases. The Cornell scientists and their colleagues at the University of Wisconsin say that lilacs are blooming about four days earlier, and apples and grapes six to eight days earlier, than in 1965. The findings in the study the first to encompass the U.S. Northeast are consistent with similar reports in other regions of the United States and in Europe. source: http://www.news.cornell.edu/ releases/Dec04/climate.plants.ssl.html External costs of US agriculture may exceed $16 billion. A new study, published this week in the peer reviewed International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, estimates that the negative impacts of agriculture in the US may cost society anything from $5.7 billion to $16.9 billion annually. The negative impacts identified include the cost of greenhouse gas emissions from cropland and livestock, damage to wildlife and ecosystem biodiversity , and damage to human health from pesticides . The authors of the study call for a restructuring of agricultural policy that shifts production towards methods that lessen external impacts. source: The Agribusiness Examiner, February 1, 2005 Fungus effective against varroa mites. A natural fungus that kills termites but doesnt harm bees or their queens has proven deadly to varroa mites. The strain, Metarhizium anisopliae, killed most of the mites in test hives in 3 to 5 days and proved as effective as the chemical control, fluvalinate, after 42 days. source: In Good Tilth, December 15, 2004 and the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener, December, 2004 February, 2005 Bee trait controls mites. Entomologists John R. Harbo and Jeffrey W. Harris, working in the Agri- cultural Research Services Honey Bee Breeding Unit have discovered a trait in some honey bees which inhibits the reproduction of varroa mites in the hive. They have supplied the trait to a queen honey bee producer who hopes, by selective breed- ing, to spread the trait into commercial hives. source: the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener, December, 2004 February, 2005 News Notes Carrots come in many colors. USDA scientists in Madison, Wisconsin have bred carrots in a range of colors white, yellow, red and purple which provide a variety of healthful protective effects in the human body. The red carrots lycopene, forinstance, buards against heart disease and some cancers. The yellow ones xanthophylls is good for eye health. The purple ones anthocyanins act as antioxidants. The researchers are hopeful that the novel color of the carrots will contribute to their appeal. source: The Vegetable Growers News, December, 2004 Onions effective against cancers. A new Cornell University study has found certain varieties of onions high in anti-cancer chemicals, and particu- larly effective against liver and colon cancer. The anti-cancer effect if attributed to high levels of phenolics and flavonoids, types of phytochemicals which work as antioxidants. Shallots had six times the phenolic content of Vidalia onions. Western Yellow onions had eleven times more flavonoids than Western White ones. source: The Vegetable Growers News, December, 2004 Raw milk products sold on internet. Organic Pastures Dairy Company, in association with alternative health website Mercola.com, will be offering frozen raw milk products on the internet. The arrangement apparently meets all applicable federal laws, and FDA inspectors found no human pathogens in the products or the plant. For more information, call 1-877-729-6455. source: Acres USA, January, 2005 National Organic Program News NOP violates organic rule, court says. Three provisions of the National Organic Program are not valid, according to a decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit last week. The decision came after a lawsuit filed in October 2003 by Arthur Harvey, an organic blueberry farmer in Canton, Maine. The NOP regulations have allowed 38 synthetic ingredients, from alginates to xanthan gum, to be used in processing and post-harvest handling, even though the Organic Foods Production Act prohibits synthetic ingredients in processed foods. The court ruled that most of these ingredients would no longer be allowed. The NOP regulations have, until now, permitted dairy herds that were undergoing conversion to organic status to be given feed that is only 80 percent organic for the first nine months, and then switch to full organic feed after that. Harvey argued that this violated OFPAs mandate that organic dairy animals receive organic feed for 12 months prior to the sale of organic dairy products. Nothing in the Acts plain language permits of an exception permitting a more lenient phased conversion process for entire dairy herds, the court wrote. The NOP has allowed non-organic agricultural ingredients, such as cornstarch and pectin, to be used when organic versions were not commercially available. Harvey argued that the rule gives certifi- ers a blanket exemption, without requiring them to review each ingredient on a case-by-case basis. The circuit court agreed and ruled that non-organic agricultural products should have individual reviews and appear on the National List in order to be used in processed foods. The full opinion may be ac- cessed at www.ca1.uscourts.gov. Search for case no 04-1379, Harvey v. Veneman. source: personal Email from attorney James F. Handley NOP asks NOSB for pasture clarification. The USDA has asked the National Organic Standards Board to come up with a clarification about pastur- ing dairy cows. The current federal organic code requires that the cows have access to pasture. The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy think tank, filed a complaint with the USDA alleging that Aurora Organic Dairy was violating this regulation. Mark Retzloff, chief organic officer with the 5,300-cow Aurora Organic Dairy in Colorado contends that there is a place in the organic business for large- scale dairies where cows are fed organic grains in outdoor pens. While the federal rule requires organic dairy cows to have access to pasture, it provides exemptions for bad weather, animal health and undefined stages of production for the animal. source: Council of State Governments Update, 1/21/ 2005 NODPA formulates pasture policy numbers. In an effort to help the NOSB sort through the issues involved in pasture for dairy cows, the Northeast Organic Diary Producers Alliance has formulated a policy in support of the NOSB Livestock Commit- tee recommendation that grazed feed provide a significant portion of the total feed requirement for ruminants. Specifically, organic dairy animals from 6 months of age must consume no less than 30% of their daily dry matter intake from pasture for a minimum of 120 days per year, with a maximum stocking rate for lactating animals of 3000 pounds per acre up to a maximum of 3 cows per acre. source: NODPA News, November, 2004 Organic certifiers form national association. The Accredited Certifiers Association (ACA) is a new organization formed to provide a forum and voice for the certification agents responsible for the National Organic Program. The group hopes to develop uniform criteria for certifying operations under the NOP, provide training on all aspects of the program, discuss issues relating to organic certifica- tion, help reform laws affecting it, and facilitate communication and information sharing among certifiers. source: NODPA News, February, 2005 Report blasts NOP. An evaluation of the National Organic Program by the American National Stan- dards Institute is highly critical and says the pro- gram even contradicted its own requirements. The report, withheld from the public for several months by NOP associate policy director Richard Matthews, was released in January. ANSI said the NOP did not have any way for properly resolving complaints and disputes on accreditation issues, had not even identified the personnel responsible for accreditation and formulation of policy issues, had no procedures over control of documents, and has not required certifiers to disclose records of complaints, appeals, disputes and follow-up actions. The findings, said ANSI, do not foster confidence in the ability of the accreditation body. source: Organic Business News, January, 2005 NOSB forms fish task force. In 2001 the National Organic Standards Board decided not to draft standards for wild-caught and farm-raised fish. Since that time, however, there has been increasing interest in organic fish, Congress has pressed for regulations, and foreign fish labeled organic are in US markets. Thus the NOSB has decided to form a task force to investigate setting standards. It will be split into two work groups, one for wild-caught and one for farm-raised fish. source: Organic Business News, November, 2004 The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 5 Biotech News Scientist says GMO safety tests flawed. In a paper co-authored by Salk Institute cell biologist Dr. David Schubert and published in the peer-reviewed Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews, the process by which the US government regulates GM crops is challenged. The picture that emerges from our study of US regulation of GM foods is a rubber-stamp approval process designed to in- crease public confidence in, but not ensure the safety of, genetically engineered foods, says Schubert. source: The Organic Broadcaster, Janu- ary-February, 2005 & The Non-GMO Report, January, 2005 GM food studies few, but alarming. A study published in Nutrition and Health says that there have been only 10 published studies of the health effects of GM food. Over half were undertaken in collaboration with interested companies, and these (surprise!) found no negative effects on body organs. The others looked at effects on the gut lining and several found potentially negative results (consistent with several unpublished studies). Although the industry cites some 100 animal feeding studies, these were studies of nutrient value, not safety. With only ten health studies, some of which point to negative effects, any hypothesis about GMO safety is entirely unproven. source: The Rams Horn, November, 2004 Monsanto to buy Seminis. Agriculture products company Monsanto announced it will buy Seminis Inc., the worlds largest commercial fruit and vegetable seed company, for at least $1 billion. Monsanto, a leading developer of genetic modifica- tions for crops like soybeans and corn, said biotech- nology modifications to Seminis fruit and vegetable lines were an option, but the initial focus would be on leveraging Seminis conventional breeding programs with Monsantos advanced research and development to develop improved product options. Seminis has only one biotech seed on the market now, a virus-resistant squash introduced four years ago. Seminis supplies more than 3,500 seed variet- ies to commercial fruit and vegetable growers, dealers, distributors and wholesalers around the world. source: Reuters, January 24, 2005 Canada Backs Terminator Seeds. An international moratorium on the use of one of the worlds most controversial GM food technologies is on the verge of being broken. Leaked instructions to Canadian government negotiators at the Bangkok meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, a group which advises the UNs Convention on Biological Diversity, show that Canada wants all governments to accept the testing and commercialization of terminator crop variet- ies. These are genetically engineered to produce infertile seeds which farmers cannot replant. The governments of Norway, Sweden, Austria, the European Community, Cuba, Peru and Liberia, helped block the Canadian move temporarily, and the issue now bounces to another CBD advisory body (the Working Group on 8(j)) in March 2006. source: The Guardian U.K., Feb. 9, 2005 GM crop acreage increases. Figures from the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology report that in 2003 167 million acres worldwide are planted to GM crops, 25% of the worlds 672 million acres under cultivation. Of these, 105.7 million are in the US, 34.4 million in Argentina, 10.9 million in Canada, 8.4 million in Brazil, 6.9 million in China and 1 million in South Africa. In the US, 85% of soy was from GM seed, 45% of the corn was GM, and 76% of the cotton was GM. The full factsheet is available at pewagbiotech.org/resources/factsheet/ crops. source: Acres USA, December, 2004 US Government forced to disclose locations of test sites of biopharmaceutical crops. On February 4 an environmental alliance forced the U.S. to reveal the locations of test sites of biopharmaceutical crops in Hawaii. The group, Earthjustice, represents citizen groups Center for Food Safety (CFS), Friends of the Earth, Pesticide Action Network North America, and KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. They filed a lawsuit in November 2003 seeking to compel USDA to review the environmental and public health impacts of such activities. The plaintiffs sought information on the locations of these field tests in response to the governments arguments that plaintiffs lacked standing to sue because they had not specified the precise locations of the field tests. Now District Court Judge David A. Ezra has ordered the disclosure, rejecting claims of potential espionage, vandalism, and civil unrest. source: February 8, 2005 Earthjustice press release Vermont looks at GMO liability legislation. Last year the Green Mountain state passed a law requir- ing all seed companies selling GE seed to report the type and amount sold, as well as clearly labeling it. Now a second bill, which was defeated last year, is being considered again. The Farmer Protection Act would pass liability back to the seed companies for any damages caused by GE cross contamination. The bill passed the Senate last year, but was stalled in the House Agricultural Committee. This year, however, Democrats have taken over the house and the chair of that committee is organic vegetable farmer Rep. David Zuckerman. The bill is still firmly opposed by the biotech industry, but its chances for passage are increasing. source: NODPA News, February, 2005 Germany passes strict GM planting law. The German parliament has passed a law letting farmers plant GM crops, but makes them legally responsible for contamination of non-GM crops and requires recording all land planted to GM crops in a public register so neighboring farmers will know if a contamination threat exists. GM proponents say the law is a defacto ban on GM crops. source: The Rams Horn, December, 2004 & The Non-GMO Report, January, 2005 Europe keeps GM crop bans. Europes member states voted against asking five of their number to overturn GM bans. The votes were a slap in the face to the European Commission, which is under heavy pressure from the US to allow GM food in Europe. In a separate action, EU governments also voted 12 to 8 against approving imports of Monsantos GM corn engineered with Bt to resist rootworm. source: The Non-GMO Report, January, 2005 The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 NOFA Exchange Blow Your Own Horn! 6 Start your own diversified organic farm. 50 acres of beautiful low cost farm land for serious organic farmers. Call Morze Tree Farm for details at 802- 266-3512. Angelic Organics, a community supported organic vegetable farm (www. angelicorganics.com) 80 mi. NW of Chicago seeks a soil and machinery man- ager who will be responsible for tillage, fertility, spraying and machinery management. Must be highly qualified with at least 5 years of vegetable farming experience. Full time, year round position starts in April, 2005. $32,000 per year plus benefits (negotiable). Three yr. commitment preferred. (Please - no unscheduled farm visits.) For job overview, review materials at www.homepage.mac.com/angelicorganics/job/html. CSA shares available in Fulton County, NY. Join in our farms bounty for the 2005 harvest season. Pickup at the farm mid-May through early October. We raise a great variety of fruits (strawberries, raspberries, etc.), veggies (asparagus, edamame soybeans, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, squash, etc.) and herbs (dill, basil, oregano, etc.). We provide recipes and activities at the farm: forest walks, farm tours and harvest barbeque. We use all natural methods, with no pesticides or herbicides. We believe in sustainable farming. Pastured pork, lamb and eggs are also available. Call for more informa- tion. (518) 627-0476. The Global Resource Action Center for the Environ- ment (GRACE) is sponsoring a curriculum contest based on sustainable agriculture for school teachers grades 5-8. The Units will be based on the award winning film The Meatrix ( www.themeatrix.com). Grand prize is $1000 for classroom supplies and equipment. Contest ends June 30, 2005. Visit Sustainable Table http://www.sustainabletable.org/ schools/teachers/curriculum.html for more informa- tion and an application form. Farm Equipment: Premier electric portable sheep and goat netting 164' lengths 42" tall, used 2 seasons. 10 available $75 each or b/o. 2000 Walker GHS mower 48" rear discharge deck 24 hp liquid cooled zero turn. 825 hrs $5,500. Plastic mulch layer and bed shaper 3 pth builds 22" wide x 4" high bed using 3' plastic. Good for small tractors. Irrigation attachment. Used 2 seasons. $1,200. Hunts Brook Farm (860-443-1770) Three Apprenticeships available on certified organic vegetable farm in western CT for 2005 season, April 1 through mid Nov. Help plant, cultivate, harvest, and market produce through a 200 share CSA and farmers markets. Opportunity to learn many of the agricultural and business skills you will need to run an organic farm. Compensa- tion includes a private room in apprentice house, farm produce, and $700 monthly stipend with scheduled raises. To apply, send letter of intent and resume to Paul Bucciaglia, Fort Hill Farm, 18 Fort Hill Rd., New Milford, CT 06776. For more info, see www.forthillfarm.com, or call 860-350-3158. Why buy what you dont want? Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters offers information and experi- ence. Brief talks to all day sessions. Please call 413- 773-8655 or 5188. P. O. Box 223, Greenfield, MA 01302 Mountain Dell Farm seeks two apprentices for 2005 season, mid-May through November. Private cabins, board, plus good salary for 50 hour weeks. Must know how to work hard and be child friendly. Duties include picking, packing, weeding and transplanting. We have been making our living as organic farmers since 1990. We live in a beautiful land in the foothills of the Catskills. Other interests include yoga, medicinal herbs, politics, swimming in the pond, rafting the Delaware River, and rural parties. Mark Dunau or Lisa Wujnovich, Mountain Dell Farm, 2386 Roods Creek Rd., Hancock, NY 13783. 607-467-4034. e-mail at mldunau@ny.tds.net Help Wanted. Allandale Farm is an historic family farm located in Boston and Brookline, MA. With over 25 acres under organic production and five greenhouses, we are able to offer a ready market for our fresh produce through our own successful roadside market and local restaurants. We are fully equipped. We offer salary, benefits and housing to the qualified, experienced applicant. Long-term commitment is expected. Contact John at allandalefarm@verizon.net or visit our website at www.allandalefarm.com http:// www.allandalefarm.com. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 7 3+ Farm Acres for Lease - S. Acton, MA, Histori- cally farmed sandy loam acreage currently main- tained as open mowed meadow - Bounded by perennial Ft Pond Brook for irrigation - Good Martin St. road frontage & neighborhood location - Suitable for: CSA, fruit orchard, berries, annuals or perennial crops, tree farm, wildflowers, hay, or small livestock. Located close to South Acton MBTA Commuter Rail Stop, and Route 2 - General Farm Plan has local and state permits - Only experi- enced Farmer for long- term farming commitment - Very Generous lease terms. CONTACT: The Hadley Farm @ 978 263-4775, hadleyfarm@mindspring.com Thriving organic vegetable and fruit farm for sale in Ithaca NY. Great opportunity for people who want to get right into farming! Very organized, highly regarded, turn-key 10+ acre operation. Good soil and water. Fantastic equipment. Apple and stone fruit orchard. Established markets200 member CSA w/waiting list and loyal, strong farmers market. Supportive ecovillage community. Farmers eager to assist the right buyers transition in order to maintain the success of this enterprise. Sale to be completed by the end of 2005. Business, equipment, buildings, long-term lease for sale. (Land in permanent conservation easement w/non- profit. ) (607) 272-4636, or bokaer- smith@ev.ithaca.ny.us Farm Internship Anjali Farms LLC in Southern Vermont seeks an individual committed to learning and practicing small scale diverse agriculture. Openings for three six-week periods from April 15th to November 1st t need to be filled. Room, board, stipend on/off farm educational experiences and complete market gardening training available. Work is 5 days/50 hours a week transplanting to direct sales; seed saving to value added; newsletter to special events. We are a USDA certified organic side hill mixed herb and vegetable, medicinal herbs, greenhouse, perennial fruits, egg, poultry CSA with farmers market and restaurant sales venturing into biodynamics. Come grow with us. email for application: Edunbar@sover.net Organic farmer and wife, are proposing a particu- larly unique cooperative community (location is completely open) backed up with substantial resources. It is farming/ farmer friendly and for people who see the negative effects that usury capitalism, war, over population and religious superstition have on our planet and people; and who wish to live differently. Personally, were not sure solving one part of The Problem does much or enough. In fact, thinking this way may be part of the problem. Check out our proposal at www.everything-is-related.info or call 352-481- 0275 email to mail@everything-is-related.info Marketing Your Livestock Products March 28, 2005, Montpelier VT. Promotion: Telling Your Story, Selling Your Product. with Chef Harv - owner/operator of Gourmet Central, a specialty food business in West Virginia. He has worked with livestock producers, Extension, and NRCS to produce and market premium grade eco-friendly beef called, Petite Beef by Headwater Farms. Chef Harv will address effective promotion tech- niques, the costs and scale associated with success- ful development of marketing for livestock prod- ucts. In addition, this class will include a farmer panel on market placement. Pre registration re- quired. $45/person. 802-434-4122 Field Manager Wanted. S/he will be responsible for all aspects of field production and will work with/supervise/teach apprentices, volunteers, farm staff. Located in Southern Maine, Rippling Waters grows certified organic vegetables, bedding plants, herbs, flowers, perennials, and serves as an educa- tion and community resource in collaboration with non-profit organizations. Ideal candidate will have completed at least 2 full-season farm apprentice- ships, be excited about taking on greater responsi- bility and have a demonstrated ability to manage staff. To apply contact Richard Rudolph at (207) 642-5161, or rrudolph@pivot.net. 2005 On-Farm Food Production Workshops. 3 days on Vegetable Growing (Sat. April 16, Sun. June 12, & Sat. Sep. 10), 1 day on Small Fruit (Sat. May 21) and 1 day on Chickens for Meat & Eggs (Sun. July 24). $65 per workshop or $50 each for 3 or more, includes organic farm lunch and course packet. See our 1/4 page ad in this issue of The Natural Farmer. Julie Rawson, Jack & Dan Kittredge, Many Hands Organic Farm, 978-355- 2853, www.mhof.net Apprentice/Intern or Experienced Worker position available immediately for 25+ year family farm selling at successful Brattleboro market. Super berries, flowers, maple and more. Especially interested in sustainability, education and season extension for local independence. Open with business records and ideas for serious hopefuls; or just a season or two of great living (diverse work, swimming, culture), beautiful R&B and 600-800/ month stipend. Deer Ridge Farm, Guilford, VT 05301. lisahol@moomail.net. 802-254-3540. For Sale: Swedish Nibex hand-push Precision Seeder. Includes instruction manuals, row marker, and nine seed plates to accommodate seeds for most market garden crops. Ideal for market garden operations. $1200.00 or BRO. Contact Keith at 978-371-1423 or kolcott@equalexchange.com. Free: Jetmaster Water Drill Transplanter: Trans- plant from 1-8 rows. 12 gallon water tank is pressurized to 65psi by Carbon Dioxide. Includes instruction manuals. This unit will need some work (new tires, hoses). Contact Keith at 978-371-1423 or kolcott@equalexchange.com. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 8 by Camilla Roberts The regional collaboration of NOFA continues to develop! On January 12th of 2005, sixteen representatives of the NOFA Interstate Council gathered together in Old Chatham New York for an annual retreat to exchange information, discuss issues, and conduct business. Five of the seven NOFA chapters sent staff and board members. New Hampshire sent in a letter to respond to the agenda. Rhode Island was not present. This retreat format has become an annual event, in which we dig into the challenges of devel- oping the NOFA network and methods to encourage regional collaboration. First, we shared highlights from the year of each NOFA state: Connecticut; A new president, with a paid director and assistant. Finances are stable, even with ambi- tious goals. Membership is nearly 500. Vermont; Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seed labeling legislation was passed in 2004. The legislature is considering a GMO liability bill that will shift liability for losses incurred by GMO drift from the farmers to the manufacturers. The change of individuals in the legislature makes this a very promising possibility. Growth of certified farms in Vermont is around 16%. Programs connecting school children activities with local food purchasing for their lunches, and the local farmers are expanding rapidly. NOFA-VT has taken over coordinating and promoting Farmers Markets around the state, with an extra effort to develop markets in areas where low income coupons can be redeemed. The greatest challenge is to reach more consumers. There is an initiative underway to build a Vermont Flatbread traveling oven, using and promoting local ingredi- ents to the fairs and events around the state. Mem- bership is close to 1,000. New York; The Public Seed Initiative is renamed the Organic Seed Partnership. It is now funded by a three year grant to continue research and develop- ment of organic vegetable cultivars, and includes participation of a wide spread of land grant Univer- sity people. Risk Management Agency is encourag- ing development of small farm insurance, holding workshops, and reimbursing some farmers for certification. Organic dairy interest is growing with Stonyfield, Horizon, and Organic Valley all cultivat- ing producers in the state. The Farm Guide has been printed again after skipping a year. Finances are improved by donations and a good fundraiser event. Membership is close to 1200. Massachusetts; New president Frank Albani, with good staff and consistent steady growth. Land care program is taking off, in collaboration with Con- necticut. Activities on GMO issues are focusing on town by town referendums. While the Gardening with the Community program is growing, there is a desire to do more with farm to school programming. The Bulk Order provides service for neighboring states too. Programs are paying for themselves financially. Membership is up to 850. New Jersey; Certification activities are shifting over to a state employed staff, which is a positive direction generally. There is developing state support for technical assistance, with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the state promoting organic practices. Connections of chefs with farmers are being developed, with cooking demonstrations preceded by a farm tour. A workshop titled Explor- ing the Small Farm Dream has become very popu- lar. There is a goal to organize and generate con- sumer movement to create more demand and con- sumer support for organic farms in the state. Also, a goal to boost membership, which is up to 300. New Hampshire; prioritized to participate in programs, committees, and conferences that are NOFA-Interstate Council Retreat 2005 photo by Jack Kittredge NOFA Interstate Council during January retreat in Old Chatham, NY. Shown clockwise from upper left: Lee Stoner (CT), Steve Gilman (NY), Liz Henderson (NY), Scott Chaskey (NY), Camilla Roberts (VT), Karen Anderson (NJ), Bill Duesing (CT), Tom Johnson (MA), Mary Blake (MA), Julie Rawson (MA), Torrey Reade (NJ) [unseen to left: Sarah Johnston (NY), Mark Dunau (NY), Frank Albani (MA)]. inclusive of conventional agricultural interests, and also reaching out to local producers and extension agents. Interest in organic in the state has taken a leap, with extension agents promoting organic practices, implementing methods on their own, and teaching an organic food production course at UNH. NOFA-NH workshops and conference are well attended, finances are solid, and membership has doubled, to around 400. NOFA boards have considered how the Interstate Council can be most useful to the individual NOFA chapters. The feedback supports networking, sharing skills, successes and failures, regional influence through policy development, professional training, and ways to use the media more effec- tively. In the interest of streamlining the work of the Interstate Council, the flow of yearly meetings has been organized to be more efficient on business matters. The new arrangement aims to allow for more inspirational discussions and information to be exchanged. The membership at large will have an enhanced opportunity to interact with the Interstate Council at the Summer Conference, held at Hamp- shire College every August. At the keynote address each NOFA chapter will briefly present the high- lights of their year. There will also be a meeting scheduled at the conference on topics to include membership participation and interest. In 2004, the Interstate Council developed a process by which to promote a regional voice and influence, in a Policy Committee structure. In 2004 with this structure, the NOFA Interstate Council drafted and sent a strong statement to the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to support rigorous environmental impact requirements on GMOs. This years policy work considers topics of GMO further, the Farmers Pledge, livestock access to pasture, participation in the international organic community and the National Organic Action Plan. To support the memberships concerns about GMO, the Interstate Council seeks to support bills in other states that are similar to the seed labeling and liability legislation of Vermont. A letter was distrib- uted that NOFA/Mass has drafted concerning a professor, Dr Chapela, who has been denied tenure and dismissed at University of California Berkley. The letter supports Dr Chapelas opposition to the Universitys controversial relationships with Novartis, and his research on GMO contamination of corn in his native Mexico. The Interstate Council is considering region wide support for Dr Chapela. The Farmers Pledge was discussed at length, exploring the possibility of a region wide adoption of this program that has been implemented in New York. There is a unified desire to support the local and smaller farms for whom the certification programs are cumbersome. However, there is concern that the Farmers Pledge undermines the benefits of the NOP, confuses consumers, and is in some ways less rigorous than the certification standards. On the other hand, others experience the Pledge as an enhancing promotion of a farms commitment to practices that go beyond the NOP standards, including social justice practices for example. More unity on this topic is necessary before the Council can arrive at a region wide policy. Therefore, each state chapter is individually responding to the Farmers Pledge option as they see fit. The representatives at the meeting all expressed support for requiring access to pasture for all livestock. This requirement is not as clearly stan- dardized by the NOP as the NOFA chapters deem appropriate in organic management. The policy committee is considering the specifics of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers pasture policy, and how to communicate support for pasture access for all livestock to the NOP. Liz Henderson brought other issues to the attention of all present. She encouraged regional participation in the development of a National Organic Action Plan, through workshops at conferences for ex- ample. Among other affiliations, she is the NOFA representative to the international forum on organics called IFOAM, as well as a NOFA participant in the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. Brainstorm- ing to find funds to support her work for the NOFA chapters was discussed. To meet all of the goals of the Policy Committee around $5,000 is needed. Liz also alerted everyone to pressure on the Na- tional Organic Program to allow more synthetics, how many more plastics are poisonous than we realize, and the potentials for conservation of urban gardens through the creation of municipal Garden Protection Boards. This Interstate Council retreat demonstrated that regional energy continues to develop amongst the diverse and widespread collection of NOFA states. As the organic movement expands, the interests of NOFA members across the northeast can be strengthened through this network of allied NOFA chapters known as the Interstate Council. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 9 Special Supplement on Youth & Agriculture by Christine Nielsen-Craig Yale University student Laura Hess recalls meeting Lucas Dreier in the fall of 2002 and talking about how cool it would be to start some kind of Yale farm or urban garden space. My parents laughed when I first told them that I had this idea of bringing in organic food at Yale, says Dreier, who now coordinates student volunteers at the Yale Organic Garden, a three-quarter acre plot along Edwards Street, a couple of blocks from the Yale campus in New Haven. Here, students learn organic farming techniques by volunteering regularly each week and doing summer internships. During the peak growing season, produce is sold at the local farmers market as a way to introduce the wider New Haven community to locally-grown, organic food. Hess is back at the garden after spending a year in India where she worked with a grassroots develop- ment organization doing community-based natural resource management. Yale Sustainable Food Project Neither she nor Dreier suspected that the initiatives of their group, Food from the Earth, would have become so sweeping in what is now known as the Yale Sustainable Food Project (YSFP). Little did they know then that the next year, the Project would accomplish seemingly amazing feats: that their own Berkeley College dining hall would begin serving organic food in seasonal dishes inspired by Californias delicious-food ambassador Alice Waters or that a pilot to compost food scraps would be tested. Nor did they expect that on a sunny February afternoon two and a half years later, they would be erecting the third greenhouse in the student garden they had once imagined. I never dreamed it would come to this, said Hess, as she stood bracing a structural pole. I still cant believe how much this Project has taken offit started out with a few students lobby- ing for organic food, and has turned into this huge movement run at an administrative level, says Hess. I think its an inspiring example of how a few thoughtful committed citizens really can change the world. The Food from the Earth group has been resurrected to organize on-campus activities to raise student awareness about the centrality of food and agricul- ture in daily life. On Valentines day, for example, students hosted a truffle-making demonstration and made bouquets from dried flowers we grew in the garden last summer, says YSFP Associate Director Melina Shannon-DiPietro. They used the trufflesmade photo by Judy Sirota-Rosenthal Jeff Warren and Ariane Lotti clear away space for a greenhouse foundation. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 10 from fair-trade, organic chocolateand the bou- quets to celebrate Valentines day as an act of celebration and community, and of caring about agricultural lands and laborers. Shannon-DiPietro and Josh Viertel, YSFP co- director, say they want students to leave Yale with not only a command of their chosen academic discipline but also with a sense of the interwoven pleasures of growing, cooking, and sharing food. Moreover, they hope to spur something of an agricultural revolution here by increasing the demand for locally-grown, organic produce. The student garden is wonderful for practical experience. It serves as a model of the agricultural productivity of this region, Shannon-DiPietro says. Any influence we can have on agriculture in the Northeast, however, depends on our purchasing practices in the dining hall. To that end, the YSFP is headed in the right direc- tion: The menu at Berkeley has been revamped to reflect seasonality and simplicity, and as much as possible, we buy from local farmers practicing sustainable methods, she explains. In the other dining halls, students can find entresa grass-fed beef burger, a butternut squash and sage-topped pizza, a leek and potato galettethat meet these same criteria once each day. But if the Project is be the driving force for agricul- tural change that its creators envision, Yale must build enough relationships with local farmers who care for the long-term vitality of land and livestock to supply all 12 of Yales college dining hall kitch- ens with food to feed more than 4,500 student boarders each day. The available local supply is not even enough to feed Berkeley College, says Shannon-DiPietro. Students are hungry for good food: they have eaten some of what Northeastern farmers grow, and they are asking for more. Were down to the last of our salad mix, for example, and we wont have any more until May, laments Viertel. Brussels sprouts, spinach, cilantro and arugula are other crops they find difficult to source. Brussels sprouts are great example of something we cant find even though they should be grown here; asparagus too, for that matter, explains Shannon-DiPietro. Connecticut and Massachusetts used to have acres and acres of asparagus. And Brussels sprouts and kale are ideal crops for this area because their taste becomes so sweet after the first frost. Unfortunately, these growers got priced out by big-time growers in California. So were telling mid-size sustainable farmers, Please, talk to us because we will buy your produce at a fair price. A recent meeting with local farmers yielded some progress toward the YSFP goal to buy more from regional producers: George Purtill of Old Maids Farm agreed to grow tomatoes for the dining halls salsa and David Blyn of Riverbank Farm offered to sell his cabbage. We sat down with farmers and we asked what they want to grow, what they are particularly good at growing, and what their soil is best suited to grow: we will build our menu around these items, Shan- non-DiPietro says. Yale, in turn, can offer farmers a consistent, high- volume market with very little marketing effort. All they need to do is put their goods in a box for us, she says. The YSFP distributor is paid a set rate per box in an effort to foster honest transactions. It is really important to us that farmers get fair prices for their produce, Shannon-DiPietro ex- plains. I never want to know after the fact that farmer has been squeezed, and if it does happen, I rant and rave and it gets fixed. And though the Project seeks organic goods, the YSFP doesnt require farmers to be certified. We know that its nearly impossible to grow apples organically here in the Northeast, says Shannon- DiPietro. So, were happy to hear that farmers are using integrated pest management systems and setting traps. For us, paperwork and the standards dont feel necessary to know were getting a good product. Sometimes a conversation with a farmer is enough to satisfy our requirements for sustainability. If the idea of having it allgood-tasting food, better stewardship of the land, respect for farmers work and their need to make a decent livingsounds too good to be true, Shannon-DiPietro is quick to point out that while there are plenty of movements that require sacrifice, Yales effort to change how we eat and grow food isnt one of them. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 11 by Lisa Kelly In 1997, I met a woman who told me about a school she was starting. With two young children myself, the oldest of which was a year away from entering kindergarten, I was beginning to get a sick feeling whenever I thought of him entering the bureaucratic public school system. Even though the district schools in our area are considered quite good, I knew them to be traditional in their approach to education. When it came to education, I wanted something different for my children. I wanted for them what I felt we all desperately needed: a school where children are cherished and celebrated for who they are, and where children learn by doing, by exploring the world around them, figuring out how the world works, how it got this way and how we can make it better. I also felt that we had to approach our educational system differently if we were going to raise children who would be stewards of the Earth rather than masters over it. When I met this woman who was starting a charter school based on these values, I was bubbling with excitement. When I heard the school was a public school, and therefore free to New Jersey residents, I thought I had won the lottery. But then, over the next few weeks, reality set in when I realized that that charter school was an hours drive away. Since my husband and I both worked at home in a consult- ing business, commuting four hours a day wasnt really an option. My new friend who was starting the charter school suggested I start one in my neck of the woods, and she offered to help by sharing the documents her school used to get the State of New Jerseys ap- proval to open. Filled with enthusiasm and naivete, I smiled and said, Yeah, lets start a school. And so it began. Here it is 2005 and my children have been in the Ridge and Valley Charter School since its opening in September 2004. Yes, incred- ibly, it took us that long to get up and running. The truly remarkable thing is that we ever opened at all. The seven-year birthing process of the Ridge and Valley Charter School, located in rural northwestern New Jersey, is punctuated by obstacle after obstacle. Lack of start-up funding, opposition by the local school districts, and no existing buildings appropri- ate for our needs were the major challenges. Yet, the REAL story behind the Ridge and Valley Charter School is the fact that it ever opened at all and why it opened. The real reason that it is today an official public school sanctioned by the State of New Jersey is because of everyday people who believed in the idea of a public school based on Earth Literacy and experiential education. These people never gave up, kept working towards this dream year after year. Think about it. What were you doing in 1997? Think about how much time has passed since then, how youve changed, how your kids have grown. Thats how long this group of committed people has worked together towards one goal. Remarkable. I lucked out in the beginning because I was able to find these special people easily and quickly. I was a member of the Community Supported Garden at Genesis Farm in Frelinghuysen, NJ, and knew many like-minded people who were members. Whats more, I was part of a womens study group at the Borne Out of Enthusiasm and Naivete. New NJ Charter School Uses Nature as Educator Genesis Farm Ecological Learning Center, founded by Sr. Miriam MacGillis. The Learning Center is an international educational facility that gives work- shops and seminars on Earth Literacy, based on the works of Thomas Berry. When I went to Miriam and explained my idea for a public elementary school based on Earth Literacy, where connections in the Universe will be explored and emphasized, she told me of three or four other efforts over the years by community people to begin such a school. One effort even got as far as a homeschool group that met several times a week in someones barn. There was definitely an interest in such a school, she said. What was missing, I realized as I analyzed those other efforts, was money. There was commitment, there was a vision, but there were no funds to make it happenno money for teachers, no money for a building. Now, I realized, thanks to the passage of the Charter School Act of 1994 in New Jersey, there was a funding mechanism. The New Jersey charter school law funds charter schools by mandating that the money follows the child. This means that the childs home school district must send 90% of what it spends to educate that child to the charter school. It keeps 10% for administrative costs including, in some cases, busing. In the beginning, my enthusiasm and naivete prevented me from seeing the problems with this set-up. Great, I thought, well help ease overcrowd- ing in our rural district schools (as farms are sold for sub-divisions, more kids are moving in to our districts). Oh no, said the local school superinten- dents, you are taking money directly out of our pockets and your charter school will hurt our children. This led to huge opposition from the local community after we got our charter approved. Writing the 200-page charter application and getting approved was a huge undertaking, one that I did with the help of a good friend. We had documents from the school I mentioned earlier as well as help from that schools director and business manager. Still the process was excruciating, but we got through it. It think it is important to explain that a charter school is one based on a charter or contract with the state that lays out the mission of the school and exactly how that mission will be effected. Charter schools can be initiated and run by parents, teachers and community peopleanyone interested in educational innovation. While charter schools have some leeway in how they approach education, they are, in fact, public schools using public funds. They must hire state-certified teachers and the children are subject to the same state-wide testing as all district schools. Charter schools are subject to the states educational Administrative Code, a set of regula- tions that govern everything from attendance to special education to discipline. The charter application is one in which you submit a blueprint for your school, addressing each and every one of these highly technical issues. In New Jersey, there are nearly 60 existing charter schools with various missions. Getting through the application process is a huge undertaking. Getting opened once youre approved is even trickier. In New Jersey, there is no money for facilities. You have to find and renovate your siteand pay rent out of your first years budget. There is a start-up grant available in New Jersey, which is actually federal money, that you can use to buy desks and books and pencils and all the things you need to put into the school. But there is no funding for a school building. Now, in our case, we lucked out, because in 2001, there was a School Facilities Grant Program. This, too, was federal money, and we as an approved and yet-unopened charter school were eligible to apply. We got nearly $1 million to buy and renovate a nine-acre property we were interested in. Wahoo! We bought the site and we were thrilled until we realized the local zoning board would NEVER give us a variance on the property because of the vehement public opposition. But we realized we now had something we didnt have before equity that could be leveraged for loans and other financing. And so the search for another site began and a beautiful 13-acre site was purchased. Right on a main thoroughfare, on a rolling hillside, with amazing vistas of the Delaware Water Gap. When I imagined first our school, that was the setting I pictured. The new property was purchased and the original site is on the market. We opted for modular con- struction to keep costs down and construction time shorter. Unfortunately, the site wasnt ready for our opening in September, so we arranged to hold classes in local camp facilities. We have several camps in our area with heated buildings that not only host children in the summer, but also run retreats throughout the year. We were in one for two months, and then a second one until February 2005. These facilities and their management were life- savers and were very gracious hosts to our children. My children get to be outside a lot of the day, using nature as a guide and teacher. My daughter, Tess, is eight today and was just an infant when I had that burst of enthusiasm and naivete to start the school. She loves the school, embracing every aspect of its uniqueness. My nearly 11-year-old son, perhaps because of his pre-teen disposition, gives it mixed reviews. He misses his buddies from his former school and he is adjusting to being in the temporary sites. But he loves being outdoors and exploring the diverse landscapes of the area. While there were many heart-aches and difficulties in opening the school, the Board of Trustees, parent volunteers and teachers who have made this school come alive have been incredible. I, myself, after working for nearly six years on this project, left the Board two years ago, suffering from extreme burn- out. The people who have shepherded this school into existence are real angels. They took an idea for better education and made it real. Was it all worth it? You bet. We know we are forging new ground here, showing the establishment that there are alternatives to traditional ways of thinking. We know the schools values of connec- tion, respect and awareness will follow our children the rest of their lives. We know that our children will grow up to be stewards for the Earth and will be prepared to help shape how humanity responds to future challenges. How cool is that? Lisa Kelly is a member of the Community Sup- ported Garden at Genesis Farm and a founder of Ridge and Valley Charter School. She lives with her husband and children in Hardwick, NJ. photo courtesy Lisa Kelly This is the permanent home of the Ridge and Valley Charter School in Frelinghuysen, NJ. Opened in September 2004, the school has 90 children in grades K-8. Plans include an organic garden that will provide food for the childrens lunches. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 12 by Amy Stein One afternoon during my internship at an alternative school for at-risk adolescents, I was thumbing through a recent issue of a Teaching Tolerance magazine. An article on therapeutic gardening intrigued me and I raced to the vice-principals office to share the article. She encouraged my enthusiasm and showed me the way to a closet filled with gardening tools and seeds. Apparently, a horticulture teacher had initiated a garden, but no one had pursued it once she left the position. Dissatisfied and frustrated with traditional therapy and education, I needed to implement an alternative solution. These students had no desire to sit in the confines of a stuffy classroom and discuss their feelings. We were interminably met with a stream of obscenities and airborne objects! Two weeks later on a morning early in March, we began our therapeutic garden. Although the temperature hovered around 32 degrees and snow flurries scattered the air, 12 students diligently raked and dug up the turf, preparing the earth for the first planting season. Another adult leader worked with some of the students to build a compost bin. The students eagerly asked questions and sawed lumber. Working with these students in the context of psychotherapy groups, I had never seen such enthusiasm or attention to any task. Subsequently, we worked in the garden, took a trip to a nearby farm to milk cows, and cleaned up an abandoned lot for a flower farm. During the farm trip, several inner-city students expressed interest in working on a farm. These trips also served to identify new vocational interests never previously expressed simply because they lacked the environmental exposure. The majority of the students described were diag- nosed with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disor- der (ADD/ADHD). Infusing environmental educa- tion (i.e., community gardening) into alternative or general educational curriculums may be one effec- tive intervention, addressing cognitive and social deficits in children with ADHD. Why farming or gardening for ADD/ADHD? First, it involves constant physical and manual labor. Movement boosts serotonin levels, a neurotransmit- ter found to be deficient in those with ADD/ADHD. Second, it is visual learning. I understand concepts such as soil composition and nutrient cycles when I see it for myself, as well as my students. I have used soil test kits with student to determine the pH, phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen levels from soil samples. I split them into groups and they eagerly fill the tubes, anxiously waiting for the results. How many of them would comprehend this explanation from reading a textbook in a classroom versus actually seeing it in an experiment from our garden? Third, farming builds community and group cohesion. Students readily help each other and staff members. It lends a sense of accomplish- ment as we cook and eat food together fresh from our garden, providing lessons in nutrition. Knut Hamsuns The Village of Segelfoss (1915) focuses on the disintegration of communities, attributing the loss to factories and people who have neglected traditional skills in favor of consumerism, thus resulting in a severed relationship with the land. Fourth, there is an interminable amount to learn about farming such as plant physiology, botany, seed structure, fruits, vegetables, and soil chemistry. Fifth, it is one positive way I can think of to channel addictive behaviors, anger and depression. If movement does indeed boost serotonin and one is so engaged in the work, learning new concepts may be a likely antidote for depression and addiction. It is a Reaping What You Sow: The Therapeutic Benefits of Agriculture for Youth natural high that far surpasses a chemical high. If farming ignites the hunger for knowledge in some- one, an insatiable craving to acquire knowledge may develop. Hangovers are banished to the past; they consume too much energy and are a frivolous waste of precious time, time that may be spent outside harvesting vegetables, tilling the land, or hiking in the forest and inhaling the scent of white pines. It is a cognitive-behavioral form of therapy for drug and alcohol addiction, as studies have found that exer- cise is more effective than traditional psychotherapy in alleviating drug and alcohol problems. People with drug and alcohol problems in traditional psychotherapy programs report higher rates of relapses. Farming may also be considered a cognitive or rational emotive form of therapy as maladaptive thought processes may be restructured; one is challenged on a daily basis. Learning concepts such as soil science may increase self-esteem as one acquires knowledge and gains confidence in his or her abilities, thus enhancing self-efficacy. Farming also serves to help identify vocational careers, perhaps as a farmer, horticulturalist, plant geneticist or biologist. Furthermore, these are tangible results as opposed to traditional psychotherapy where there is more of an emphasis on cognitive results. Posi- tive thoughts replace the spiral downward of negative thoughts that often cause one to become trapped in a centrifugal force, an overwhelming sensation of drowning with no hope of resurfacing. Sixth, maintaining an organic food diet improves health and provides energy. By enhancing ones diet, often a benefit of farming and gardening, health invariably improves. In one study, DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in green leafy vegetable, walnuts and flaxseed oil, increased P300 brain waves, which are often decreased or persistent in those with ADD/ADHD. Another study revealed that approximately 40 percent of children with ADHD had an omega-3 deficiency. Farming may be analogous to the benefits of meditation: teaching patience, the ability to focus on a task and prevention of distracting thoughts. Farming, as a meditative activity, may induce alpha waves, another possible deficit in those with ADD/ ADHD. Farming also teaches the Buddhist concept of mindfulness as it creates a full awareness of living in the present moment, as well as an outlet for channeling aggression and frustration. Living on a farm has irrevocably changed my life; it is a drastic reduction in the frenetic pace that most of society lives. Because I am not bombarded by extraneous stimuli, the silence allows time for contemplation. On highways, people speed recklessly by, honk horns and shout expletives. Parking lots are acci- dents waiting to happen and as a result, tempers flare left and right. The congestion, noise, and pollution are enough to easily provoke a nervous breakdown in any healthy person. While living on a farm, my greatest days were watching a cow meander in the road, holding up traffic, perhaps a car or two. As the sun set, I took lengthy bike rides past neighboring farms, inhaling the pungent scent of cow manure, and watched baby lambs frolic in the pastures. Finally, it is the lifestyle that is most appealing. Farming demands excessive energy for the arduous, physical labor, yet paradoxically it is relaxing. It is a return to an agrarian past. Hands down, Id choose picking blueberries any day over sitting in a traffic jam, inhaling carbon dioxide fumes. Cooking and eating butternut squash soup from your farm with the company of friends is an ideal way to spend fall and winter evenings. I find great enjoy- ment picking fresh arugula and radishes from my garden for a spring salad and farm markets are an opportunity to swap stories, produce, advice and build friendships with local farmers. While working in another alternative school, my coworker, Stephanie, and I worked with four girls from a foster home designing and building a farm stand to sell our produce. As a group, we initially designed it on paper, integrating geometric formulas such as the Pythagorean theorem. Although geom- etry is typically taught indoors, it can be taught on an interactive level and experientially in such woodworking and carpentry projects. As an inter- disciplinary approach, environmental education also involves other mathematical concepts: measure- ment, weights, graphing, recording data, designing, and observational skills. The students work together to formulate a solution instead of struggling alone with pencil and paper. If students are working as a group towards a tangible goal, it is likely to generate enthusiasm. In addition, I have observed students directly give each other support, encouragement and praise during these endeavors. Students also conquer fears of learning; one student admitted a fear of math and refused to measure a piece of photo courtesy Amy Stein Two students working at the farmstand of the Uhlerstown, PA farm where I worked in 2002. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 13 wood. We worked with her to read the tape measure and she triumphantly smiled when she measured a piece on her own, her eyes aglow with pride. I spent the following year organically farming, designing and maintaining an acre on a nearby farm, as well as taught organic farming and art to youth in the community. One of our students, Megan, helped me forage for the larvae of the enemy this particular summer, the cucumber beetle. She overturned the massive, prickly leaves and cried out larvae, her blue eyes widening with excitement. She crumpled the leaf, gleefully squashing the larvae together. During the egg stage, she enjoyed folding the leaf over the miniscule, golden eggs and listening to them pop, like the popping of bubble wrap packag- ing. While we checked the leaves, we gently harvested zucchini, patty pan and yellow squash from their vines. During their peak in mid-July, I harvested between 200-250 pounds of squash on a weekly basis. We piled them in large, straw baskets and lugged them to a cooler filled with water, where we scrubbed the soil from their green and yellow elongated bodies and separated them into different baskets at the stand. Megan and I headed back out to the fields to cultivate the weeds with hand hoes between rows, a tedious job that must be done on a weekly basis or the weeds spread like wildfire. At one point over the summer, the weeds rampantly outgrew my plants and a chef I had met in Frenchtown offered to help me weed. We weeded for three hours and I paid him in patty pan squash, lettuce and tomatoes and then I continued weeding for the next three days. As we hoed, I asked her about her home life. Earlier in the summer, she told me that her parents divorced and she lived with her mother. Im going to try and live with my aunt here, she suddenly said. Why? Because I dont want to live with my mom, any- more. Do you get along with her? Not really. Why not? She drinks too much and Im sick of it. I quietly paused for a moment before responding and continued hacking away at a weed clinging to the soil. Have you tried talking to her about it, letting her know that it bothers you? Yeah, but she doesnt listen. She just goes out to bars and gets drunk. Who picks her up? My dad. For the next hour, she disclosed to me, while hoeing, her feelings about her mothers alcoholism. The conversation served to support my theory of spontaneous therapy, particularly when it occurs in the context of nature, not in an office. Students often discuss their personal lives in the context of a garden, on a camping trip, hiking or canoeing when it is on their terms; they feel comfortable and can relate to someone they do not perceive as an author- ity figure. In our agrarian past, labels such as ADD/ADHD did not exist because we applied concepts. Society consisted of active and interactive professions such as farming, blacksmithing, and woodworking. Students were encouraged to pursue such occupa- tions and they certainly did not stay isolated in- doors, vacant eyes staring into computer screens or television. Communities evolved and supported one another during times of hardship, thus instilling values such as loyalty, work ethics and cooperation. Admirably, the Amish build community and family relationships. One finds children and adults outside working together, maintaining their homesteads. Indian tribes, such as the Iroquois, practiced sustain- able agriculture and lived in communally based extended families. The psychological, social and physiological benefits of agriculture for at-risk youth irrefutably need to be further evaluated in studies and incorporated into our educational system. Amy E. Stein, LMSW, is the author of Fragments: Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder (Haworth Press, 2003, www.haworthpress.com). She is a therapist, artist and writer living in Maine. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 14 by Jack Kittredge Bostons inner city was, of course, once farmland. Later, as homes popped up, much of it was still actively used for gardens and fruit trees. But as density increased lots got smaller and smaller until there were more homes than open space. By the 1980s the Roxbury section of Boston had experi- enced white flight, absentee landlords, dilapidation of housing stock and ultimately abandoned build- ings, fires, and trash-filled empty lots. So it is no surprise that someone ultimately decided to start growing there, again. One of the more exciting programs connecting youth and agriculture is The Food Project. The vision of the Food Project is creating personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. The ways they try to do this are various. For one, there is a summer youth program, which goes for 8 weeks in July and August. They hire 60 kids, aged 14 to 16. Last year they had 300 appli- cants for those jobs. Sixty percent of the kids accepted come from the inner city and forty percent from the suburbs. Theyre mixed up and assigned to 6 different teams, each with an assistant crew leader who worked in the program last summer, and a college-aged crew leader. The crews rotate between the affluent suburb of Lincoln and Roxbury, with four in Lincoln and two in Roxbury at any one time. Each week one moves from Lincoln to Roxbury and the one that has been at Roxbury the longest goes to Lincoln. The kids earn a stipend of $145 per week. They work 9 am to 4:30 each day, in Lincoln raising food on 31 acres of conservation land for a 240 person CSA. In Roxbury they grow on two and a half acres and run 2 weekly farmers markets. Actual farm work in Roxbury is probably 4 hours per day, with the rest of the time split between urban agriculture workshops, tours of the neighborhoods, personal development workshops, and other personal and leadership enhancement. Collectively the Lincoln and Roxbury sites produce some 200,000 pounds of vegetables in a summer. Much of this, up to half, is donated to 8 homeless shelters such as the Pine Street Inn or Rosies Place. On Wednesdays the Roxbury crews work in the shelters preparing and serving meals. The shelter donations go out on Tuesdays so the kids can go in the following day and prepare the same vegetables they just raised and harvested. The purpose of the summer program is to connect kids up to the entire cycle of food from preparing the land and planting crops to tending them, harvesting, selling at CSAs or farmers markets, and serving at the shelters. At the end of the summer, the organization hires about 20 crew workers to continue in an academic year program called DIRT for Dynamic, Intelligent, Responsible Teenagers. We do three trimesters so they can do fall, winter, or spring, explains urban farmer Danielle Andrews. The majority do all three. They work all day Saturday and weekdays its optional. Most do Saturday and one three-hour block after school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from September to mid November Ill have kids sign up to help here on the land. We have a large volunteer group on Saturdays in the fall and often on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are the harvest days. In the winter they work in shelters and help us do presentations in schools and community centers to recruit for the summer program. Then in the spring theyre back here on the land. After that they will have worked for us for a year and can do one of about 25 internships the next summer. The interns can be up to 18, she continues. They do public presentations, work in the neighborhoods, meet with officials. Theres a big jump of responsi- bility from the summer program to an internship. After you are an intern you can become a fellow. Thats for someone who has finished high school The Food Project: Diversity and Food Security and either isnt going to college or is taking a year off before going. For some of the youth just making it through the summer and coming every day is a big thing. Some do want to continue on in other levels. One internship is particularly active. The Urban Education and Outreach internship was founded in 1998 and works to make connections with back yard gardeners in the neighborhood. Many of the people there are immigrants from Latin America, parts of Africa, Cape Verde, or the American South places where farming is part of the way of life. So many of them brought that with them. Within a mile radius of their office the interns have counted over 170 backyard gardens. We work with those gardeners to spread the benefits of growing organically, says 19 year old Food Project fellow Jeff Boucher, and to talk about the presence of lead in the soil and how thats a health risk. In addition to handing out material we also work to remediate the gardens. We work with a professor at Wellesley College who has a machine that can analyze soil for the presence of lead, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals. The EPA sets the standard for lead at 300 parts per million. If it is over 300 it is not safe to grow food in. Some of these gardens here have upwards of 2000 or 3000 parts per million. Were not 100% sure where it came from lead paint or leaded gasoline, but we think its lead paint. A lot of houses here were burned down for insurance in the 60s and 70s. So it could come from their paint. So we test and offer a variety of remediation, Jeff continues. For a small garden we might excavate the soil and replace it. But that involves a lot of labor and means we have to take the soil to a special waste site because its contaminated. Sometimes we can find sites where the lead is low and we can advise the gardener where to grow certain plants for example along a dripline or the side of a house is usually a place of heavy contamination. So we might suggest that thats a place to grow fruiting vegetables or beans but not collards. Leafy greens are high lead accumulators. So its better to plant them in areas where its less contaminated. Some- times we might add compost to a site and raise the whole area up. Thats what we did to the West Cottage garden. We took all the trash off and brought in enough soil and compost to raise us up 2 feet over where the old soil was. The last remediation technique is that we will plant lead- accumulating crops such as collards or mustard greens and harvest them and replant 4 times over the course of the summer as a way of pulling lead out of the soil. You have to bring the crops to the same waste site. We dont tell anyone not to grow food. Its a cultural thing and also a means of addressing food security. But we want to make it safer. Building Local Agricultural Systems Today (BLAST), another Food Project program, does school gardens and food policy work around food security. BLAST is also networking with other youth organizations doing similar work around the country. There is a community garden in the West Cottage site where twelve residents have raised beds and raise food organically. The Food Projects Roxbury office used to be a restaurant, so they have established a commercial kitchen there. Interns work with a chef and do a lot of catering, as well as create a salsa that is marketed in Bread and Circus and local stores. The Food Project was founded by Ward Cheney in Lincoln in 1991. He had farmed and worked with Outward Bound, and was interested in taking what he learned in Outward Bound and applying it to farming. That first year they hired between 10 and 20 kids and brought them out to Drumlin Farm, in photo by Jack Kittredge Jeff Boucher, 19, Urban Education and Outreach Fellow, poses at entrance to West Cottage Street garden in Roxbury. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 15 Lincoln. From there they moved to Codman Farm, also in Lincoln, and from there to the piece they currently have. In 1994 the Roxbury location was added, originally on land on Langdon Street and then on a second site. The second site was an acre and a half on West Cottage Street that had originally held 16 houses. They had burned, and in 1996 the lot was filled with abandoned cars and junk. Then in 2004 the Boston Medical Center offered their 10,000 square foot roof. The building had been designed with a 9 inches of soil on the rooftop to make a lawn. But it had been neglected and grew up in weeds. One Food Project task is now to rip up that lawn, add compost, and start a garden there. The group is also planning to add livestock to the farm experience they want for the kids. We would love to have farm animals, says Greg Gale, director of programs. I dont think wed do it in Roxbury it would be hard with our neighbors. But I think the conservation commission in Lincoln would be open to it. Don, our farmer, has always said that until we have housing for our grower that is proxi- mate to the land it is asking too much of the farmer. Right now he lives in Somerville and if the sheep get out hed be making quite a trip! But we have just gotten a house less than a mile from the farm and that might make it possible to solve that problem. The Langdon and West Cottage garden sites are leased from the City of Boston on a year-to-year basis. But the support of a local community group gives them some extra security. In the 1980s the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DNSI) was able to get the right of eminent domain over empty lots within a 3 mile radius of its office. It meant that the organization could contact landlords and de- mand that they either clean up the lots or face turning them over to the city. A number ended up doing just that, and DNSI went on to develop some 300 lots into low-cost housing, community centers and gardens. (You can learn more about DSNI and its unique power of eminent domain at www.dsni.org). The Food Project worked with DNSI to get the Langdon and West Cottage sites. The farm in Lincoln is financially self-sustaining. The CSA covers the cost of the farmer, the CSA/ greenhouse manager, two seasonal growers assis- tants and all the equipment and seed costs, but none of the youth stipends. In Roxbury the kids run the two farmers markets and also sell to Harvest Coop in Jamaica Plain. In 2003 they sold over $16,000 just off of the urban land. But its expensive to run those lots. Danielles position is year-round, and there is a part time farmers market position also. One of The Food Projects purposes, however, is to provide the immediate Dudley neighborhood of Roxbury with affordable produce. So we try to match the prices of conventional produce at local supermarkets, says Danielle, even though we use organic practices. Economies of scale and our market are both working against us here. Lincoln is one of the wealthiest towns in America. People can pay $600 for a CSA share with no problem. But at our farmers market a large percentage of our customers come with WIC coupons. Its a different clientele. photo by Jack Kittredge Summer programer Anthony Simmons and interns Amara Foster and Kieran Prescott screen compost before carrying it to the new rooftop garden at the Boston Medical Center. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 16 The Food Projects overall budget has grown to $2.2 million and there are almost 30 full time staff. A large percentage of their support is from founda- tions, but they also have a USDA Community Food Security Program grant and have had EPA funding in the past. Three full time people work in the development program. The organization has gotten a number of inquiries lately from other groups, interested in replicating the experience elsewhere. As a result staff have written a number of how-to manuals, and the organization offers multi-day workshops on replication. One interesting aspect of the summer program is weekly Community Lunches. There is one in Roxbury every Monday and one in Lincoln every Friday. The day I visited Danielle harvested salad greens and carrots and beets that morning and dropped them off at the kitchen. Half of one crew worked that morning with the chef to prepare the vegetables, cook them, and serve them to about 60 of us gathered at the garden. Anyone is welcome to the lunch, but you have to sign up early because the list fills up a month ahead of time. On my day there were a number of graduate students doing an Audubon Expedition who had spent the morning helping rip up the rooftop lawn. At each community lunch some of the young people talk about their personal and work histories, and plans for the future. Its a part of the programs training in public speaking and self-confidence building. Carla Campbell, 19 year-old crew leader of the team which had prepped and served the lunch, had us give the crew a hand. She had started working there at 14 on a crew, then did an intern- ship, now was a crew leader and had served on The Food Projects board. She talked about how she had changed: We have this thing we call straight talk on Wednesday afternoon after shelter. Myself and my ACL tell each person what they are doing good, individually, and what they can improve on. Its a good system. It helped me a lot when I was a crew worker. I was a quiet person and my crew leader was constantly telling me I needed to open up more. I said: This is who I am, its hereditary. My father is quiet and Ive always been quiet. But after a while I started to listen to what my crew leader was saying. I wouldnt say I talk a lot now, but Im able to be vocal and tell the world what I think. Ive already seen a lot of these kids change in two weeks people being uncomfortable getting their hands in the dirt now can climb right into a compost bin. Working as a board member of The Food Project, she continued, has been very interesting to me as Ive gotten to see the insides of the organization how much money it takes, how the money gets dealt out, all that stuff. I also went to funders with the executive director and learned about all that. At Swarthmore Ive been able to do a lot of things very quickly, while other freshmen are very timid. Ive been able to meet with the deans, get money, ask for grants and scholarships because Ive had experience at The Food Project. And Ive also been able to galvanize the Swarthmore black community. The photo by Jack Kittredge The Food Project built these cedar raised beds for a backyard gardener in the neighborhood. This land contained too much lead to grow food, so the interns laid down landscape fabric, built the beds, and filled them with compost and clean soil. The roots cant get to contaminated soil. The beds will last two or three years and are particularly helpful for older gardeners who have trouble bending over. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 17 Food Project has allowed me to be proud of my community. Carlas assistant crew leader is Daniela Petuchowski, a 17 year-old who had just graduated from Brookline High School and will be going to the University of Chicago. She also spoke about what she had gained with The Food Project. The reason why I love the Food Project is that the food system we have now gives us the cheapest food in the world but isnt sustainable both because it exploits the people who work in the system and the quality of the product is not good. The Food Project is a really good way to fight that. On a more per- sonal level theres nowhere in the world where I feel more comfortable. I feel like its a combination of the fact that were all coming from different back- grounds but each person takes each other for who they are, not for who they are associated with in their outside life. Its a really good feeling and I always want to be here, everyday! The racial, ethnic, and economic diversity of the youth involved in The Food Project is striking, and it is remarkable how well they seem to relate to one another. This is very much a goal of the organiza- tion, and a product of the program design, Danielle remarks. The hiring is one of the most challenging things for us. Its difficult because were really trying to hire a diverse mix of kids. Racially, ethnically, socio-economically. But we also are looking for a different diversity: kids who are already showing leadership qualities, average kids, and kids who are struggling in some aspects of their lives. They fill out an application and come to an interview which our academic year youth help to lead. The kids who have stayed on run some of the interview activities to see how the kids interact. Most of us here think that the urban/rural link that we do is really important, she continues, but not everybody elsewhere replicates both pieces. Its very much here about bridging communities. Boston is a highly segregated city so it is extra important here. Here are a few of the kids: Dania Chitolie, 15, is the farmers market intern. She is from Dorchester and was introduced to the program by her cousin. I set up the farmers market and Im in charge of the cash box, she says. I look up prices at Stop and Shop and compare with ours to make sure ours are cheaper. My week is kind of busy. I do community lunches on Monday, work- shops on Thursday and Friday. Were at the Childrens Museum on Tuesday from 4 to 6:30, and we have a market at Dudley Common from 4 to 7. We take up three tables and put up three tents. There are about 10 people in the crew so we usually have enough people to help the customers. Jeff Boucher, 19, is a fellow. He graduated from Newton North High School and is taking a year off before going to UMass/Amherst to study Resource Economics. Thats economics that takes into account the depletion of natural resources and the environment, he says. Normal economics doesnt take much account of that. I just got involved when I was 14 because it was a summer job and you get a free T pass. I didnt give a lot of thought to farming. But Ive learned a lot and changed a lot because of the program. I enjoyed being thrown in with urban kids. I was sent to private schools up through 10th grade. I was surrounded by unfathomable wealth. I knew that life wasnt all about money and these obscenely rich people who have private planes and chauffeurs. I was very turned off by private school and was excited to be in a place where I could learn with a different group of people. I really never enjoyed school at all, Jeff continues. Ive always found the Food Project a safe haven from school where I can feel productive and maybe do what other kids do at school but I do it in a different environment. Ive had the opportunity to do so many things. I got to go down to DC with the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture a lobbyist groups for organic farmers. They send us action alerts to call our Congressperson or Senator on some program, but theyre real wordy. I read them and learn about the issue, and then rewrite the alert in a youth-friendly way. We get that out to youth organizations around the nation to take action. Ive learned a lot about lead and soil science, about remediation, about agriculture and the food system. But it was done in this practical way, where you put it to use. In school its so intangible you dont see what youre doing and why its important. I cant describe what an asset it has been to me and help me get through high school. Theyre in youth develop- ment and they do a really good job of it! Amara Foster is an intern who prefers working in Roxbury to Lincoln. Here you can take a whole crew and get a lot done, she laughs. In Lincoln there is so much more land! There you feel so small. The rows are so long! She feels that she has learned a lot of about food and food choices with the program: You may not have a lot of choices in the city, but rather than McDonalds you can make a sandwich. photo by Jack Kittredge Here the young chefs of Crew B and Brad wait to serve the 60 or so people who signed up for community lunch today at the Roxbury garden. Kieran Prescott is another intern who has stopped eating at McDonalds. He has been to NOFA confer- ences, given tours of the garden, and feels that he also has learned about good food choices there. Meeting the suburban kids is good, he says. You get to meet new friends. I sometimes go over to the house of a girl who lives in Sudbury. Jose Castillo is only 14, so this is his first year in the program and he is only a crew worker. But he says farming is in his blood: I always wanted to farm. My family farmed in the Dominican Republic and they encouraged me to do this. At first it was kind of boring - the only thing we did the first few days was reading. But now its better. I like harvesting. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 18 Jan McDonald, Program Director, Politics of Food In Rochester, New York, a seven-square mile area known as The Crescent houses the highest concentration of not only the citys, but the countys, and indeed the regions poorest residents; 80% of Rochester minority working poor live here. A mere one square mile consists of The Projects and includes subsidized housing, fast food stores, used car dealerships, and a plaza, sur- rounded by industry. It is an area where 45.7% of the possible labor force is unemployed, residents are prey to most of Rochesters violent crime, and the vast majority of the regions foreclosures and vacant houses, as well as virtu- ally all of the regions lead-paint-related health problems are centered. Here, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School #9 serves an at-risk population where 98.7% of the students qualify for the free or reduced price National School Lunch Program. Students who eat primarily from this program and even eat breakfast at school, eat meals prepared offsite and out-of-sight. This offers few choices of fresh, local food and further disconnects them from the source of their food supply. Alice Waters, founder of the Edible Schoolyard, refers to this as a health emergency and a planetary emergency. We have to be aware of whom were buying our food from and how its produced. Plowing into the heart of that poverty, Politics of Food founder Alison Clarke brought her vision of an edible garden to fruition in 1998. She brought together local low-income students and their families, from multi-ethnic backgrounds and together began to grow vegetables on land belonging to Coca-Cola. The uncultivated space was free, vast, and fenced. A water source was promised and delivered. Seeds were sown and a garden was born. As it doubled in size over the second and third years, the well-composted soil became nourished, loved and productive. They grew the three sisters, corn, beans, and squash, with peppers, tomatoes, root vegetables, herbs, flowers and small fruits. They harvested nutritious food, eating cherry tomatoes and raspberries fresh from the garden. What they also learned was that all they worked for could be taken away from them in an instant. In the spring of 2002, following the attacks of September 11, Coca Cola evicted the gardeners as well as an administrator for the Fire Department who was growing 500 feet of sunflowers, not for anything they had done, but because of security issues. School #9 Principal Sharon Jackson then offered the courtyard area of the school to the Rochester Roots program. Nearby Bethany House, a house of hospitality for homeless women and their children that also serves as a food pantry, also donated 30 X 70 of previously gardened land. The raised beds, perennials, herbs, and small fruits were transferred to the new gardens. Many hands helped haul whatever could be salvaged to the school. The city of Rochester Parks and Recreation Department, very supportive of community gardens, provided fresh topsoil, mulch, and perennials. Those first years were like running a relay race, as Alison retired, Mark House came on board as Program Director, we lost the Coca Cola garden, and Mark resigned, all in a short time period. But, exactly like growing a garden, a seed is planted; it sprouts, grows, blooms, withers, dies and produces hundreds of new seeds. Alison and Mark had nourished the ground to support this new growth. When I took the position of program director, I had already been a Politics of Food volunteer for twelve years (four on the Board of Directors). With my co- worker Mary Boite, Resource Librarian and Office Administrator, we were carrying on the future of the organization. Alison guided me through the process of working with youth in the garden and in the after school workshops. Mark volunteered during the transition. Former and current community partners offered advice and support, and relationships with an Advisory Board of schoolteachers and parents were formed. Alison and Mark had exposed the students to consumer/marketing curricula, culminating in a trip to the local supermarket where they were given $100 of fake money to buy nutritious meals for a family of four for one week. Most students already had some experience with culinary skills: they had made applesauce, baked goods, stone soup with root vegetables, baked cinnamon parsnips, salsa, etc All had had direct contact with the earth through garden- ing and even taught me a thing or two! Their most important needs became clear almost immediately. Nutrient rich produce was critical; many were overweight or undernourished, creating an imbalance of emotions and a lack of energy (except when it came to picking on each other). Teamwork skills needed to be developed - racial rivalry is perva- sive. The greatest long-term need was work skills development: time manage- ment, completion of a task, and conflict resolution. But mostly, they needed to experience success. This would come in surprising ways. Success Brings Confidence and Pride During the summer of 2003, 14-year old student Lynda Allen, my daughter Sienna and I took an Amtrak to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a Rooted in Commu- nity youth development conference hosted by Growing Power. I attended a Lip Balm workshop, put on by teenagers. I was so impressed that I decided to try it with my students. We were already growing calendula flowers, without realizing their medicinal qualities. We harvested and dried the petals in my attic, and by August had enough petals to fill four glass mason jars. We purchased almond oil, beeswax, honey and vanilla scent, lip balm tubes and tins. After the petals had soaked for six weeks we were ready to process our product. The students dis- cussed names and decided on Petal Power, for both lip balm and skin salve. Labels were printed on an ink jet printer. The students practiced making the products just once, before being invited to demonstrate at Abundance Cooperative Market. Petal Power was an immediate hit. The scent of honey and vanilla filled the store and we sold out! Success became the impetus for more workshops. Two students were invited to the Webster Montessori School where they expertly weighed, combined, melted, and poured ingredients into tins, to the oohs and ahhs of their audience. When working with students it is critical that they be given the opportunity for public speaking. This fun activity has turned into an entrepreneurial component of our program. The success of Petal Power led us to develop a comfrey skin salve called Green Power. We now purchase in bulk. An initial investment of $1,400 provided by a local foundation has been turned into $3,442 profit with an inventory worth over $2,000. The students continually reinvest their profits into their products and use the surplus to pay for field trips, conferences, and garden materials. Then, in 2004, we received a grant from Hunger Action Network of NYS to purchase three shares in Genesee Valley Organic Community Supported Agricultures Peacework Organic Farm. In exchange for required workdays on the farm and at the distribution site, the students receive 27 weeks of fresh, local, organic produce. While at the farm they conclude with harvesting their calendula flowers and comfrey leaf. At distribution they weigh, package and label veg- etables, alongside other shareholders. They are part of the Peacework commu- nity now, which adds to their self-confidence. Learning From the Gardens Gardening with youth is rarely easy. Gardening with youth who have learning difficulties, poor nutrition, poor social skills, and low self-esteem is even more Rochester Roots School-Community Garden Youth Grow Roots in Urban Environment photo by Matt Apgar Developing teamwork skills. Nyasha Petillo & Maria Graves integrate leaf compost into the soil. Warren Dodson & John Thomas work in background. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 19 difficult. One has to have a great deal of tolerance and compassion, while instilling values that will benefit them in the long run. A garden does not grow overnight. The students now maintain four gardens, and a Japanese Peace and Vegetable garden is in the planning stages. The COURTYARD GARDEN at School #9 contains ten 5 X 10 raised beds in which students grow pesticide free vegetables, herbs, and medicinal flowers. All produce is distributed to the students for their families consumption. Teachers and their students also use this garden as a learning center. In 2004 the school used a 21st Century Grant to transform it into an architecturally designed garden with benches, a sidewalk, fencing, and a platform for a future greenhouse. During construction we had to once again move the raised beds, plants and soil out and back again. A local foundation funded new non-toxic cedar raised beds. Fresh soil was again provided by the city of Rochester. The garden is now permanent. Produce from the BETHANY HOUSE MARKET GARDEN is distributed to Rochester Roots students, shared with Bethany House residents, used in nutri- tion and cooking classes, and sold at the Rochester Public Markets Organic Day. The garden is a beautiful respite in the heart of an impoverished commu- nity, growing a diversity of plants, with a high concentration of heirloom and Native American produce. Seeds are purchased from local Native American farmer Melissa Jacobs Sacred Seed collection and other organic seed suppliers. The BADEN STREET PERENNIAL GARDEN grows calendula flowers for the Petal Power products, as well as other herbs and perennials. A 6 X 20 parcel of land on PEACEWORK ORGANIC FARM provides more calendula flowers and comfrey leaf to process the skin care products. Students harvest and process these plants during the summer. The youth with whom I work are aged 5 18, including four Rochester Land- scape Technicians interns. They respond to some tasks with enthusiasm and to others with total aversion. Each year we save as many types of seeds as possible. Seed sorting is a task everyone wants to do. They love tactile jobs and looking at the designs on the beans; they also love to start seeds in peat pots. The feel of the warm soil is pleasant to their nerve endings and the smell is wholesome. It is important that youth receive information through all the senses. They love watering the garden, fighting over the task but learning to take turns. When it comes to weeding, I have found that one weed a day is all they can handle. Today we are going to weed out only the purslane. Learning the name of only one weed at a time is much more effective, and stays with them longer. Lectur- ing is the absolute worst experience for all of us - so I do very little of it. Youth thrive on direct, experiential learning, a truth demonstrated in our garden and also expressed by Paula Vargas, garden volunteer, Montessori directress, and Board Chair. I have learned that awareness is the most important part of gardening: be aware of where students naturally gravitate. For example, eleven-year-old Warren Dodson could always be found near the vermiculture bin. So maintenance, feeding and watering the red wigglers became his responsibility. After observ- ing, digging through the peat moss and decaying plants for several months Warren knew how they reproduced, what their eggs looked like, what they liked to eat, and how much food they could handle. In September he gave a workshop to other students during the NY Harvest for NY Kids Week fair and he was featured in a local newspaper article. It is important to send out press releases on the good work that students are doing. Not only does it elevate their self- esteem, but also it gets your message out to the community that gardening with youth is vital! In a short three years the Rochester Roots School-Community Garden students have participated in a hands-on, experiential, school-based model of learning that links them to organic gardening, culinary arts, nutritional education, the environment, culture, and entrepreneurial and work force development skills. They have attended sustainable living workshops, organic farming conferences, hands-on organic garden work, community events, fundraisers, and learned processing and marketing of a product. They are an integral part of a sustainable community. We know they will take this knowledge, and this feeling of whole- ness, wherever they go, to the betterment of their families and their communi- ties. To learn more please visit our website at www.politicsoffood.org photo by Jan McDonald Warren Dodson and Joel Diaz sorting organic pumpkins at distribution. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 20 by Abbie Nelson, NOFA-VT; Joseph Kiefer, Food Works; Dana Hudson, Shelburne Farms Youth involvement in agriculture, to the general public, often means Future Farmers of America (FFA). This small minority study agriculture in depth and work the land for their family or, in the near future, for themselves. The majority of youth, however, have no intention of working on a farm. Agriculture and food production is the furthest thing from their minds. They might realize that to eat, there has to be agriculture, but they are far removed from where their food comes from and the concept of a local food system. Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED) has worked for six years connecting students, teachers, and communities with many aspects of agricul- ture. This includes raising awareness about the local community and its agricul- tural heritage, working with locally grown and processed foods, learning about the role of Vermont farms and farmers, and learning about good nutrition. We act as a catalyst for rebuilding healthy local food systems, and cultivate links between the classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities. This is accomplished through the 3 Cs: the Classroom with standards-based curriculum development, the Cafeteria through purchasing local food and nutrition educa- tion, and the Community through reconnecting people to their food sourcesthe farms and farmers. Through the development of a farm, food, and nutrition- based curriculum, students learn the importance of a lifelong healthy lifestyle and the role agriculture plays in their lives. This unique approach to food system change in a rural state happens through a partnership of three Vermont organizations. The VT FEED partners are: FoodWorks, an educational organization specializing in community-based food/garden curriculum and integrating themes of hunger prevention, ecology, and local heritage into K-6 curriculum. The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, a nonprofit association of consumers, gardeners, and farmers who share a vision of local organic agriculture work to strengthen agriculture in Vermont. Shelburne Farms, a nonprofit education center and working farm dedicated to cultivating a conservation ethic by teaching about stewardship of agricul- tural and natural resources and by practicing sustainable rural land use. Our goal is to find practical ways to integrate required content and skills by using the theme of food, farms, and nutrition as a context for learning, not to create another add-on to an already overwhelming teaching day for teachers. We have also found that students resist new tastes and appearances of food in the cafeteria, so that introducing fresher and homemade foods can be difficult. Yet when students are able to grow, cook, and experience food ingredients in their classroom or on a farm, they are more accepting. If they handle and taste new foods along the way, they typically enjoy them and have a greater understand- ing of what it took to grow and produce that food. The key aspect that makes this rural farm to school model successful in Ver- mont is the crucial link of the community. In rural towns, the school is often the hub of activity and communication. By bringing a spotlight onto the community and highlighting their community resources of farmers, food producers, garden- ers, and related businesses, the students develop a sense of their place in their community. You are what you eat, and in this case we strive to have the students eat and learn from right around their hometown. Agricultural Literacy: through the Classroom, the Cafeteria, and the Community photo courtesy VTFeed Elementary students prepare carrot muffins for the monthly taste test in a Burlington, VT school. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 21 photo courtesy VTFeed 6th graders in Waitsfield, VT harvest pumpkins for a local farmer. photo courtesy VTFeed Randolph, VT elementary student enjoys a school lunch featuring local foods Through VT FEED the 3 Cs are incorporated in schools in many different ways. At one school, a kindergarten through twelfth grade in Chelsea, Vermont, students are involved in the school-wide effort to integrate food and agriculture into their daily lives. In the high school, the Civics in Action class designed and built a multi-bed school garden to grow produce for the cafeteria. The community was involved throughout the building process from the design to milling wood for the raised beds, to filling in the beds with topsoil and compost. Meanwhile, in the same school, middle-school-aged students are building an outdoor French bread oven. The elementary students cooked and baked weekly this Fall, which included preparing and serving seasonal produce for monthly taste tests in the cafeteria. In addition, to complete the school wide effort to connect food, farm, and nutrition with the youth of the school, the kitchen manager bought produce from a local farmer all Fall. In another community, in Randolph, Vermont, an entire school district food service and local farmers have devoted themselves to preparing and serving a monthly local lunch. A farming organization, Randolph Area Family Farms, coordinates the farmers and their products. At the school end, the food service director and the Culinary Arts students at the high school order and prepare and distribute the lunch items for four schools. Community members come specifically to join the students and enjoy menus such as: winter vegetable soup, turkey pot pie with seasonal vegetables, whole wheat rolls, and chocolate chip squash cookies. This reconnecting youth to food and agriculture sounds great for a rural setting, but can it be done in an urban one? Vermonts main urban center is Burlington, eith eleven schools and 5,000 students being served in the city limits. At several of the schools teachers and students are visiting farms, building gardens, cooking in classrooms, and weaving sustainability, agriculture, and healthy food choices into the curriculum. Some students partici- pate in school-wide monthly taste tests of food items, mainly produce, that they help prepare and serve. Students then survey their peers about the new foods and the popular items are featured on the school lunch menu in following months. So far, rice and vegetable casserole, berry crisp, fruit salad, leaf lettuce and sprouts have been featured. In Septem- ber 2003 the food service purchased only $500 of local fresh produce. Just one year later, they spent $4,000 ($3,000 of which was directly from local farms) in September! So, where are the youth in agriculture? Through VT FEED and the partners, they are making school gardens, harvesting at local farms, preparing taste tests with the school food service, or are cooking in the classroom as part of the curriculum. Through hands-on experiences and involvement with the local community members, youth connect to agriculture through their basic needfood. For more information contact VT Food Education Every Day at 802-434-4122 or email: info@nofavt.org The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 22 by Deb Habib It was very cold out eight years ago when the first posts and beams of local lumber were nailed to- gether here on the land that is home to Seeds of Solidarity Farm and Education Center. Hammers, shovels and ideas have been moving non-stop since then, resulting in energy efficient buildings, four greenhouses, solar electric systems, a patchwork of fertile vegetable and garlic fields, and several grease and biodiesel powered vehicles. On a busy day, bustling farm apprentices load the truck with crates brimming with kale and chard. Teens in our SOL (Seeds of Leadership) Garden program come looking for a wheelbarrow to haul compost and maybe another bag of cookies to pass around. An intern returns with pizza made by kids and topped with basil and peppers grown at the school garden we run as part of our Farm to School program. The phone rings off the hook with folks wanting to know if there is still space for vendors at the Garlic and Arts Festival. Where Are We and How Did We Get Here? This article focuses on how a non-profit organiza- tion (Seeds of Solidarity Education Center Inc.) co- exists with a for profit farm (Seeds of Solidarity Farm), and the joys and challenges of this relation- ship. In order to describe this relationship, and specifically our agriculture-based programs for youth, here is a little history about the current status of each entity and how we got here. Seeds of Solidarity Farm grows salad mix and specialty greens for restaurants, caterers and food coops in Franklin County, Massachusetts; we market from March to December using solar greenhouses rather than using fossil fuels. We also grow 16 varieties of garlic, most of which we sell as seed garlic at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival that we organize with our neighbors. The farm provides for half of our family income. Seeds of Solidarity Education Center is the non- profit entity we founded in 2000. Its mission is to provide people of all ages with the inspiration and practical tools to grow food and use renewable energy in their communities. Programs of Seeds of Solidarity Education Center include: SOL (Seeds of Leadership) Garden for teenagers Cultivating Healthy Communities, a farm to school initiative SOL Patrol, a grease and biodiesel powered van that travels to schools and festivals The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival The seeds of Seeds of Solidarity germinated when we (Ricky Baruc and Deb Habib) met in 1984 working at the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod. Ricky continued to farm and build near Ithaca NY, and Deb went on to teach environmental and multicultural education in Western Mass. We stayed in touch over the years, marrying in 1994. Ricky sold his NY farm and in1996 we bought 30 rela- tively affordable acres of woods, wetlands, and fields in Orange, MA, a rural, economically de- pressed mill town near the Quabbin Reservoir. We sketched out a five year plan that included things like: have a kid, build an off the grid house, grow and market food, and do some sort of education programs. Ricky did not want to go back to farming 20 acres and trucking produce to the NYC green markets. I did not want to commit all of my time to academia. While building our house and first greenhouse, we focused on building the soil and a couple of accounts with restaurants. We also aspired to some sort of education programs on the farm. Seeds of Solidarity: For Profit Farm Meets Non-Profit Organization We quickly realized our new community was ripe with need, with some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy, underemployment, and youth in foster care in the state. A conversation with a local agency led to us partnering on a grant and starting SOL (Seeds of Leadership) Garden for area teens in 1999. The success of this program nourished the initiation of the non-profit organization, Seeds of Solidarity Education Center. Initially, we hoped that we could make a livelihood through grants achieved for education programs but quickly realized this would be more challenging than we thought, so built up the farm accounts as well. The following sections describe a few of many ways in which a for profit farm and non-profit organiza- tion co-exist in terms of vision, finances, and land, with a focus on our programs with youth, and the joys and challenges of the farm meets non-profit relationship. Is a Non-Profit Structure Right for You? Whether you are a farmer thinking about doing education programs on your farm, or someone envisioning creating a union of education and farming, it is critical to think carefully about your goals. There exists a range of possibilities, such as offering educational farm field trips for schools or agri-tourism events for profit, or developing a partnership with a local school or agency where you can share your expertise as a volunteer, perhaps writing a small grant together in order to try out your ideas. A non profit organization is organized educational and charitable may be an appropriate structure if this is your mission, and if you intend to pursue sources of funding such as grants and private contributions that are tax-deductible. Founding and then running a non-profit requires a lot of time, work, and some initial investment. Read the book How to Form a Non-Profit Corporation by Anthony Mancuso as it is a great way to understand what is involved, and the appropriate structure to house your educational plans. Had I known all that would be involved -- extensive book-keeping and quarterly and annual filings, board development, liability insurance, the broken hearts from not getting grants for work you are so passionate aboutI may not have done it. I was simply an educator wanting to make possible my education vision. It has been a rough road at times with a steep learning curve, though I do enjoy it, being a compulsive multi-tasker. Five years after incorporation, Seeds of Solidarity Education Center is a small but mighty grassroots organization with a great board, clear mission and growing mailing list and donor base. As an employee of this organiza- tion who carries out program development, grant administration, intern supervision, and pretty much anything else that comes along, I draw a modest salary that makes up half of our family income. Seeds of Solidarity Farm provides land and office space to the non-profit organization in-kind, which means we dont charge for it (that would have been a red flag to the IRS in regards to obtaining tax exempt status). Thus overhead is minimal, which enables grants and contributions to go directly into programs. Success While Remaining Sane People will sometimes comment on how we have a bunch of our SOL Garden teenagers helping with the farm crops. This is incorrect (though we do have a farm apprenticeship program). Quite frankly, they dont come near our market crops, because they are just thathigh quality market crops that enable us to pay the billsnot an educational experiment. SOL (Seeds of Leadership) Garden takes place on an acre of land at one end of our farm. This grant-funded program is free of charge to local teens age 14-20 who come once a week, April to September. It combines lessons in food systems awareness and community activism with hands-on gardening. The SOL Garden field hosts a quarter acre garden, 28 x 48 greenhouse, and the SOL Shack meeting space, all of which were built by and for the teen program over the past 7 years. While physically and financially separate, the practices in place on the farm inform how and what we teach the teens, and validate that they are contributing to food production in the region. The food grown in the SOL garden and greenhouse is taken home and eaten by the teens and their families, many of who are low income. They also transform their garden harvest into cuisine that we serve at community meals that the teens help organize. It is also sold at festivals including our photo courtesy Seeds of Solidarity Education Center Youth in Seeds of Solidaritys SOL Garden program help plant gardens at local schools. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 23 Garlic and Arts Festival. These are amazing leader- ship and community outreach experiences for the youth. We used to do a weekly, local farmers market with the teens, but this was more for their experience than program income, and became too exhausting what with our own busy harvest and marketing days on the farm. We have built incredible relationships with the youth and their families over the years. That we welcome them to our land and treat them with respect enables amazing bonding and communica- tion, creating a sense of family among the diverse teens that make up a SOL Garden group each year. At the same time, weve had to deal with some kids with really tough lives who did not know how to accept love or being treated with respect for the first time. Negative incidents are few and far between, but real. Overall, the power and promise of SOL Garden for us, the youth, and our community keep us all going. Outreach Versus Inreach Our other youth agriculture program, Cultivating Healthy Communities, happens off site. We are working with six schools in Orange and Athol over three years to plant gardens and greenhouses and promote purchases of local food for school lunches and breakfasts. The success of SOL Garden helped us to establish positive connections with area schools. The Cultivating Healthy Communities project enables us to reach many more students and teachers, and further our commitment to innovative public education. Importantly, we expand into the community without expanding programs on our farm, preserving our personal and family lives. We speak, present, teach, and write about our work with youth and schools and the activities of our farm (which utilizes renewable energy). Thus, we get many calls from people wanting to visit. It is hard to say no to enthusiastic calls and emails, but it becomes increasingly essential to maintain balance between public and private time. Weve resolved this by inviting the general public to come for a Solidarity Saturdaywe hold two a year during which we offer a free tour of our site, and talk about whatever visitors want to know. About 30 people generally show up, and it ends up being a really great way for people to meet and network. Adding Value to the Farm Many of the restaurants we sell to are interested in food and agriculture education, but their plates are already very full. They like purchasing from a farm that is committed to educating youth and commu- nity as these values are often aligned with their own mission. Though chefs and produce managers are most interested in our freshly harvested, high quality produce, the educational programs add value to the farm. Prospective farm apprentices are often attracted to the farm because of the education programs. This can be good and bad. We have learned to tell people very clearly during the interview process that if they come as farm apprentices, they are farming, not working with the education programs (though we do have a program for interns from area colleges who do just that). Farm apprentices are most welcome to take part in our education programs on their own time, but we have to be very clear in our farm apprenticeship process to weed out those more attracted by the education elements so they are not shocked by the realities of hard sweaty labor. We hope you will visit on a Solidarity Saturday. Check out www.seedsofsolidarity.org for more information about our farm practices and education programs, and to join our mailing list in order to receive our annual newsletter and calendar of events. Deb Habib is Director of Seeds of Solidarity Educa- tion Center, 165 Chestnut Hill Road, Orange, MA 01364 which she co-founded with her husband Ricky Baruc, who runs Seeds of Solidarity Farm. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 24 by Deborah Bernstein Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and youre a thousand miles from the corn field. Dwight D. Eisenhower Whether youre farming crops or an education and therapeutic program for children, the task can be daunting. Just ask Dr. Samuel B. Ross, Jr., the founder of Green Chimneys, a 166-acre farm where children are healed with the help of animals and nature. Best known for its signature animal-assisted therapy programs, Green Chim- neys goal is to restore possibilities for children through nurture and nature. Its multi-disciplinary approach blends education, recreation, social skills and therapy while helping children with emotional problems and learning disabili- ties through a residential treatment program, special education school, organic garden and active farm and wildlife program. Theres something magical about nature and farm animals that can help heal children with problems, says Dr. Ross, who founded Green Chimneys (first called Green Chimneys Farm for Little Folk) in 1947. At Green Chimneys, that magnetic force is the catalyst that draws people together. Research has shown that animals and nature can reduce stress. In response, a plethora of animal-assisted therapy programs have sprung up in nursing homes, schools, hospitals, prisons and even places of business. Corporations have hired specialists to install aquariums and create plantscapes in waiting rooms, offices and public places. New building design incorporates views of nature for residents and patients. Why, then, should not residential programs for children do likewise? Frequently children feel depressed, withdrawn and unwanted, says Dr. Ross. They need to feel a sense of connection, a personal bond with another living thing. For many, a connection to an adult or peer is threatening, so an animal becomes a logical solution. Lessons learned from animals become the stepping stones for a human connection. Nurturing and loving an animal and receiving back unconditional attention and love re-establishes the worth of the child, and encourages him or her to risk the human connection. As a child, Dr. Ross was sent to boarding school. Although he missed his family and friends, he found great comfort in the time spent with the headmasters dog. He instinctively gravitated towards the animal for a sense of well being in times of stress or loneliness. Could animals help others? The idea of offering young people who had to be in an out-of-home situation at such a young age the comfort of a variety of different farm animals seemed a natural thing to do, said Dr. Ross. So, the birth of Green Chimneys was in its simplest form a boarding school for young children that was also a working farm in the country. The idea was to give to both children and animals a healthy atmosphere in which to grow up together. Crops were raised to provide nourishment for both humans and animals. Plants and trees added to the aesthetic beauty of the site. Chores gave youngsters a routine and taught them that one can never expect that everything will be provided for them; each person has a responsibility to contribute to the maintenance of all we enjoy. The farm became a healing tool. Even Green Chimneys Boni-Bel Organic Farm, across the road from the main campus, helps in the healing process by teaching children to respect the earth and be responsible citizens through an active organic gardening program. There, resident students plant and tend vegetables and fruit. Even the hot sun doesnt detract them from their work, said Dr. Ross. Stu- dents learn about beekeeping and maple sugaring firsthand. An organic garden behind Green Chimneys School allows younger children and day students to have the same experience. It avoids transportation to Boni-Bel and makes access easier. Flower beds and flower boxes are all over the campus. Children watch flowers and vegetables they have planted grow, gaining a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. Some activity is possible in the greenhouses and classrooms over the winter. At Green Chimneys, nature and animal contacts range from children who play with a dog, cat or rabbit during a session with a therapist to the more compre- hensive approach where children experience an immersion with animals, plants, horseback riding and adventure activities. For many, animals make the difference. Why does animal-assisted therapy work? Its simple. Troubled youngsters and adults can respond to animals in ways they often cant respond to people. The human-animal contact helps bring out a nurturing instinct. Learning to care for animals helps develop a sense of responsibility and caring among children who may not have known that themselves. We have found that many of our children come to us unable to trust others due to very difficult situations, says Dr. Ross. They are often jaded and angry. They are more apt to risk a friendship with an animal because the animal will not ask questions, will not judge them and will not tell their secrets to anyone. Green Chimneys: Green Is the Color of Healing at a Farm in Upstate New York Most children arrive at the farm and choose a favorite animal. We arrange for the child to work with that animal and form a bond. Soon after, the child must reach out and build a relationship with a human, whether it be a peer or a staff member at the farm. The desire to care for their animal dictates that they learn about that animal from others. The trust and friendships established because of the animals needs and the childs desire to nurture the animal are often the basis for therapeutic treatment. The animal acts as a bridge from the child to the staff and peers. We recognized early on that children and animals belong together for the betterment of both, explains the founder. It was believed that animals, gardens, nature and the open space of a farm would be a terrific place for children who had to be away from home to grow and thrive. For all people, contact with nature has the ability to reduce stress. For those with special needs, the presence of something living has proved itself to be an important element in the healing process. At Green Chimneys, youll see animals everywhere. There are celebrity horses like Romeo, whose rescue from abuse in Brooklyn was featured on Animal Planets Animal Precinct, and Raemar and Spadi, two Icelandic horses given to Green Chimneys by Senator Hillary Clinton, who received them as a gift of state. A wildlife conservation center is home to more than 50 permanently disabled or imprinted animals, including an American bald eagle that lost a wing in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Spike, Dr. Rosss Pomeranian, can be found in the fund development building. A golden retriever named Max lives at David Hall, the residential treatment facility for teenage boys. Children train service dogs as part of the East Coast Assistance Dog program and there are dozens of small animals such as rabbits and birds, and farm animals, including some rare breeds. Theres even a Jersey heifer named Samantha, presented to Dr. Ross by the staff and children for his 75 th birthday. A typical day for a student includes chores, special education classes and programmed activities. The recreation and work assignments are all part of the healing process. A full treatment team of social workers, child care specialists, psychologists, health professionals and special education teachers meet with the youngsters. Together, they plan and carry out a program designed for each child where the plant, animal, adventure and nature activities are integrated. The program is an active one that engages children in a meaningful way. A strong animal awareness program, which is aptly called Farm-on-the-Moo-ve, brings farm animals and their student caregivers to schools, fairs and other public sites within a 60-mile radius of the Brewster facility. Students share the knowledge theyve gained as they transform from service receivers to service providers. Students build self-confidence and self-esteem, as they do when they compete with children from the community at the Putnam County 4-H Fair, where they win blue ribbon after blue ribbon. Green Chimneys also has an extensive wildlife rehabilitation program. Whether an immature owl has fallen from its nest or a red-tailed hawk has been hit by a car, Green Chimneys staff and students are there to help with the rehabilitation and return to the wild. Theres a strong parallel between the healing of an injured animal or bird and the residential treatment program and therapies that help heal our residents, says Joseph Whalen, executive director of Green Chimneys. For the animals and birds requiring lifetime care, we can point to the valiant struggle they make photo courtesy Green Chimneys Carlton and Nemo, the emu at Green Chimneys, are great friends. Nemo is one of more than 300 animals that live on the farm in Upstate New York. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 25 to stay alive and gain new skills. We are able to point out to our residential students that their desire to leave Green Chimneys and move to a much less restrictive environment is very similar. Year-round, living spaces are alive with animals and plants. The horticultural therapy program uses plants and horticultural activities to improve the social, educational, psychological and physical adjustment of children. Two greenhouses provide an opportunity for children to have something growing throughout the year. When we came in 1947, there were gardens everywhere, says Dr. Ross. Where the dormito- ries now sit, there was one massive garden, so the first thing we did was hire a gardener. I dont think my father ever forgave me for allowing Ross Hall (a dorm) to be built on our famous asparagus bed. We had tremendous asparagus! Today, Green Chimneys operates a very active certified organic farm and garden where asparagus, peppers, lettuce, basil, tomatoes and watermelon are just a few of the plants and vegetables harvested. At Green Chimneys School, life skills classes teach children how to cook the fruits and vegetables they pick from the vines or ground. Theres also a produce stand operated by students and staff where people from the local community can buy certified organic produce. We have approached agriculture as an important therapeutic tool at Green Chimneys over our 57 years of existence, says Whalen. In the past 10 years, we have invested heavily in our production and vocational garden at our Boni-Bel organic farm site. We have developed an organic production garden complete with an apiary, maple sugaring, farm produce stand, greenhouse and agriculture best practice demonstration exhibits. We also recently expanded our horticulture program by building new childrens gardens on our main campus near the school. Our array of horticulture assets are one the best offered in our type of setting and, combined with our 12-month program, it is fully utilized to benefit the children we serve, adds Whalen. Our future is ripe for cultivating new programs on top of the great agricultural infrastructure we have built at Green Chimneys. Some plans for the future include expanding the Green Chimneys School store at the Boni-Bel site and making it a center for community agriculture experience and learning. This will provide addi- tional income and positive exposure for the School. A tree farm and an orchard are also under develop- ment. Green Chimneys was a pioneer in recognizing the value of plants and animals, and they continue as part of the overall therapy for children. I imagine there will always be skeptics who will question the efficacy of the alternative therapies which involve the assistance of animals, the in- volvement with plants, the dependence on the horse to bring about certain body movements and the wilderness to create opportunities for skill building and team work, says Dr. Ross. Whereas not a panacea for all our ills, these approaches offer us additional tools to improve some of our mental, social, educational, recreational and vocational programs. The beauty of these approaches is that they can become part of ones life and are fun. Some have said one needs to feel pain in order to appreci- ate what we often just take for granted. Its all right to smile and feel good. This does not mean the therapeutic result is not there. Much of what we do motivates the individual to try harder, to get in- volved, to be accepting of the help of others. These are worthy outcomes for people who have endured rejection and pain for too long. Green Chimneys is open to the public on weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the agency offers farm internships as part of its commitment to training adults interested in the human-animal bond. The internship program offers workshops and courses in conjunction with a number of colleges and universi- ties. All interns participate in training, which includes observation time within other campus departments, training in assigned barns or green- house, and in-service concerning communication with the residents. They participate in weekly intern meetings, and are responsible for knowing the treatment goals of each student worker, supervising the worker at the farm, and documenting the student workers progress toward the treatment goal. Other interns work at Green Chimneys during their field placement as part of an undergraduate or graduate program in social work and education. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 26 by Jack Kittredge Central Vermont - along Vermonts route 100 - looks like the Vermont of idyllic imagination, almost as unspoiled as it was when Calvin Coolidge was born here 132 years ago. Vast tracts of protected land maintain the wilderness feel. Small towns too small to attract franchised fast food look friendly and modest. It is said that in the winter the nearby ski Meccas attract too much traffic, but in the summer the greens and blues of mountain and lake make it look almost like northern Maine. In such a bucolic setting one is not surprised to find the thriving Farm and Wilderness Camps. First established by Ken and Susan Webb in 1939, the organization now has 5 residential camps plus a day camp for younger kids on 4000 acres in the Green Mountains. Three of them, nestled around the Wood- ward Reservoir, are devoted to involving the campers in caring for gardens and livestock. The original camp, Timberlake, is for 80 boys nine to fourteen years old and includes a one acre garden. The kids live in open-air cabins with 8 campers, 2 counselors and 1 counselor apprentice. Indian Brook is a similar camp for 120 girls of that age and has another acre in crops. Besides the exposure to farming, the camps also let kids focus on art, theater, outdoor experiences and trips or carpentry and work project skills. In the 1950s the Webbs added a coed camp for 70 teens 15 to 17 years old called Tamarack Farm, named for a prominent conifer near the lodge. The kids there cultivate about 3 acres and have a small dairy farm, chickens for eggs and meat, pigs and sheep. On another lake there are two more F & W camps: one where kids do a lot of wilderness trips and one where kids live simply, based on native American traditions. Although the Webbs turned the camps over to a non-profit organization years ago, their theory of education and their Quaker ideals live on here. Ken Webb was a big voice in the philosophy of getting children out of the cities and suburbs and back into the wilderness and back on the land the pedagogy of experiential education, says Todd Daloz, director of Timberlake. That phi- losophy lives on today and is even more important. I do a lot of recruiting and Ill say: Every thing is unplugged at camp. There are no TVs, no video games. The parents faces will light up and the kids faces fall. But Id say campers notice that for the first 15 minutes theyre here. Then its gone. Theres so much else to do it stretches their brains. The camps try to balance knowledge acquisition, work and service projects, and teaching. In all the programs campers dont just learn skills, they also provide a service and in that way improve their skills, and pass them on to others. In that way a camper is not rising ahead of someone else, but sharing his or her learning with the whole community. Besides having a clear vision of education, the camps also have firm rules of personal behavior. We have a lot of rules about cigarettes, drugs and candy, explains Tamarack Farm co-director Tom Barrup. Were fairly strict about it. The campers sign an agreement that they understand the rules before they come. If someone smokes a cigarette they are sent home before bedtime that night. But then if they want to return they can write a letter back to the whole community explaining what happened and what they want. Then we stop business as usual, read it to everyone, listen to their comments, and decide whether they should return. If its yes, they can come back 7 days later. It pretty much makes tobacco and drugs a non-issue for the summer. Thats really what most of the kids want. The same with Walkmans or the radio, he continues. They cant listen to outside recorded music. If you take away a Discman or an mp3 player, the kid is bummed out at first. But then through the summer you see a kid who has never played a guitar pick one up. Theyll pick out a tune and after a while here some kids get really good. I think they recognize the benefit of where their creative energy is directed. That philosophy of personal development extends to treatment of other campers, according to staffer Dan Moring-Parris. I dont think there are a lot of places that pay as much attention to what it means to be a healthy and free spirit, he says. We do a lot of workshops with kids trying to figure out what makes a community or a cabin healthy. We sign group contracts and have them agree to rules about bullying and teasing and talking about each others bodies and appearances. We all agree on them and because we have a camper to counselor ratio of about 4 to 1, there is always a presence reminding them of the standards for being in a healthy community. The campers seem to thrive under this approach and want to come back. Tom estimates that only about 10 of his 72 campers are new, with many having come to Timberlake in past summers before graduating to Tamarack. Most campers are from the East Coast, with a lot from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Last year a third of the older campers were from Massachu- setts. Only a few have farming backgrounds. Theyre used to going to grocery stores, smiles Brian Hsiang, who serves as farmer for all the camps. Its a great opportunity to show them how their food is grown. Farm and Wilderness Camps If you were to classify our kids, says Tom, youd say they were an unusual group. You have to have some money to come, or be on scholarship. For the ones who pay their way, they are less the really wealthy than from a family where both parents work maybe one is a therapist and one a professor. Theyre politically aware. A summer at Farm and Wilderness is not cheap. Tuition for the 8 weeks is $5550. Four weeks, only an option at the younger camps, is $3550. Camperships or financial aid, is available on a limit basis to help families meet the cost. According to Todd the organization gives out 11% of its gross tuition, or about a quarter of a million dollars, in scholarship aid. A little over a quarter of the campers get some help. Every morning the kids go with a team to do some kind of a chore. The projects are determined by the year-round farming staff and the kids are presented with a choice at the beginning of each week. Theyre on that project every morning that week, then they switch. Some will go out and put more sawdust in the composting toilets, or change the toilet paper. Some will go out to the garden in the morning and harvest what the kitchen wants for the day. Some work in the barns with the animals, or learn how to make cheese or other dairy products, or do construction projects like building a pen or storage area. Theres a lottery system to guarantee that kids get their first choice some times during the summer, explains Tamarack Farm co-director Tina Tannen, and theres enough variety in the garden that one could always be on some garden project if desired. Sometimes the subtlety of the garden escapes them, but even then youll hear the same kids tell their parents on visiting day: this is what I planted! or I hoed that whole row! They speak with great pride about it. Teams are usually 5 or 6 campers with a staff person, she continues. We structure it so that everybody goes through the barn chore rotation for at least a week during the summer. Those campers who really get excited about it can do more. And once a week we do an all-camp garden project so that even those kids who never sign up for the garden get out here and see the progress it makes through the summer. At Timberlake barn chores involve care for a Jersey/Brown Swiss dairy cow, her calf, a year-old Guernsey, a sow and 7 piglets, a milking goat, and laying and meat chickens. Each cabin has barn chores one week out of the summer. The kids come with a counselor in the morning and do the milking, pig care, and feed the chickens so that each camper has a sense of what is involved. Then that afternoon there will be a line up. The counselors explain what theyre going to do in a little skit - canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, Tai Chi, farm work and then the kids choose one to go with. On Saturday the campers approach counselors and ask them to help with something they want to do. Timberlake also has an achievement system. We call them ratings, explains Josh Potts, Timberlake Barns and Gardens Activity Head. You can attain a rating by meeting certain challenges. If you come to barn chores every time for a week, on the 14th time you get to lead and tell everybody what to do. And you might have a small project like repairing a fence or cutting down all the thistles in a pasture. Thats your Barnsman rating. Also there is the Gardener. Thats if you have your own plot and record data like weather, weeds, insects, plant growth, plus maybe some other project like weeding a whole section with a counselor. If you have both the Gardener and the Barnsman, you can be the Homesteader. That involves a really big project like building a whole fence or one kid went up to the woods and cut down some trees, carried the logs down here, split them and made meeting circle benches at the fire pit. All the 9 to 12 year olds go through all the camp areas in rotation, but the 13 and 14 year-olds have senior projects. They are a little more advanced, like photo by Jack Kittredge Kids from The Barn Day Camp, wearing cicada make-up, sample ripe strawberries on a hike to the Indian Brook garden. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 27 building a compost pile or fixing the pasture fences, plus having camper plots where they record daily observations. Craft projects involve pottery and felting. We have our own sheep, says Brian, and we card our own wool. A guy up the hill does the shearing. One project of years past at Tamarack Farm was construction of the Chicken Cathedral a combination greenhouse and animal pen. The theory is that animals would live below and theres a solar greenhouse up above, explains Brian. Wed grow stuff up above and there would be a residual amount of heat rising up from the animals to heat the greenhouse. It would extend the growing season, maybe even let us get tomatoes before the kids all leave in August. But it hasnt worked out too well. We use the expertise of whatever staff we have, adds Tina. One year there was someone here who knew about straw bale construction, so we were going to do that. But the next year we had a timber-framer here, so we ended up doing that instead. Thats one of the things thats nice about the multi-generational nature of this camp. People can come back and see the things they built. Thats sometimes why the construction projects are more appealing to kids. They can say: I did it and its built and its there! Right now ducks and chickens are housed on the first floor, with baby layers upstairs sharing space with stocktanks planted with seemingly thriving peppers and eggplants. One year a counselor worked at Tamarack Farm whose father knew a lot about electric vehicles. So he helped campers convert a truck to run on batteries. Its used for trash runs around the farm. The camp also has a car that runs on biodiesel that they use for educational purposes. Most of the projects are designed to get campers familiar with practical skills and also to do useful work for the camp. Some of the kids working with animals will get really involved and become what we call barn chore-heads, Brian relates. Its really an awesome point when its not a counselor standing up talking about what has to happen, its a kid! Thats when you sort of know that these ideas you have planted are really taking root! Tina adds: They go away thinking: Its not this mystery, knowing how to take care of this land! I could build my own house if I wanted to. I could fix my own toilet. On the subject of toilets, there are a number of composting ones at Farm & Wilderness. After each use, one drops a cupful of sawdust down the hole and odors are minimal. In the Spring the staff empties all the toilets into all a bunker facility where it is turned for a year, getting quite hot and composting. Then the following year the material is spread out on hay fields the camp manages. The process is all state regulated. According to Tamarack camper Sarah Armstrong it is also educational. Its part of this larger system of our wastes feeding us, she says. We try to find the trail of where our shit ends up back to us. Its put on the hay, the cows eat the hay, we use the cow manure on the food that grows in the garden. Its kind of a long trail! In mid July the campers go on trips. Some are canoeing or hiking trips, but some are service project trips in which campers live on a working farm for several days and help out. That way they get to see how an operating farm really works. Toward the end of the season, in mid August, the camps have a Harvest Day when everyone goes to the gardens and picks, cleans, and preps the harvest. Thats when they slaughter the chickens, too. We have a discussion about what it is to slaughter an animal, says Josh. We have a sign-up for the kids who want to do that. Some of them think they want to slaughter, but when they get there some end up not eating meat for the next three years! The day after Harvest Day is Food Day. On that day they stop, bring the tables out, and celebrate the bounty of what they have produced. There are musicians photo by Jack Kittredge Some of the Tamarack Farm campers make panir cheese in the basement of the lodge. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 28 strolling about, the kids do skits and all the food eaten at the camps that day comes from the farm. Theres a lesson you cant find anywhere else, says Brian, the long term lesson of nurturing something for 8 weeks and taking it through the whole process. The final part of that process is that you respect it and you eat it for yourself. A lot of campers are vegetarians, but some of them will decide that Food Day is an opportunity to go through the process and theyll eat meat that day. Others are so put off by the slaughter they wont eat any chicken. Rather than make the menu stingy, the few items which arent produced there like salt, pepper or ketchup are available via barter. Someone will stand up and sing a song to barter for salt, Tom explains. Thats a way of saying that the salt didnt just arrive. Someone had to say thanks for having it from some- where. Its a compelling day. Then, just before the end of the season, the camps cooperate to create a huge fair. All six camps produce pickles, canned beans, jams and other food from the gardens, and make games and crafts, and sell them. Many alumni return for the occasion, and its a popular visiting day for parents. The money raised goes to the scholarship program. Respect for the Quaker tradition is displayed in the morning silent meeting. The campers will gather and sit together for 15 or 20 minutes in a circle in some quiet spot before starting on the morning chores. Its a meditative time for them to think about things, says Brian. If they are moved to speak they can just say it out. Then, once a week on Monday night, well have a town meeting. The kids get to make certain decisions about what they want to happen during the summer. We try to work out a consensus about it. Its neat! I went to a public school in New Jersey and I never saw anything like that! The camps try to eat as much as possible from their gardens, which are certified organic by Vermont Organic Farmers. But they cant produce enough volume and, besides trying not to buy in any lettuce, they supplement with purchased food. Brian would like to hook each camp up with a local farm, whether organic or not. We would kind of sponsor the farm and buy all our food from them if possible, he says. The kids might go out there for a day or two and help out. We would purchase everything organic if we could, says Tom, but its a question of money. We might buy everything organic, but then there would be some campers who couldnt come because we couldnt help them with financial aid. Theres a whole spectrum of choices to be made. The teenagers go through tens of gallons of milk a day. It would be a big expense to buy it all organic. The animals eat organic grain except for the pigs, which eat table waste from the dining halls. We have a multi-bucket system, Brian explains. We tell the photo by Jack Kittredge A double crew works in the Tamarack Farm garden. photo by Jack Kittredge Morgan, 9, enjoys watching the meat birds in their chicken tractor at Timberlake. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 29 kids that compost is anything they couldnt eat banana peels, egg shells, rinds on fruit. They know that if there is any meat in the meal, everything that is not compost is trash. But if theres no meat, then theres compost, pig slop, and trash. Pig slop is anything not meat they could eat, but didnt. Our pigs are well fed! One chore is to bring out the compost every day to the garden and dump it in a bin. When that fills up the garden crew turns it into the next bin, and so forth through four bins. By the time the fourth bin is full the season is over and the compost is aging well for use the next spring. Up until 5 years ago the camps were pasteurizing their own milk with small home pasteurizers. Then one day the state decided they were a commercial kitchen and not a mom and pop operation. That entailed not only a larger pasteurizer but also a special room with cement floor, stainless steel sinks and washing facilities, coolers, etc. They are in the process of putting together such a facility, but until then their own milk must go to the grateful pigs and chickens. In the meantime, they buy in pasteurized milk from a local dairy farm. The day I visited some Tamarack girls were using that milk and camp eggs and strawberries to make strawberry ice cream , and others were making panir cheese. Yet more girls were sheet-rocking and painting a room in the basement of the lodge for temporary use as a dairy room until the organization can raise the funds for a permanent facility. Its been five years now, sighs Brian, and some of these kids have never had the experience of milking a cow and making and eating cheese from it. We do slaughter the chickens and pigs, but theres a missing link in the process. Making the complete cycle from preparing the soil to eating the food is important to the mission of Farm & Wilderness. Our goal here is not to turn out 72 farmers, says Brian. Were not a vocational tech school. But everybody eats, and were trying to raise awareness about food. These kids are excited about making their own food! They are the ones who in 10 or 15 years will be supporting local farmers. In order to feed that excitement the staff go to considerable lengths. Brian plants a large variety of crops to teach about diversity, and times them so the kids can see their full development, ideally to an eatable stage. The taste of fresh vegetables is so different from what you get in the store, Tina stresses. When kids taste their first carrot right out of the ground theyre blown away. Josh tries to incorporate fun activities into the farm work at Timberlake, like dressing up in costumes and taking the calf for a walk. He has silent meeting in the garden at least once a week so the kids can sit and watch and notice what has changed. He also has campers go up in the garden afternoons to read, draw plants, write poetry, and sketch the animals. Having farm animals is important to the campers learning responsibility. Tina tells of the hot day when someone left a window closed in the room where the chicks were being raised. They lost several to the heat and the campers were distraught. Farm and Wilderness has 3 milking cows (plus calves) in order to enable the kids to experience the realities of dairying. The pigs, goats, sheep, chick- ens and ducks all give the campers different lessons about the consequences of their actions. If they leave the gate open and an animal gets out, Tina explains, or if they get into the grain bin and overeat, they can die. That life or death case is pretty dramatic. The day I visited Todd told the camp they were getting horses. We just had some Percherons donated, he revealed. Its part of reinvigorating the dairy farm. The idea is that after the morning milking a horse-drawn wagon would go around and collect the milk from the various camps and bring it to the processing facility. It would also bring back the pasteurized milk for the campers in the after- noon. We want to bring home the connection between doing the milking each morning and having that milk for breakfast the next day. Lettuce doesnt teach the same lesson that milk does. Farm and Wilderness staff are generally devoted to farming. Josh graduated from college with a degree in plant science, but didnt get out of it what he wanted, which was to know how to grow his own food. He says he left college just with an under- standing of how to perform experiments on plants. He realized that the only way he would obtain basic knowledge about plants was to work directly with them. So he found Farm and Wilderness and took the farmer job: getting the gardens ready, moving the animals out to the various camps, and taking care of the garden and animals during the summer. Now he helps design the programs as the barns and gardens activity head. Brian came in 1999 as a summer counselor and worked for three years. Then he and his wife ran a small farm in Pownal for a couple years, and he came back in January of 2004 to take the year-round farm position. He hopes eventually to start his own farm. Marinna Hansen, farmer intern at Indian Brook, wants to be a midwife and is interested in the birthing of the lambs and calves. Dan is from Rhinebeck, New York, and recalls watching the farms there slowly go out of business. I became a counselor here in 1999, when I was in college, he says. A lot of my ideals came together here. It is Quaker based, it has a strong belief in work as a way of life and a way to support community. I like the farm and the work projects all around the camp. I also talked with a few campers about their feelings about attending Farm and Wilderness. Hannah Reed, 16, is from Connecticut and is a Quaker. She first went to Indian Brook and is one of many kids who come several years. I dont think Ill get into agriculture for a career, she says, but its really satisfying to start at one place and pull weeds and then look back and see the whole row really clean! I help a little in my garden at home. I get inspired here. I like to go to the barn and visit the animals in my free time. Coleman Yunger, 17, is from Washington DC. He went to Timberlake for two years, and is now in his second year at Tamarack Farm. He went to a Quaker elementary school and chose to be one 10 years ago. He says: The garden is the best part of camp. I like getting dirty, being down in the mud! I did morning barn chores all last week its tough getting up at 6 to milk the cow and feed the pigs, but I love it. Theres nothing better than the smell of a barn in the morning. It gets you right up! Sarah Armstrong, 16, is from Brooklyn. She went to Saltash Mountain, the wilderness trip camp, before coming to Tamarack Farm. I come from a Jewish background, but Im not very Jewish! When I was first looking at the camps this was the one I wanted, she recalls, but I was only 13 so I couldnt come yet. Ive been waiting to come here. My parents said I could come one more time, so I decided I would go to the farm when I was 16. Its really expensive! Nate, 10, is from Connecticut. He says: Its like really fun. You dont have to do anything, but they encourage you to. This is my second year. You get to take hikes, go swimming, make pottery. Next week we all get to go on a long trip. You cant have a Nintendo here, but you can have a flashlight. At Flying Cloud, you cant even have a flashlight! Ben, 10, is from Maryland. My mother came here as a kid and thought it would be fun for me, he grins. She was right. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 30 by Michelle Huang, grant writer and environmental educator at Common Ground High School The first time I met 15-year-old Mary Holloway, she was delivering a veritable treatise on why one shouldnt eat lettuce. Marys scorn stemmed from the fact that we had to wash several bushels of the vexatious vegetable by hand, a process that required hours of swirling, dunking, sorting, shaking, spinning and bug-flicking while stooped over on upturned 5-gallon bucketsnot the most glamorous task. In her typical good-natured manner, she swore she never wanted to eat much less look at lettuce again. Yet after the lettuce harvest has been safely ended by winter snows, Mary will readily admit that her grumblings were only a guise. Underneath, there lay a deep appreciation for the work. The best part about the garden, Mary says later, is watching the vegetables grow and knowing that you made it happen. You always complain about the work, but its worth it to see the garden grow. A sophomore this year, Mary is one of 135 students at the Common Ground High School, a public charter school in New Haven, Connecticut focused on the environment and post-secondary education. Students at Common Ground earn a conventional high school degree based on a very unconventional educational philosophy shaped by the basic concept of ecology: all living and non-living things on the earth are connected and interdependent, and similarly, life and learning do not exist in separate disciplines. Education at Common Ground is interdisciplinary, experiential, and environmentally-focused. Its little wonder then, that the school is situated on a working farm, where teachers can immerse their students in nature, up-close and personal, through that full-contact sport known as farming. Common Ground is operated by the New Haven Ecology Project (NHEP), a private, non-profit organization founded in 1990 by local educators seeking to offer environmental and ecological education to residents in the greater New Haven, Connecticut area. NHEPs mission is to cultivate habits of healthy living and sustainable environmental practices for a diverse community of children, adults and families. To this end, NHEP operates Common Ground High School and offers environmental education programs for the general public at its 20-acre organic farm and forest site within the city of New Haven. Environmental education programs include after-school, school vacation and Finding Common Ground: Growing People, Plants and Animals at an Urban Farm and School summertime programs for elementary and middle school students, farm and forest tours for visiting groups of all ages, and weekend and evening workshops for adults and children on themes such as organic gardening, sustainable agricul- ture, cooking, medicinal herbs, food preservation, nutrition and animal hus- bandry. The demonstration farm supports a half-acre mixed production garden, as well as chickens, ducks, turkeys, a rabbit, goat, sheep and pigs. Common Ground students are regularly involved in farm operations through school-time, after-school and summertime programs. During Harvest, Egg and Seed, Politics of Growing Food and Site classes, subjects as diverse as biology, ecology, organic farming, math and physics are made real through outdoor work and study sessions in the garden and animal areas. Through our After-School Employment Program and the five-week Summer Youth Crew, students get paid to work in the garden, care for the farm animals, build site photo courtesy Michelle Huang Common Ground junior Fred Berrocales holding Lucky the Duck for last Februarys Science Camp middle schoolers The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 31 development projects, and help sell produce at the farmers market downtown. In addition to these regular opportunities for farm involvement, other opportu- nities always seem to present themselves. Students have done Senior Projects on maple syruping and growing seedlings. Biology classes have conducted experiments with the chickens comparing organic to conventional feed. And every year, it seems, we have some students who fall in love with the farm, coming outside during break time everyday just to hang out with the chickens, pet the sheep or chase bugs in the garden. For the urban high school students at Common Ground, many of whom have had limited contact with natural environments, fresh food and exercise opportu- nities, involvement in the school farm is often a novel, even alien, experience. At the beginning of the school year, it is not unusual to see new students run shrieking from a dragonfly or to hear new students say things like I dont eat things that come from the ground. Some students will resist walking in the garden where their shoes might get dirty, or doing chores where they might break a sweat. On the other hand, many students leap at the opportunity to take a break from the classroom and will happily shovel compost and run wheelbarrows around the garden for hours. Construction projects and tractor driving tend to be the most popular activities, although not exclusively. Junior Daniel Barrett, who worked on the Summer Youth Crew last year, says that he really enjoyed just getting into the rhythm of pulling onions, even in spite of the summer heat and the dirt. And most students will eventually try and even like eating garden produce. Wesley Frasier, a sophomore this year, got the nickname Rabbit because he liked eating straight out of the garden. Its this, he says, that makes him a fan of organic farmingsince washing off pesticides would interfere with his snacking! Many of NHEPs community programs also draw heavily upon the educational opportunities provided by the farm. Farm tours, workshops, and kids pro- grams on themes such as Harvest and Cooking, Food and Fitness, Sheep and Wool and Maple Syruping offer youth and adults the opportunity to witness and participate in farm planting, pruning, harvesting, cooking and animal care. Kids ranging from preschool to senior citizen age have been known to pick vegetables, collect eggs and weed beds at our farm. But it is Common Ground students who typically get to know the farm the best, benefiting from up to four years of academic, vocational and recreational involvement with the farm. The school allows students to witness and partici- pate in agriculture, offering in-depth engagement with the natural worldan experience that is relatively rare for our urban teens. It is also an opportunity that we know is appreciated by our students. When asked about their favorite times on the farm, many students gleefully describe being chased by Lucky the Duck, our famous fowl-tempered friend who tends to get ornery during mating season. Students also find satisfaction through the self-improvement they realize through farm work; in reflecting upon the best thing he gained from the farm, one student wrote Im normally lazy and tired, but my work ethic improved greatly. Perhaps the best, though, is when students express appreciation for the stewardship they practice on the farm, both for the land and for the community. Sophomore Daevon Strickland wrote photo courtesy Michelle Huang Common Ground freshman Troy Robinson harvesting swiss chard in his Site class evaluation last year, I think my biggest contribution was helping to build our school, and care for the animals and gardens. It felt good to know that I was doing this stuff for others and helping them out. At the end of a hard day of toiling in the fields, its this type of appreciation by our students that makes all the farm work worthwhile. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 32 by Matt Feinstein If the movement for community security is making a quilt of diverse fabrics and carefully-stitched threads, youth are good for more than just adding colorful tassels. They can bring vision to the central questions of shape, color, and stitch. Youth and agriculture organizations are substantial contributors to movements working on issues of food security and community security in general. In order to address the question, What is commu- nity security? we need to look at what often makes people feel insecure. Large media conglomerates may force the idea that national security, terrorist attacks, and the unknown Islamic world should be of utmost concern. These are, indeed, grave con- cerns for many who follow their TV sets to the voting booths. But most immediately, and on a day to day basis, the great majority of people in the US experience insecurity in relation to how their community and the economy is treating them. Perhaps true community security is having access to basic needs including food, shelter, and sustainable work in an area that is free of routine violence. The good news is that there are exciting movements dealing with these insecurities and building commu- nity alternatives. The Community Food Security Coalition (www.foodsecurity.org) now has 325 member organizations alone. Some of the fastest growing groups are the youth-led urban farming groups. YouthGROW (Growing and Raising Organics in Worcester) is one of many interesting examples of a sustainable agriculture organization (with a focus on local food systems and environmental justice) led by youth. We began two and a half years ago with an abandoned lot in the struggling Main South neigh- borhood of Worcester, Massachusetts. With a lot of support and inspiration from The Food Project (www.TheFoodProject.org) of the Boston area, we organized a summer program based around organic vegetable production, community organizing, and environmental and social justice. One of the projects YouthGROW has taken on is educating the community around the issue of lead contamination in soil, using plants that pull up the dangerous heavy metal from the ground and out of reach of kids. These scented geraniums, mustard greens, sunflowers and other lead-accumulators make great education tools alongside maps that show how poorer communities of color have an unequal struggle to deal with the lead poisoning problem in their neighborhoods. This is where YouthGROW has overlapped with other groups trying to end environmental racism and other forms of environmental injustice. We are not just resisting bio-terror labs or struggling against toxic contami- nation, we are building healthy neighborhood spaces, organized and empowered resident associa- tions, and the Local Food Systems that best fit our communities. Behind each of these visions and alternatives in action, lies a group of imaginative young people. Not only are youth organizations closely linked nationally through coalitions such as BLAST (Building Local Agricultural Systems Today, www.thefoodproject.org/blast/index.asp) and Rooted In Community (www.lejyouth.org/ localgroups.html), but they are part of global efforts to achieve true community security. One major piece of these efforts is creating a local food system that is part of a movement toward alternative economies. When we harvest tomatoes from the YouthGROW Community Farm and sell it to the ARTichoke Food Cooperative one block away, or bring them to the food pantry down the street, we are contributing to a piece of a local system that will Youth GROWing True Community Security increase the food security of Main South, Worcester, and make healthy, local and sustainably-grown food more accessible to people here. People have been working on similar projects all over the globe for many years. Inspiration from such international work came here, for example, at an Encuentro held in Worcester, MA in November 2004. Women from Unemployed Workers Move- ments in Argentina shared stories with YouthGROW members, food justice activists from Maine, Native Americans from near Montreal, and many others. As we continue our local work while building these transnational links, a major challenge we face is how to form relationships that are truly horizontal, that do not replicate the hierarchies and dominations of current social institutions. Essential to this challenge is creating the space for the young people to be full and equal participants. Invitation to participate: There are lots of exciting ways to plug into the Youth and Agriculture and Community Security Movements! Heres where you can get information on a few of them: YouthGROW/UGROW, a program of the Regional Environmental Council of Central Mass: http:// www.RECworcester.org 508-799-9139, education@recworcester.org (YouthGROW is looking for a summer mentor intern!) BLAST Network, a project of The Food Project: http://www.TheFoodProject.org 617-442-1322, blast-membership@thefoodproject.org Worcester Global Action Network, contact WoGAN to help you find a Global Justice / Community Security group in your area! http:// www.WoGAN.org 508-335-7783, info@wogan.org photo courtesy YouthGROW Down N Dirty: The core group and staff of YouthGROW Summer 2004, a youth program based at a 1 acre urban farm in Worcester, Mass. photo courtesy YouthGROW With food grown at the YouthGROW Community Farm, Damian Albino cooks up a storm at neighboring One Love Caf with the guidance of restaurant owner/chef, Venice Fouchard. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 33 Buck, a lifelong resident of this small rural town, is a graphic artist whose illustration captures the connection we share, Celebrating our Bond with the Earth and Each Other, as Bucks theme indicates. A young man full of wonderful surprises and hidden talents, Buck drew his logo submission while hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail last month. Hes a member of the Summer Conference committee and most of you have probably seen him manning the NOFA Nibbles tent during the Summer Conference with his brother, Phil Buck. (continued from page 1) The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 34 Becoming a Biodynamic Farmer or Gardener: A Handbook for Prospective Trainees written and compiled by Malcolm and Susan Gardner published by the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Assoc. 25844 Butler Rd., Junction City, OR 97448 $19.95 plus $6.50 for shipping and handling 95 pages including appendices reviewed by Jack Kittredge This handbook is specifically for biodynamic opera- tions, and envisions an ideal training of up to 4 years to thoroughly learn the subject. But a number of the ideas are also useful for other types of sustainable farms. The handbook starts off surveying the training options, college-style and apprenticeships. After a quick discussion of the options, the reader is referred to a 20-some page appendix which gives dozens of detailed descriptions of both, plus contact informa- tion. The second section is on developing ones own curriculum and discusses existing examples of both college-style and apprenticeship ones. Again, an appendix gives numerous skills checklists (animal husbandry, plant growing, biodynamic preparation production and application, machinery, construction, management, etc.) to help the trainee assess the comprehensiveness of the curriculum. The third and fourth sections focus on arranging an internship or apprenticeship, and then making the most of it. They give good general advice about thinking through the whole experience, matching needs and expectations, getting things in writing, and learning how to handle conflicts. These points are bolstered by appendices defending old fashioned training, giving sample agreements and contracts, and suggesting guidelines on conflict resolution, keeping a farm journal, and handling farm safety and first aid. Altogether this is a comprehensive handbook which would serve either apprentices or mentors well. That Distant Land: The Collected Stories by Wendell Berry published by Shoemaker & Hoard (www.shoemakerhoard.com) 2004 $26.00 hardback 440 pages review by Carolyn Llewellyn Wendell Berrys stories illuminate much that has been lost to rapid change (progress) in American life, yet show still how the faults and foibles of our kind remain doggedly unchanged from generation to generation. The residents of Port William, Kentucky will be familiar to many readers from tales published over the last three decades. For the first time all of Berrys Port William stories have been collected and presented in historical order in the new collection, That Distant Land. (The novels are not included, though they are noted in the table of contents accord- ing to chronology). A map of the town and its surrounds as well as a family tree help the reader keep track of the families, farms, and lives that are so seamlessly intertwined. The theme of humankinds deep connection to the earth is illustrated again and again through narrators of varying age, gender, and approach. The passage of time from mid-nineteenth into late twentieth century is expressed by people and their situations, as well as the land and its struggles and triumphs. As the stories progress through the twentieth century, we follow generations of interconnected families whom Berry repeatedly refers to as a membership, emphasizing the local economy which he reveals so beautifully. Several stories in this collection deal with persons of the membership growing old and passing from this world. Berry, an octogenarian himself, brings the reader inside the mind of Mat Feltner, an old man who leaves his farmhouse one morning to check on a fence, and is found crawling home in the evening, Book Reviews conversing with sons and friends long departed. Fidelity, the next-to-last story, describes a son who rescues (or kidnaps) his father from a hospital so he may die in peace and dignity in the woods where he hunted all of his life. The final story, The Inheritors, describes a young man riding with an old man home, to the farm from the city, going the wrong way on a busy, dangerous road. These stories are bittersweet, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching too. They get at so many of the issues we NOFA-types hold dear without preach- ing or judging; for this reason I think this book makes an excellent gift to those who might not be inclined to read The Natural Farmer. My ninety- four year old grandmother loves these stories. That Distant Land is a great introduction to Berrys writing for those unfamiliar with his works, and an inspiring read for the rest of us. Timber Framing for the Rest of Us by Rob Roy. published by New Society Publishers P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC VOR IXO, Canada 1(800) 567- 6772. US$22.95 / Can$27.95 138 pages. review by Abby Morgan Timber Framing for the Rest of Us is a compre- hensive introduction to timber framing methods using metal fasteners and screws instead of the traditional methods of wooden joinery. With 27 years of timber framing experience behind him, Rob Roy takes the reader from the basic physics of building, to installing posts and girders. He starts off by giving a brief comparison of timber framing verses other more common construction styles such as Standard Stud Construction and then reviews structural considerations such as load, bending, compression and tension. Chapter 1 also talks about building codes and the importance of doing things right the first time to avoid a heavy slap from the building inspector. Roy dedicates chapter 3 to finding the right timbers for your project, finding them cheaply and how to properly cure them before construction. He suggests scavenging for old timbers, but beware of local building codes that can inhibit the use of old, however strong, timbers. For procuring fresh timers a wide range of options are mentioned, such as hiring a portable sawmill to cut from your own property, to going to your local sawyer and purchas- ing them. He provides descriptions of different species of hardwoods and softwoods that are com- monly used for timber framing. He mentions where and how different types of wood should or should not be used, based on strength, odor, rot-resistance or shrinkage. Chapter 4 goes into the actual building techniques, starting with the foundation, and on up to roofing. He includes a photo essay of a beautiful timber frame home built in Washington State by a former student. The pictures of the different stages of progress are very helpful and compliment the technique descriptions well. I found myself refer- ring to pictures and diagrams (of which there are many thank goodness!) while reading chapter 4. I later discovered a thorough glossary in the back that would have been very helpful! I suggest future readers of this book to find it and use it! Chapter 5 is a case study of building the sunroom addition that Rob Roy and his family added to their timber frame cordwood home, Earthwood, located in upstate New York. Again, pictures and diagrams are plentiful and helpful. Knowing this project was to be included in a book, Roy uses a wide variety of techniques previously outlined in chapter 4. This gives the reader an example of options and how to use common sense and creative license to accom- plish what you want. A little treat at the end is step-by-step instruction on building an earth roof; something that can be easily supported by the strength of a timber framed building and is a fun, creative and inexpensive way to top your hand-built structure! Finally, Rob Roy includes about 20 pages of appendices covering span tables, stress load calculation for beams, and a list of resources to help you plan and build your timber frame structure. Timber Framing for the Rest of Us is a helpful introduction to the world of timber framing and construction in general, but should definitely be used alongside some practical experience and further reading and research. This book is very readable for the inexperienced and provides a healthy amount of tables, diagrams, pictures and resources with which to move forward. Rob Roy offers a strong and durable alternative to building a timber framed home without needing the advanced carpentry skills required for traditional timber framing. The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking and Living with Pasture-Raised Foods by Shannon Hayes published September, 2004 by Eating Fresh Publica- tions, 16 Seminary Avenue, Hopewell, NJ 08525, 609-466-1700, Fax: 609-466-8892, e-mail: rickard@eatingfresh.com 288 Pages $22.95 review by Richard Murphy It was a one of those beautiful fall New England days that almost demand to be put on a postcard, leaves appropriately turning, the unique round barn in sight. We were at the New England Heritage Breeds Conservanys annual Exhibition and Sale at Hancock Shaker Village. This is the place to be if you are interested in preserving biodiversity or you just like to see some beautiful animals. I wish to do both and a bit more. To be realistic, if what are now considered minor breeds and were once major breeds are to survive, just being pretty will not do. Such animals either have to work, provide clothing (wool, hides), produce food (milk, eggs, etc.) or become food. Browsing the exhibits, my nose picked up the aroma of beef on a skillet. A chef associated with the 500 Farms beef producing coop was giving samples from member farms. Representing NOFA that day, I struck up a conversation. While talking my eye strayed to a handsome paperbound volume and when there was a lull in the conversation, I picked up the book and thumbed through it. I quickly realized this was a book that needed to be reviewed, if only for selfish reasons. Weve been raising our own beef (from Devon/ Angus crosses to auction orphans) for over 10 years with mixed results. The standard we have adhered to has been grass and forage and organic grain only when necessary after weaning. It is inthis spirit that I am always looking for tips and help and recipes specifically for the grassfed animal. Thus my excitement when I saw that copy of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook. When the review copy came, I realized it was not just a cookbook. Shannon Hayes, the author, wants to tell you why she wrote the book and why you should read it, and though, in my case, she was preaching to the converted, she acquitted herself well. Chapter One is entitled Grass-fed 101. Here is a primer on what grass fed is and why it is good. She also writes about the method. This is where she changed my life (well, if not my life, at least method of preparing meat.) On page 5 Shannon gives us basic principle number 1. Put away your timer, get a good meat thermometer, and be prepared to use it. To my mind, this is the big one. Of course, after you throw out the timer, you have to get a good meat thermometer and what is that? I feel sorry for our carnivorous ancestors who had to eat all that grass fed meat without benefit of the right high tech device. Actually, at first, I felt sorry The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 35 for myself, for no one of my advanced years hates to face learning how to use a technology more than moi. The instrument she recommends is a little more involved than the old thermometer you stuck in a turkey at Thanksgiving. This appliance has a long probe that goes deep into the cut of meat. From the probe a long wire goes out the door of the stove to a read out. The trick is to get the meat to the correct temperature, regardless of the time. The important thing is that it works. At least it worked for us using our gas stove. One small caveat; your individual stove and/or thermometer may be idio- syncratic and you may have to adjust for that. Also, we do not have a scale so we estimated the weight of cuts. Of course, NOFA members know that raising local organic food is really more art than science. That is the great appeal of it all. There are many other aspects of this book that are appealing. There are the practical guides that are tables at the end of each section detailing the common cuts of beef and their ideal cooking methods. There is the chapter on finding and working with your farmer. She gives cutting suggestions for the different animals. I can vouch for the different rubs (a mixture of herbs and spices applied directly to the meat as a dry marinade) which we tried. If that were not enough, there are several vignettes of farms and farmers and their stories that others will find pleasant enough, but those of us trying to do the same thing might find lyrical. Shannon Hayes work is not an entirely new direc- tion. She is giving us a different way to prepare meat, but she is also building on the work of others. Indeed, she cites the work of both Sally Fallon and Jo Robinson. Ill be getting a lot of use out of this book. Heck, Im just on the beef section. There is pork, lamb, poultry and even desserts. This Common Ground: Seasons on an Or- ganic Farm by Scott Chaskey published by Viking Press, 2005 $23.95 paperback, 199 pages by Chad Skinner This Common Ground written by Scott Chaskey is set on Quail Hill farm on Long Islands South Fork in the town of Amagansett. Established in 1990 through the Peconic Land Trust the farm consists of some 25 acres. While on an extended visit to the states from Cornwall where Chaskey had made his home Scott was invited to a meeting of the land trust. Through a twist of fate Scott was asked to manage Quail Hill Farm, and returned to the States to his new home on Long Islands South Fork. Scott brought with him knowledge imparted to him from an elderly Cornish farmer, his family, and a poets eye for nature. Based on a series of farm newsletters arranged by season Chaskey shares his experience of working the farm, being an educator, and the responsibility he feels as a steward of the land. We are as likely to read of the intricacies of raising garlic as we are to share the admiration for a skilled welder who can repair farm equipment. Chasky strives to strike a balance between native plants and wildlife, and the necessities for producing Organic vegetables on the scale of Quail Hill Farm. A consummate believer in the need for cover crops and allowing fields to lay fallow, Chasky also believes that plowing is an important part of making the soils nutrients avail- able. In addition to the land, Chasky has built a relationship with the community through CSA, local restaurants, and the education center located on Quail Hill Farm. I enjoyed this book. In particular I enjoyed Scotts willingness to share his philosophy, and what makes the Organic movement so important. Through Scotts writing style I found myself transported to the various places that he describes. From Cornwall, to Long Island, and Montana, all in a beautiful water color style. A very good winter read Common Ground brought renewed enthusiasm for the coming seasons. You Are, Therefore I Am, A Declaration of Dependence by Satish Kumar Published by Green Books, 2002, $13.60 paperback, 183 pages Text Printed by MPG Books Ltd, Bodman, Cornwall England reviewed by Julie Rawson When we decided to invite Satish Kumar as our keynoter for the 2005 NOFA Summer Conference I went on-line to learn more about him. Honestly, I had never heard of him and thought that I should educate myself. I was attracted by a write up for his latest book, You Are, Therefore I Am. The title itself spoke of a thoughtfulness about life and how we relate to one another that is not popular in our more me-oriented culture. By happenstance, Jack and I were going to India this winter, Satishs home country, so I took the book along. I had started it before we left, but didnt read much until the 38 hour trip home. With a recent trip to India under my belt I was doubly impacted by this book that refers throughout to places and people in India, many of which I had just seen first hand. We are products of our culture this was driven home to me by our trip, and I understood more painfully while reading this book how our dominant American culture has from the start been one of aggression, accumulation, individualism and waste. Kumar takes us on a personal tour through his life and personal evolution by way of important and influential mentors, teachers, national Indian leaders and associates. At the same time historical about great Indian spiritual and political leaders, this book stays grounded in his personal reality, keeping it easily readable and accessible to people like myself who struggle with abstract thought. Through Kumars eyes we first meet his mom, who grounds us very thoroughly in the Indian agricul- tural tradition of the Jain people (followers of Mahavir who gave up all worldly possessions and founded this most non-violent religion) in the 1930s. This book is worth the cover price for the quotes alone. Here are a few from Kumars mother: individuality and wholeness are complementary, not contradictorySouls render service to one another and thus find salvation Have you sweated today? Next we hear from Gopalji, his teacher, who offered these words on peace. It may not be so easy to see the connection between spiritual peace and political peace, between inner peace and world peace, but these two aspects are inseparable, totally interlinked. Personal, political, and planetary peace are to be pursued together From age 9-18 Satish lived as a Jain monk giving up almost all world possessions and studied under gurudev Tulsi. Here is a quote from Tulsi on dharma practice. By living a life of compassion (dharma) we prevent the inflow of karma. We need not engage in any action in order to live in accordance with dharma. We only need to restrain from damag- ing action. Dharma is to be good rather than do good. This journey from doing to being is a sublime journey, a subtle journey.. A turning point came in the authors life when he read the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi and he realized that he needed to be acting more in the world. He left the monastery and upon returning home to his mother learned that he was not welcome to live there as he had broken his vow to live as a Jain monk for his entire life. In 1957 Kumar traveled to the south of India to Kerala (from his homeland in Rajasthan) to walk with Vinoba Bhave. In his lifetime Vinoba walked the length and breadth of India and collected 4 million acres of land as donations from landlords, which were distributed amongst the landless poor. I have selected some quotes that were meaningful to me: Give up the desire for the fruit of your action. When you give up your personal gain you will enjoy universal gains.When performed with love, action becomes its own reward.We need not expect recognition for acting according to our own nature. .. . We cannot give up action..All we can give up is the desire for an outcome.Through work we express ourselves. . . . .It is the desire to impress others, desire for recognition, for fame and fortune, which makes work ugly. Satish Kumar recounts his walk around the world for peace in his autobiography No Destination and therefore doesnt go into detail in this book. He touches in this book, however, on a visit with J Krishnamurti, who emphasized freedom. Said he, we have to abandon religious dogma and nourish the spirit. A visit with Bertrand Russell, anti-nuclear activist left him dissatisfied with Russells advocacy of an aggressive approach to changing governments use of nuclear weapons. Here I quote what I feel is the main theme of Kumars thesis for this book; I was anxious to put forth a Gandhian perspective to Russell. Maybe if people were at peace with them- selves and were prepared to live a simpler life which did not require an unlimited supply of the worlds resources, there would be no need to build bombs, there would be nothing to fight over. If people did not join the armed forces, there would be no army, and if people practiced right livelihood, no one would be there to work in the armaments factories. The politics of peace has to go hand in hand with the economics of peace and a culture of peace. Kumar met with Martin Luther King in 1965. Here are quotes from MLK that struck me: ..as he warned An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. So instead of an arms race I urge countries to engage in a peace race. Let all nations compete with each other in inventing better, faster and more efficient means of making peace True peace is not merely the absence of war. It is the presence of justice, equity, and a non-violent social order. Non- violence is a moral force which can transform individuals and societies and bring peace. Only a strong and brave person can break the chain of hate Justice will produce order, not the other way around The last important person that Kumar introduces to us is Fritz Schumacher, the champion of small is beautiful. He held the ideal of a holistic, decentral- ized and local economy. Here are some Schumacher thoughts paraphrased by Kumarwe were who we were, human beings, not human havings; the real needs of human beings are limited but their greed and wants are unlimited; affluence is the problem and poverty is the solution. The last section of the book relates a trip that Satish Kumar took to India with his family in 2000 where he visited a number of inspirational people and institutions that are active today in India. As we had just seen some of these places, I found this section incredibly interesting. One of the many things that I gained from this book is the immense and long sense of history that the Indian experience encompasses. As an American of northern European background I have had no real cultural identity except that of American which is rather historically short. As Americans we have the challenge to learn about the incredible history that the world offers us and synthesize the lessons that have been being learned for millennia. From my perspective, non-violence is a way of life for the average Indian. With more than a billion residents, it was my perception that these people have learned how to live with one another in a mutually depen- dent fashion. TV and globalization are really threatening this culture and rapid change is coming, much to the chagrin of many people that we talked to while there. But underlying I detected a national culture of peace and trust that we would be wise to learn from. You Are, Therefore I Am is a good read, whether you go to India or not. I for one am excitedly looking forward to the keynote at the 2005 NOFA Summer Conference where Satish Kumar will share with us his thoughts on non-violence, sustainability and the culture of peace that we all would be wise to foster. The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 36 by Elizabeth Henderson and Camilla Roberts Over the past two years, the NOFA Interstate Council has gone through a strategic planning process and is reinvigorating its committee structure in the hopes of offering members more ways to participate. Camilla Roberts of Vermont has joined Elizabeth in launching the NOFA Interstate Policy Committee. To make this work, we need more of you NOFA folks to join in. There are many openings on the NOFA IC Policy committee! We would like to have at least 2 people from each state chapter. If you would like to strengthen NOFAs voice in the policy arena, please contact Elizabeth Henderson (ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com) or Camilla Roberts (camil@sover.net). On our immediate agenda, besides continuing to keep an eye on the National Organic Program (NOP), are: Developing a NOFA position on pasture for livestock: This issue will be hot during the winter season because the NOP still does not have a clear policy on access to the outdoors, the National Organic Standards Board has an excellent set of recommendations, Massachu- setts Independent Certifiers Inc. is taking the NOP to court on chicken access, and the Cornecopia Institute has called for an investiga- tion of the Horizon and Aurora dairy farms for their failure to pasture cows in the milking stage. Developing a NOFA position on synthetics in organic processed foods and in livestock feed and feed additives: Maine blueberry grower Arthur Harvey has taken USDA to court over this issue. Should the court find in his favor, manufacturers of organic processed foods will want to reopen the organic legislation and fix it. This is our chance to say what synthetics and processes we think are appropriate for foods labeled organic. Facilitating the spread of legislation against GMOs in NE states: Vermont has passed legislation requiring the labeling of GMO seed, a good first step, and is working on legislation making GMO manufacturers liable for any contamination. See www.gefreevt.org for the wording. We are sending a letter to UC Berke- ley denouncing the firing of Dr. Chapela because of his work on GMOs. Facilitating participation in the northeast region in the creation of a grassroots National Organic Action Plan. As one of the oldest organic organizations in the US, NOFA is an important voice in public discus- sions of agricultural and environmental policy. Farming, trade and environmental groups turn to NOFA for support on all kinds of issues related to organic agriculture, nutrition, farm work, food safety, community food security and food sover- eignty. Sometimes NOFA, either as an Interstate federation or as separate chapters, signs on to the action alerts of others; sometimes NOFA enters the fray by sending out our own position statements. For example, last year NOFA sent a statement to support rigorous environmental impact standards for GMOs to the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service. Since 1989, Elizabeth Henderson has been representing the NOFAs on the national scene in the discussions and debates over the national organic legislation, and since 1997, she has co-chaired the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture Support a Public Voice for NOFA Organic Committee (NCSA-OC) together with Michael Sligh of the Rural Advancement Founda- tion International (RAFI). Recently, Karen Ander- son, Executive Director of NOFA-NJ, has joined the NCSA-OC steering committee. This is how we propose to work. As a filter for deciding which issues to take on, the Interstate Council (IC) has approved a draft set of principles of organic agriculture. If an issue fits clearly within these principles, the NOFA Interstate Policy Com- mittee can swing into action immediately without consulting the IC. An example would be signing onto an action alert in support of the MICI suit against USDA over chicken access to the outdoors. (To provide humane living conditions that allow animals to express their basic innate behavior.) However, if a new issue arises or an issue does not follow obviously from the principles, we have created a process map to guide our choice of actions. If the issue is time sensitive, we put the question of NOFA action before the IC Executive Policy Committee, which has one representative for each chapter. The initial committee members are: Bill Duesing, Camilla Roberts, Larry Pletcher, Karen Anderson, Elizabeth Henderson, Fritz Vohr, and Jonathan von Ransom. The entire IC will then review positions taken by the Executive Policy Committee. If there is no rush, we put the question to the governing councils of all of the chapters. Our goal is not to produce a NOFA party line. We will probably never take positions on many issues, such as gun control, abortion rights or the endorsement of particular candidates for office. Within NOFA we agree to agree on a limited set of values and issues. Here is the first attempt at a draft of Principles. We took the 2002 Basic Principles from the Interna- tional Federation of Organic Agricultural Move- ments (IFOAM) and revised them. Kim Stoner has pointed out that in our revising we left out a crucial concept health, so a next edition is already under way. Please feel free to submit your suggestions! Policy statements and activities arising from issues and concerns of the collective seven NOFA chapters will be in support of at least one of the following principles: 1. To produce food, fiber and care for land with methods that are compatible with natural cycles and living systems of the soil, plants, and animals in the entire production system. 2. To maintain long term fertility and biologi- cal activity of soils using locally adapted cultural, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to reliance on chemical inputs. 3. To promote the responsible use and conser- vation of water and all life therein. 4. To encourage agricultural diversity on actively managed land, and to maintain and encourage biodiversity and wildlife habitats in the surrounding ecosystem through the use of sustainable production methods. 5. To use, as far as possible, renewable resources in production and processing, avoiding pollution and excessive waste. 6. To create a harmonious balance between animal and crop production. 7. To provide humane living conditions that allow animals to express their basic innate behavior. 8. To foster local and regional production and distribution so that communities, regions and nations can achieve food security and food sovereignty. 9. To recognize the social impact of production practices and to honor those that are humane, economically just and environmentally sensitive. 10. To provide everyone, women and men, involved in the food production, processing, and distribution system the means for a basically safe, secure, and healthy working environment and satisfying quality of life. This requires prices for farm products that cover the cost of production; fair, negotiated, long-term contracts throughout the food supply chain; and dignified work with living wages for all food system workers. 11. To honor and protect indigenous knowl- edge. While NOFA has been revising the IFOAM Basic Principles, IFOAM has been at it as well. An international task force of 40 people has been discussing a series of drafts for over a year in preparation for the World Assembly in Adelaide, Australia in September 2005. You can read the entire discussion and the drafts on the IFOAM website: www.ifoam.org. The current draft reduces the principles to four broad statements of values and includes concise and eloquent explanations on how to understand them. These are the four basic principles: 1. Principle of Health: Organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal and human as one and indivisible. 2. Ecological Principle: Organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and sustain them. 3. Principles of Fairness: Organic agriculture should be built upon relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportu- nities. 4. Principle of Care: Organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment. Please send your comments, criticisms, and sugges- tions to Elizabeth Henderson (ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com). It has been my honor to participate in the task force and I will make sure your voices are heard. I also hope to attend the Adelaide World Assembly in person, if sufficient funding of $3,000 can be raised. To support the NOFA Policy Committee work, $5,000 is needed. Please contribute whatever funds you can afford to pay for our travel, time, and supplies! All contributions will be gratefully ac- cepted! Contributions can be sent to: NOFA-IC, c/o Torrey Reade (neptune@waterw.com) 723 Hammersville-Canton Rd., Salem, NJ 08079 The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 37 First Betsy Award Goes to Michael Phillips, Organic Orchardist and Author New York, NY, November 10, 2004: In celebration of the life and work of Betsy Lydon, who devoted herself to sustaining small scale food producers by encouraging local, seasonal eating and an apprecia- tion for diversified farming, the first annual Betsy Lydon Slow Food Ark USA Award was presented last night at the Savoy Restaurant, to Michael Phillips, a farmer and author based in the Northern White Mountains of New Hampshire. Michael Phillips grows a wide array of vegetables and medicinal herbs but his passion is in organic apples. Id love to be growing more apples, but recognize that the orchard can only be a part of our farms market mix in sparsely populated northern New Hampshire, notes Michael. Our livelihood goes in many directions, all of which takes time and focus. A passion for apples holds only so much economic promise for those of us in this commu- nity. Two and-a-half acres of young trees supplies a community of shareholders with both dessert and juice fruit. Michael grew up in a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania, and despite extended family roots in farming, he obtained a civil engineering degree from Penn State. A ten-month career in the Wash- ington D.C. area-and watching the sun rise in four lane bumper-to-bumper traffic-was enough to convince him to retire and seek an alternative path. Years were spent volunteering at a home for abandoned children in New Hampshire, where he was to plant his first apple tree and meet Nancy. The farm and a life connection to the apple tree followed from there. Michaels book, The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist, was published by Chelsea Green in 1998. Michael teamed up with his wife Nancy to write The Village Herbalist: Sharing Plant Medicines with Family and Community, published in late 2001. This couple teaches about organic apple growing, herbal healing and self- reliant living at farm conferences throughout the country, with even their nine-year-old daughter Gracie leading herb walks. The real question in all this says Michael, isnt so much How big can I become? but rather How can community-based orchards succeed every- where? Artisanal ciders and freshly-picked apples that reflect regional heritage have become niche markets for smaller growers, and to that I can only lift my cup up high and give three cheers! The Betsy, which includes a small cash award, will be presented annually by the Slow Food Ark USA Project, a program dedicated to saving an economic, social and cultural heritage - a universe of endan- gered foods and tastes including animal breeds, fruit and vegetables, cured meats, cheese, cereals, pastas, cakes and confectionery. Contributions to the Betsy Lydon Slow Food Ark USA Award are welcome year round, and can be sent to Slow Food USA, 20 Jay Street, No. 313, Brooklyn, NY 11201, made by calling 718-260-8000 or via the web, at www.slowfoodusa.org. by Tom Stock A chicken wire fence hangs between posts in the garden laden with cascades of light green, viney foliage. I remember planting day. I used my index finger to poke shallow holes in the soil near the fence. Id drop in sugar snap pea seeds, watch them tumble in, green against brown. Id wait two weeks and finally see the sprouts and long for the day when I could harvest sugar snap peas. This yearly early spring ritual is my way to shrug- ging off the long, hard winter months. I can finally touch the soil and watch it grow. I can finally go out each morning and break off food, crunch it in my teeth, and taste the satisfaction and magic of snow peas. I always miss some peas when I pick. Some of them hide behind their leaves. The best way to find peas is not to have a container when you pick. Just go out and start looking. Ive found other techniques as well so that I dont miss any pea pods. GOD FOR- BID, this has become an obsession. As a naturalist, I take pride in having good powers of observation. I can spot small things, birds, insects, hidden flowers. Another technique to find all the peas is to be doing something else near the pea vines, like weeding, and just look at the vines from different angles, with oblique glances through the textures of cascading green. Cool nights this summer have extended the pea season. Hot weather slows growth. I write this near the end of the pea season with remorse. Its almost time to pull the vines and add them to the compost pile, a sure way to find a few pods Ive missed. Picking peas at different times during the day also reveals missed pods. Backlighting uncovers pods that are otherwise washed out in bright sunlight. Using different picking strategies has taught me a valuable lesson. Approach a problem from different angles, front, sideways, and from the rear. Pea pods that are hiding on one side of the vine may be in full view on the other side. Ive learned to slow down and approach the problem from different points of view. A woman named Rose told me her pea story. She had a miscarriage. A friend told her to look at pea pods. Some pods have peas, fully developed. Some dont, the seed never developed fully because the sperm never reached the egg or for some other mysterious botanical reason. This helped her healing process. As she shelled peas, she saw some pods without peas. The pea pods helped her to grieve the loss of her baby and reminded her that life does not always reach its full development. Meditation on Peapods Flat, green pods, fresh, new tender ones, with dried flower petals still attached; old pods with bulges lined up with pea seeds inside; mature ones that snap and taste of sugar; dangling; some hidden, camouflaged. Peas wait for me to revel in morning dawn, misty wet grass, bird song. I push vines gently, searching for those hidden ones lurking in their green mysterious places as tendrils cling to chicken wired support amid soft leaves and tender, pale green vines. I am Jack in the Pea stalks, climb- ing to heaventhis paradise, right here in my back yard. The Magic of Peas by Jonathan von Ranson The NOFA Interstate Council has just completed a major undertaking: publication of its ten handbooks on successful organic farming practices in the Northeast. The NOFA Organic Principles and Practices Handbook Series is now available for purchase, as a set or as individual books, singly or in bulk. A project committee hired talented organic farmer/ writers to write the handy, 60-110-page books, a concept that distinguishes the manuals and gives them a coherent, savvy perspective and approach. The committee reached deeper into the organic community to find farmers and scientists with specialties relevant to the subject to give the books pre-publication review. This assures that each topic got up-to-date experience and research. Included in the volumes are tables, references and, often, farm profiles. The books are fully indexed. Funding came from the Interstate Council, NOFA/ Mass and SARE. The series was illustrated by Jocelyn Langer and coordinated and edited by Jonathan von Ranson with the help of a committee of longtime farmers and leaders in NOFA: Bill Duesing, Julie Rawson, Liz Henderson and Steve Gilman. Books are $7.95 each. To order, go to NOFA and the book ordering page at www.nofa.org or contact Elaine Peterson, info@nofamass.org or 978 355- 2853. Straight Talk from The Ones on Farming Organically and Successfully in the Northeast [Bulk ordering information: $4.50 per book (mini- mum 6 books of any title), $3.50 order fee plus 30 per book postage. To request review copies, contact Jonathan at commonfarm@crocker.com or 978 544- 3758.] Here are the handbooks in the series: Vegetable Crop Health: Helping Nature Control Diseases and Pests Organically by Brian Caldwell Whole Farm Planning: Ecological Imperatives, Personal Values and Economics by Elizabeth Henderson and Karl North Compost, Vermicompost and Compost Tea: Feeding the Soil on the Organic Farm by Gracce Gershuny Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping: Soil Resiliency and Health by Seth Kroek Marketing and Community Relations: the Organic Farmers Guide by Rebecca Bosch Humane and Healthy Poultry Production: a Manual for Organic Growers by Karma Glos Organic Dairy Production by Sarah Flack Organic Seed Production and Saving: the Wisdom of Plant Heritage by Bryan Connolly Organic Weed Management by Steve Gilman Organic Soil Fertility Management by Steve Gilman The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 Office Manager: Mayra Richter, PO Box 880, Cobleskill, NY 12043-0880, (518) 734-5495, fax: (518) 734-4641, office@nofany.org NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905, (607) 724- 9851, fax: (607) 724-9853, certifiedorganic@nofany.org Farm Education Coordinator: Brian Caldwell, Hemlock Grove Farm, 180 Walding Ln, Spen- cer, NY 14883-9609, (607) 564-1060, education@nofany.org Public Seed Initiative Project Coordinator: Michael Glos, Kingbird Farm, 9398 West Creek Rd, Berkshire, NY 13736-1329, (607) 657- 2860, michaelglos@nofany.org, Website: www.nofany.org Rhode Island President: Fritz Vohr, In the Woods Farm, 51 Edwards Lane, Charlestown, RI 02813 (401) 364-0050, fritzvohr1@verizon.net Vice-President: Isabel Barten, 69 Lenox Ave., Providence, RI 02907, (401) 941-8684 Secretary: Jeanne Chapman, 25 Yates Ave., Coventry, RI 02816 (401) 828-3229, alfalfac@mindspring.com NOFA/RI : 51 Edwards Lane, Charlestown, RI 02813, Fax (401) 364-1699, nofari@ids.net, www.nofari.org Vermont NOFA-VT Office, P. O. Box 697, Bridge St., Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-4122, Fax: (802) 434-4154, website: www.nofavt.org, info@nofavt.org Executive Director: Enid Wonnacott, elila@sover.net NOFA Financial Manager: Kirsten Novak Bower, kbower@gmavt.net Winter Conference & Summer Workshops Coordinator: Olga Boshart, oboshart@hotmail.com VOF Certification Administrator & Technical Assistance Coordinator: John Cleary, vof@nofavt.org VOF Certification Assistant: Nicole Dehne, nicdehne@hotmail.com NODPA Coordinator: Sarah Flack, sarahf@globalnetisp.net Dairy and Livestock Advisor: Nat Bacon, nsbacon@yahoo.net Dairy and Livestock Advisor: Lisa McCrory, lmccrory@together.net Office Manager: Kim Cleary, info@nofavt.org Ag Education & VT FEED Coordinator: Abbie Nelson, abbienelson@aol.com NOFA Interstate Council * indicates voting representative * Bill Duesing, Staff, Box 135, Stevenson, CT, 06491, (203) 888-5146, fax, (203) 888- 9280, bduesing@cs.com Kimberly A. Stoner, 498 Oak Ave. #27, Cheshire, CT 06410-3021, (203) 271-1732 (home), Email: kastoner@juno.com * Tom Johnson, Whole Foods Liaison, 87 Wells Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773 (781) 259-0070, silferleaf@cs.com * Mary Blake, P O Box 52 Charlton Depot, MA 01509 (508)-248-5496 email: blakem_2001@msn.com * Larry Pletcher, PO Box 204, Warner, NH 03278, (603) 456-3121, lpletcher@conknet.com Elizabeth Obelenus, 22 Keyser Road, Meredith. NH 03253, (603) 279-6146, nofanh@innevi.com 38 Connecticut CT NOFA Office: P O Box 386, Northford, CT 06472, phone (203) 888-5146, FAX (203) 888- 9280, Email: ctnofa@ctnofa.org, website: www.ctnofa.org President: Peter Rothenberg, 53 Lanes Pond Rd., Northford, CT 06472-1125 (203) 484-9570 (home), Northfordy@aol.com Vice President: Kimberly A. Stoner, 498 Oak Ave. #27, Cheshire, CT 06410-3021, (203) 271- 1732 (home), Email: kastoner@juno.com Treasurer: Ron Capozzi, 69R Meetinghouse Hill Rd., Durham, CT 06422-2808, (860) 349- 1417, ronsraspberries@hotmail.com Secretary: Mary Tyrrell, 124 Mather St. Hamden, CT 06517, (203) 287-0368, Email: mary.tyrrell@yale.edu Newsletter: Rob Durgy, P.O. Box 17, Chaplin CT 06235-0288, (860) 455-0881, Email: RDurgy@uconn.edu Executive Coordinator: Bill Duesing, Box 135, Stevenson, CT, 06491, (203) 888-5146, fax, (203) 888- 9280, bduesing@cs.com Massachusetts President: Frank Albani Jr., 17 Vinal Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360, (508) 224-3088, email: plymouthrockmusic@msn.com Vice President: Sharon Gensler, 87b Bullard Pasture Rd. Wendell, MA 01379, (978) 544- 6347, email: wildbrowse@yahoo.com Secretary: Leslie Chaison, 84 Lockes Village Rd. Wendell, MA 01379, (978) 544-2590, email: lesliechaison@hotmail.com Treasurer and Executive Coordinator: Julie Rawson, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, Fax: (978) 355-4046, Email: Julie@nofamass.org Administrative Assistant/Fiscal Manager: Elaine M. Peterson, 411 Sheldon Rd, Barre, MA 01005 (Tuesdays & Fridays, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm), email: info@nofamass.org Webmaster: Paul Kittredge, 1884 Columbia Rd. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009, (202) 667-3425, paul@asarya.com Baystate Organic Certifiers Administrator: Don Franczyk, 683 River St., Winchendon, MA 01475, (978) 297- 4171, Email: dfranczyk@starpower.net Extension Educator: Ed Stockman, 131 Summit St. Plainfield, MA 01070, (413) 634- 5024, stockman@bcn.net Newsletter Editor: Jonathan von Ranson, 6 Lockes Village Rd., Wendell, MA 01379, (978) 544-3758, Email: Commonfarm@crocker.com Website: www.nofamass.org Email: nofa@nofamass.org New Hampshire President: Larry Pletcher, PO Box 204, Warner, NH 03278, (603) 456-3121 lpletcher@conknet.com Vice President: Essie Hull, 115 Baptist Rd. Canterbury, NH 03224 (603) 224-2448, seedhead@essenceofthings.com Treasurer: Paul Mercier, Jr., 39 Cambridge Drive, Canterbury, NH 03224, (603) 783-0036, pjm@mercier-group.com Secretary/Program & Membership Coordinator: Elizabeth Obelenus, NOFA/NH Office, 4 Park St., Suite 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224- 5022, nofanh@innevi.com Newsletter: Craig Federhen, 50 Little River Rd., Kingston, NH 03848, (603) 642-5497, federhen@redtrout.com Organic Certification: Vickie Smith, NHDA Bureau of Markets, Caller Box 2042, Concord, NH 03301 (603) 271-3685, vsmith@agr.state.nh.us Website: www.nofanh.org, New Jersey President: Stephanie Harris, 163 Hopewell- Wertsville Rd., Hopewell, NJ 08525, (609) 466- 0194, r.harris58@verizon.net Vice President: Pam Flory, PO Box 85, Hopewell, NJ 08534 (609) 466-4217, pjflory@hotmail.com Treasurer: William D. Bridgers, c/o Zon Part- ners, 5 Vaughn Dr., Suite 104, Princeton, NJ 08540, (609) 452-1653, billbridgers@zoncapital.com Secretary: Olga Wickerhauser, NJ Ag. Experi- ment Station, 88 Lipman Dr., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732) 932-1000 x564, wickerhauser@aesop.rutgers.edu Newsletter Editor: Mikey Azzara, PO Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534-0886, (609) 737-6848, fax: (609) 737-2366, Email: mazzara@nofanj.org Executive Director: Karen Anderson, 60 S. Main St., PO Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534- 0886, (609) 737-6848, fax: (609) 737-2366, Email: nofainfo@nofanj.org Certification Administrator: Erich V. Bremer, 60 S. Main St., PO Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534-0886, (609) 737-6848, certify@nofanj.org website: www.nofanj.org New York President: Scott Chaskey, Quail Hill Farm, PO Box 1268, Amagansett, NY 11930-1268, H (631) 725-9228 W (631) 267-8942, schaskey@peconiclandtrust.org Vice President: Maureen Knapp, Cobblestone Valley Enterprises, LLC, Box 121, 2023 Preble Rd, Preble, NY 13141, (607) 749-4032, cvfarm@twcny.rr.com Secretary: Annette Hogan, 526 State Rte 91, Tully, NY 13159-3288, 315-696-0231, annette.hogan@worldnet.att.net Treasurer: Alton Earnhart, 1408 Clove Valley Rd., Hopewell Junction, NY12533, (845) 724- 4592, altone@attglobal.net Certification Liaison: Mary Jo Long, 534 Chase Rd, Afton, NY 13730, H (607) 967-8274, W (607) 639-2783 F (607) 639-2768, mjlong@clarityconnect.com Newsletter Editor: Stu McCarty, PO Box 70, 632 Tunnel Rd., Tunnel, NY 13848 (607) 693- 1572, fax: (607) 693-4415, newsletter@nofany.org Executive Director: Sarah Johnston, 591 Lan- sing Rd. #A, Fultonville, NY 12072-2628, (518) 922-7937, fax: (518) 922-7646, sarahjohnston@nofany.org NOFA Contact People The Natural Farmer Spring , 2 0 0 5 39 Calendar Saturday, March 5: NOFA NHs Third Annual Winter Conference, Concord, NH for more info: 603-224-5022 or www.nofanh.org Saturday, March 5: CT NOFA End of Winter Conference, Windsor, CT for more info: www.ctnofa.org or 203-888-5146 Saturday, March 12: MOFGAs Spring Growth Conference , Unity, ME featuring Fred Kirschenmann, Molly Anderson, Lawrence Woodward, and Jan Schrock for more info: 207-568-4142 or www.mofga.org. Monday, March 28: Marketing Your Live- stock Products Montpelier VT for more info: 802-434-4122 Saturday, April 9: Salad Greens and Seed- lings in Year-round Greenhouses, Natick, MA for more info: 413-848-2836 Saturday, April 16: Spring Focus on Veg- etable Growing, Barre, MA for more info: 978-355-2853 or www.mhof.net Saturday, May 14: Biodynamic Soil Fertility Management, Amherst, MA for more info: 413-848-2836 Saturday, May 21: Small Fruit Growing, Barre, MA for more info: 978-355-2853 or www.mhof.net Saturday, June 4: Season Extension for Vegetable Farms and Gardens, Granby, MA for more info: 413-848-2836 Saturday, June 4: HerbFest 2005, Sponsored by Connecticut Herb Association, Topmost Herb Farm, Coventry, CT for more info: 860- 742-8239, www.topmostherbfarm.com Sunday, June 12: Mid-Summer Focus on Vegetable Growing, Barre, MA for more info: 978-355-2853 or www.mhof.net Saturday, July 9: Mechanical Weed Control, Hadley, MA for more info: 413-848-2836 Sunday, July 24: Chickens for Meat & Eggs, Barre, MA for more info: 978-355-2853 or www.mhof.net Thursday, August 11 Sunday, August 14: NOFA Summer Conference, Amherst, MA for more info: www.nofamass.org or 978-355- 2853 Saturday, September 10: Fall Focus on Vegetable Growing, Barre, MA for more info: 978-355-2853 or www.mhof.net Saturday, September 24: Preserving the Harvest, Barre, MA for more info: 413-848- 2836 Saturday, November 12: Next Years Market Garden Budget, Dover, MA for more info: 413-848-2836 You may join NOFA by joining one of the seven state chapters. Contact the person listed below for your state. Dues, which help pay for the important work of the organization, vary from chapter to chapter. Unless noted, membership includes a subscription to The Natural Farmer. Give a NOFA Membership! Send dues for a friend or relative to his or her state chapter and give a membership in one of the most active grassroots organizations in the state. Connecticut: Individual/Family: $35 to $50, Business/Institution: $100, Supporting $150, Student (full-time, please supply institution name) $25 Contact: Join on the web at www.ctnofa.org or mail to CT NOFA, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491, Contact Bill Duesing at (203) 888-5146 or ctnofa@ctnofa.org Massachusetts: Individual $30, Family $40. Sup- porting $100, Low-Income $20 Contact: Membership, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005, (978) 355-2853, (Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:00 am 4:00 pm) or email: info@nofamass.org New Hampshire: Individual: $25, Student: $18, Family: $35, Supporting: $100, Basic* $15, Contact: Elizabeth Obelenus, 4 Park St., Suite 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, nofanh@innevi.com New Jersey: Individual $35, Family/Organi- zational $50, Business/Organization $100, Low Income: $15* Contact: P O Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534-0886, (609) 737-6848 or join at www.nofanj.org New York*: Student/Senior/Limited Income $15, Individual $30, Family/Farm/Nonprofit Organization $40, Business/Patron $100. Add $10 to above membership rates to include subscription to The Natural Farmer. Contact: Mayra Richter, NOFA-NY, P O Box 880, Cobleskill, NY 12043, Voice (607)-652- NOFA, Fax: (607)-652-2290, Email: office@nofany.org, www.nofany.org Rhode Island: Student/Senior: $20, Indi- vidual: $25, Family $35, Business $50 Contact: Membership, NOFA RI, 51 Edwards Lane, Charlestown, RI 02813 (401) 364-0050, fritzvohr1@verizon.net Vermont: Individual $30, Farm/Family $40, Business $50, Sponsor $100, Sustainer $250, Basic $15-25* Contact: NOFA-VT, PO Box 697, Rich- mond, VT 05477, (802) 434-4122, info@nofavt.org *does not include a subscription to The Natural Farmer NOFA Membership * Karen Anderson, PO Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534, (609) 737-6848, kanderson@nofanj.org * Stephanie Harris, 163 Hopewell-Wertsville Rd., Hopewell, NJ 08525, (609) 466-0194, r.harris58@verizon.net * Steve Gilman, 130 Ruckytucks Road, Stillwater, NY 12170 (518) 583-4613, sgilman@netheaven.com * Alton Earnhart, 1408 Clove Valley Rd., Hopewell Junction, NY12533, (845) 677-9507, altone@attglobal.net Sarah Johnston, 591 Lansing Rd. #A, Fultonville, NY 12072-2630, (518) 922-7937, fax: (518) 922-7646, sarahjohnston@nofany.org Elizabeth Henderson, 2218 Welcher Rd., New- ark, NY 14513 (315) 331-9029 ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com * Fritz & Pat Vohr, In the Woods Farm, 51 Edwards Lane, Charlestown,RI 02813 (401) 364-0050, fritzvohr1@verizon.net * Enid Wonnacott, 478 Salvas Rd., Huntington, VT 05462 (802) 434-4435 elila@sover.net * Camilla Roberts, 35 Sleepy Valley Rd., Athens, VT 05143 (802) 869-1388, camil@sover.net Kirsten Novak Bower, 65 Wortheim Ln., Rich- mond, VT 05477 (802) 434-5420, kbower@juno.com John Cleary, 407 Rt. 15, Underhill, VT 05489, (802) 899-3808. vof@nofavt.org Kay Magilavy, Virtual Rep, 212 18th St., Union City, NJ 07087, (201) 863-1741 Jonathan von Ranson, Manuals Project, 6 Locks Village Rd., Wendell, MA 01379, (978) 544- 3758, Email: Commonfarm@crocker.com Paul Kittredge, Webmaster, 1884 Columbia Rd. NW #415, Washington DC, 20009, 202-667- 3425, Paul@asarya.com Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson, The Natural Farmer, NOFA Summer Conference, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, Jack@mhof.net, Julie@mhof.net Elaine Peterson, Credit Card Support, 92 New Westminster Rd., Hubbardston, MA 01452 (978) 928-4707, Email: info@nofamass.org Interstate Certification Contacts John Cleary, 407 Rt. 15, Underhill, VT 05489, (802) 899-3808 vof@nofavt.org Carol King & Lisa Engelbert, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905, (607) 724-9851, fax: (607)724-9853, certifiedorganic@nofany.org Erich V. Bremer, PO Box 886, Pennington, NJ 08534-0886, (609) 737-6848, certify@nofanj.org S p r i n g ,