Groundswell Blog

Staff spotlight: Chango Reese, Summer Practicum TA

2012-02-21T19:37:00.003-05:00

Chango Reese will be serving as Teaching Assistant
for the Groundswell Summer Practicum.

Groundswell volunteer Audrey Gyr caught up with Chango Reese, Groundswell's Summer Practicum TA, to share a bit about his story in this Staff spotlight.

by Audrey Gyr

When Chango Reese first moved to Ithaca from the Bronx three years ago, he immediately noticed the disparity between who had good food and who didn’t. In order to combat this inequity, Chango began a program with his friend Anthony Gallucci they called “Healthy Food for the Hood.” Their mission was to “combat unhealthy food pantry traditions with organic and locally grown food for our people, who felt excluded from places like GreenStar and the Farmers Market and who felt stigma about going to local pantries.”

The duo contacted local CSAs, who supplied them with surplus produce that they then boxed and distributed to families. Chango credits Ecovillage, West Haven Farm, Joanna Green, and Elan Shapiro for helping him and Gallucci make the program a success. Ithaca Community Harvest, an organization that strives to provide all of Ithaca's residents with locally grown, organic produce, heard about Anthony's and Chango’s program and suggested turning it into a market box program similar to a CSA, but without the up-front investment that many families find prohibitive. Chango saw it as an opportunity to expand the program's reach, so Ithaca Community Harvest hired him and devoted resources to support the program.

After turning over the program to Ithaca Community Harvest, Chango got involved with other groups in Ithaca's food movement, volunteering for urban agriculture group Gardens 4 Humanity and participating in Groundswell’s 2011 Summer Practicum. Chango found the Practicum to be valuable because it covered an immense amount of information in a short period of time. He says, “I was really interested in the farm tours and seeing all of the different livestock operations, from organic meat farms to commercial dairies. I realized that the lack of butchers and processing plants are very limiting to small farmers in the area. Mondays were also great because we were able to get in the dirt and work outside. The two biggest things I got out of the Practicum was learning more about the regulations that surround food production, and the meaning of labels such as certified organic and all-natural.”

Chango also saw a need for emphasizing the connection between food access and farming with food and social justice in future Summer Practicum classes. He will be the TA for the 2012 Practicum and is excited to do his part to increase the coverage of food justice issues surrounding class and ethnicity in the curriculum. Because of his NYC origins, Chango is interested in the potential of city farming and rooftop gardening. The food movement in the city is much more connected to food justice issues, says Chango, and he would like to incorporate that into the Ithaca region. He also would like to more carefully examine the kind of spaces we are creating so that all people will feel welcome.

Although Chango misses the hustle and bustle of New York City, he says that he stays in Ithaca “because there is a lot of work to be done with discrimination and social inequities, especially as they relate to national and ethnic differences.” He is a big believer in community involvement and grassroots efforts to solve these problems. “Agriculture endeavors have profound political meaning," he says. "I am a huge advocate for self-reliance and self-determination. If a people, a citizenry cannot control what goes in their mouths, they have less power than those who do. I see food as a vehicle for community and people empowerment. You can’t think about combating the ills of society without thinking about something as basic as food.”

In the future, Chango is interested in getting involved with Groundswell's Farm Enterprise Incubator. After realizing how much difficulty livestock farmers have in procuring organic feed, he has begun to wonder what it would take to start growing feed for farmers in this area. However, despite his passion for securing good, healthy food for all people, Chango’s long term professional goals lie outside the realm of agriculture. He is studying Information Systems at Tompkins County Community College and hopes to use this degree to begin his own cell phone repair business. When he is not studying or working at Ithaca College, Chango enjoys listening to poetry and performing as a spoken word artist. He is also hoping to teach an Ithaca Freeskool class this spring tentatively entitled “Decolonize Your Mind.” We are very fortunate to have him as the TA for the 2012 Practicum!

Farm Service Agency offers new program: Land Contract (LC) Guarantee Program

2012-02-21T14:24:00.002-05:00

by Devon Van Noble

We are pleased to share news of the launch of a new financing program through the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), called the Land Contract Guarantee Program. As of January, the FSA will be offering loan guarantees to eligible farmers to buy and operate family sized farms. The focus of the program is to reduce the financial risk to sellers, who wish to sell agricultural property to a beginning farmer or a farmer who is a member of a "socially-disadvantaged group". Groundswell has been working hard to develop new farmer training opportunities, but without financing options that are compatible with the scale of farming they are interested in, these new farmers wouldn’t be able to continue growing in our area.

In some places in the country, the purchase of farmland through land contracts is a key mechanism for land succession, and we see this Program as a wonderful opportunity for both, landowners and new farmers in Tompkins County and Central New York. If you are beginning to plan for the transition of your estate, or selling property, we hope you will take the time to understand how this financing option works. You can find more information at www.fsa.usda.gov.

What does this mean for beginning producers and landowners?

Typically, there is a financial risk to the seller that buyers might default on the contract payments, but to incentivize sales, FSA is offering a guarantee on up to 90 percent of the outstanding principal. In the case of default, the FSA would compensate the seller for the unpaid portion of the balance. The idea is that if land contract arrangements are less risky for landowners, and more accessible to new farmers, land will more often be transferred to the next generation of food producers, which helps ensure the long-term viability of regional food systems.

How it works

The program is designed to support sales of agricultural real estate to beginning or "socially-disadvantaged" farmers through land contracts. A land contract is an installment contract between a buyer and a seller for the sale of real property, in which complete ownership of the property is not transferred until all payments under the contract have been made. Buyers must make a down payment of at least 5% of the purchase price, and be able to project the ability to make land contract payments through a business plan. The monthly payments must be amortized over a 20 year period, so that the buyer is making fixed payments for the length of the contract. However the FSA will only be making guarantees available for 10 years, which means that after 10 years of payments, the risk of buyer-default returns to the seller.

Buyer eligibility

The FSA is focused on making these guarantees available to beginning farmers, or those who identify as "socially-disadvantaged." However, there are several eligibility requirements that the buyer must meet, including: having U.S. citizenship or being a qualified alien, having the legal capacity to incur the obligation of the loan, and being unable to obtain credit elsewhere, yet also having acceptable credit history. The Buyer must not have had a previous loan which resulted in a loss to the FSA, nor be delinquent on any Federal debt, and lastly he or she must be the owner/operator of the farm upon completion of the contract. If you are considering purchasing land, and want to explore the Land Contract Guarantee Program, feel free to contact your local FSA office for an application. They can meet with potential buyers to help to fill out the application if necessary, as well as determine one’s eligibility for the program.

Read more about this program from the FSA

The Quintessential Black Farmer: Dreaming of Timbuctoo

2012-02-21T13:56:00.010-05:00


Dreaming of Timbuctoo, an exhibit documenting a chapter of black land ownership in Upstate NY at The History Center in Ithaca

by Kirtrina Baxter

The concept of the black farmer is not just a vestige of slavery. In fact, Africans had agricultural systems for centuries, and as some more recent studies assert, even millenia ago. In this county we know as the US, however, African American farmers are usually associated with post-enslaved people, staying on at the plantations where they were enslaved in the south. What a lot of people may not know is that blacks owned land and farmed on that land in the south and in the north during slavery and after.

Right here in our own neck of the woods, there were black farming communities set up in the mid-1800’s. I visited an exhibit this past week at The History Center in Tompkins County entitled Dreaming of Timbuctoo. This exhibit speaks of an abolitionist plan right here in New York State to give 120,000 acres of land in the Adirondacks (mostly in Essex and Franklin Counties) to 3000 black people in 1846.

“The vision of an Adirondack farm settlement for African-American New Yorkers was a response to the nightmarish facts of daily life for black people in metropolitan New York in the 1830s and 1840s. Waves of white immigrants were displacing black laborers and artisans from long-held jobs. A housing shortage forced impoverished black families into epidemic-ridden slums. Bounty hunters on the trail of fugitive slaves prowled black neighborhoods. Most insultingly, a discriminatory $250 property requirement for free black men disenfranchised nearly all black New Yorkers from 1821 until 1873.”

Dreaming of Timbuctoo

Of these 3000 grantees, not many settled on the land. Some felt it was a difficult move because they would be isolated from the black communities of support they were familiar with and accustomed to in the city. Others assessed the move as not economically secure enough, realizing the costly efforts of homesteading would be an enormous undertaking that included the cost of moving which many could not afford. And still others were so immersed in the freedom movement that they could not break away to work the land. There were various reasons why some never took possession of their granted land; however, there were also many reasons to do so.

The following quote comes from a speech at the National Convention of Colored People in Troy, NY in 1847:

[Forsake] the cities and towns and their employments of dependency therein, and emigrate to those parts of the country where land is cheap, and become cultivators of the soil, as the surest road to respectability and influence.

Willis A. Hodges and Charles B. Ray, Agriculture Committee

Black people understood the value of land ownership and farming and also saw it as a way to ease their life in a racist society. Some thought life in a farming community could help dissuade racism due to the shared principles among farming neighbors.

There is no life like that of the farmer, for overcoming the mere prejudice against color. The owners of adjacent farms are neighbors... There must be mutual assistance, mutual and equal dependence, mutual sympathy - and labour, ‘the common destiny of the American people,’ under such circumstances, yields equally to all, and makes all equal.

Charles B. Ray, Theodore Wright, and James McCune Smith, responding to Gerrit Smith’s gift of land in 1846. Gerrit Smith Papers, Courtesy of Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.

Although there were many who did not utilize this opportunity, some did, and they proceeded to create several black farming communities in the Adirondacks. One of those communities came to be known as Timbuctoo, informally named after the lost city in Africa that was so famous at the time.

The town of Timbuctoo did not flourish, but was met with difficult times and difficult farming conditions as a result of “risky Adirondack farming.” This town met the same fate as a lot of the other area settlements at the time. There were, however, families in Franklin County who went on to become part of the fabric of life in those areas.

Black land ownership is and has been of critical concern to the black community. Over the last 200 years there have been many factors that led to the increase and decline of land ownership for blacks, including black farmers. Over the next few months in The Quintessential Black Farmer, we will visit some of the historical, societal and economic influences that attributed to the decline of black farming and also the resurgence of farming for African Americans: farming in urban areas, reclaiming land and the new generation of black farmers.

Thanks to The History Center of Tompkins County for the exhibition, notes and inspiration. All quotes and pictures can be found in the “Dreaming of Timbuctoo” exhibit.

Farmers v. Monsanto

2012-01-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

GMO corn in Germany.

This message, from Gianni Ortiz, contains information about an upcoming gathering to show support for the 82 farmers who are taking agro-tech giant Monsanto to court in The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), et. al. v. Monsanto. Gianni is organizing a delegation from Upstate NY to make an appearance at the event. For more information about the case, click here.

Sorry for any duplication and please share with lists and friends generously.

Hello Everyone,

The Bus will be leaving promptly at 6am Tuesday January 31st from the old Wal-Mart parking lot in Hudson. The exact address is 351 Fairview Avenue, Hudson, NY 12534. Please be there no later than 5:45 am. Those who have already confirmed are guaranteed a seat, everyone else will be first come, first sat – maximum capacity is 55 passengers. Bring anything you will need to be comfortable for the day. We will reserve space for signs, etc… The weather should be quite gorgeous with temperatures in the low 50’s. Also we are asking that those in our group wear a purple armband so that we can keep track of and support each other during the action. You can find guidelines for signage and more at www.osgata.org.

We will be gathering with occupywallstreet. They are planning on having a large demonstration with a timeline of different egregious actions committed by Monsanto over the years, a teach-in, and possibly a large banner. A big thank you the organizers of Occupy Big Food and Occupy Wall Street Food Justice for their hard work on this. I believe we will be leaving Foley Square at mid-afternoon but cannot guarantee that, so please make your plans accordingly. Departure time from NYC will be announced the morning of. We have the use of the bus up until leaving NYC at 6pm.

I would like to emphasize why this show of support is so important. Monsanto has moved to have the entire case dismissed because there is ‘no real harm posed to the plaintiff group’ and therefore this is not a judicial matter but rather a frivolous suit. Judge Buchwald has, surprisingly and generously, offered to hear further oral arguments on the case, when normally she would make her decision based on written testimony and documents already submitted. The show of support outside the court room will have significant bearing on her decision. In this case - bigger is definitely better. This sort of thing is never convenient but your democratic participation is so terrifically important. Signing a petition is one thing, showing up is an entirely other. Thanks to NDAA, this public showing may be much more difficult in the future. The time to make your voice heard is now. Thanks in advance.

The bus is free but we are accepting donations to offset other costs of pulling this together. We have an anonymous angel to thank for the bus and Sally Baker and PB Inc. for making that offer a reality.

I have a number of documents that would be of interest to all of you but am not attaching them because I know some of you still have dial up. Please respond to this email if you would like them.

Our destination is Foley Square in NYC, between Lafayette and Center Streets.
Citizen’s Assembly:
When: Tuesday, January 31, 2011 @ 9:00 am
Where: Foley Square across from Southern District Court, New York City
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
500 Pearl St.
New York, NY 10007-1312

Thanks very much,

In Solidarity,

Gianni

Also, for those of you who have asked, I do not have a cell phone, but the morning of I will have contact numbers available for you.

Break Bread, Not Shale

2012-01-24T20:14:00.006-05:00

Local baker Stefan Senders baked 200 loaves of bread, and then, with the help of Thor Oechsner, the farmer who grew the grain and Neal Johnston, the miller who milled the grain into flour, he carried them all from a veggie oil powered VW station wagon to Sunday's rally in Albany, distributed them to the protesters, marched and chanted all day, drove home in the darkness went home, fired up his ovens and began baking bread to distribute to the members of the Wide Awake breadshare today. Thank you Stefan.

Shale Gas Rally speech, Albany, New York
1/23/12
by Stefan Senders
Wide Awake Bakery
Trumansburg, New York
www.wideawakebakery.com

My name is Stefan Senders, and I am a baker. Beside me are Thor Oechsner, an organic farmer, and Neal Johnston, a miller. We work together.

Today we bring bread to Albany to intervene in the self-destruction of the great State of New York. We come, Farmers, Bakers, and Millers, to remind our state and our Governor, Andrew Cuomo, that despite the promises of industry lobbyists, the exploitation of Shale Gas in New York is a bad and broken economy of the worst kind.

This bread is the product of our community and our farms. The wheat, grown, tended, and harvested by our local organic farmers, is fresh from the soil of New York. The flour, ground in our local flour mill, is as fine as concerned and caring hands can make it. To resurrect a term long since emptied by advertisers, the wheat, the flour, and the bread are wholesome: they bring our communities together, give us work, nourish us, please our senses, and make our bodies and our land more healthy. This is good economy. It is wise economy. It is a steady economy that nourishes the State of New York.
We know that for many New Yorkers, Fracking sounds like a good idea. We have all heard the fantastic tales: Fracking, it is said, will save our state from financial ruin, release us from our dependence on “foreign oil,” and revive our rural economy by bringing cash, if not fertility, to our once vibrant farmland.

For politicians, these stories of money and growth are hard to resist: the numbers are large, deficits are unnerving, and elections are expensive.

For many farmers and land-owners, the promises of cash are dizzying, and to risk the land’s fertility to extract gas is only one step removed from risking the land’s fertility to extract a few more bushels of corn or soybeans.

But farmers might know better.

Farming has not always been, and need not be, an extractive industry. There was a time when farmers worked with a longer view, keeping in mind their role as stewards and caretakers of the land. That long view is the farmer’s wisdom, and it is as good and wise today as it ever was.

The promises of the gas industry are demonstrably false, and they miss what farmers know well: There is no independence that does not demand care and responsibility. There is no quantity of cash that can restore fertility to a poisoned field. There is no adequate monetary “compensation” for poisoned water. There is no payment, no dollar, no loan, that can restore life and community to a broken world.

Our work and the work we provide others—on the farm, at the mill, and at the bakery—depends on fertile soil, pure water, and a viable community. All of these are put at risk by Fracking. What happens to our land in an economy bloated by gas exploitation? Prices rise, rents rise, and good arable land becomes scarce as acres once leased to farmers are set to quick development schemes—flimsy housing, storage barns, parking lots, and mancamps.

And what happens to our water when gas exploitation takes over? Storage pools, as safe as the Titanic was unsinkable, overflow, contaminating the soil; inevitable leaks in well-casings allow
gasses and Frack-fluids to pass into our aquifers, into our bodies, and into the bodies of our children.

And what happens to communities held in thrall to gas exploitation? As we have seen in other parts of the country, the boom-bust cycle of the petroleum economy fractures communities,
undermining our capacity to act wisely and civilly.

With every boom, a few get rich, a few do better, but all are impoverished. For every hastily built motel there are dozens of apartments with rising rents; for every newly minted millionaire
there are many dozens who see nothing but the pain of rising costs and receding resources. For every short-term dollar there are hundreds in long-term losses that can never be recouped. To go for gas is to go for broke.

With this bread we are here to remind you that there is another economy, one that works.

This bread symbolizes a commitment to the health of New York State. It embodies the knowledge that good work, not a gambler’s dream, is the basis of a sound and sustainable economy. This bread symbolizes the farmer’s simple truth that without fertile soil, without pure water, and without strong community, we go hungry.

This bread reminds us all that the promises of gas exploitation are empty: What are we to grow in fields broken by the drill and tilled with poison? What are we to feed our children when our water and wheat are unfit? Shall we grind money to make our bread? We do have a choice. We need not poison our land to live. We need not taint our water to drink. We need not sell our future to finance our present. These are choices, not inevitabilities.

With this bread we say: take the long view; pay attention to the health of the soil and nourish it; treasure pure water; remember the value of your community and keep it whole.

If something must be broken, let it be this bread, not shale. Break bread, not shale!

(Editor's note: Check out Stefan's bakery at http://wideawakebakery.com)

Growing the Farm Enterprise Incubator in 2012

2012-01-20T14:21:00.002-05:00

The Farm Enterprise Incubator at EcoVillage at Ithaca in 2011.

By Devon Van Noble

This winter marks a new phase for Groundswell’s Farm Enterprise Incubator — a program designed to provide beginning food producers with affordable, low-risk access to land, business mentorship, training, and support. The Incubator program is especially focused on providing these opportunities to limited resource and socially-disadvantaged communities in the area. For now, a field of approximately 10 acres has been designated by EcoVillage at Ithaca as the initial site of the Groundswell Incubator. This winter, Groundswell is engaging in a planning process with farmers and potential incubees to ensure that the Incubator meets everyone's needs.

Permaculture Design at the Incubator Site

This past August, we began regularly walking the 10-acre Incubator site with our two farmer-consultants, Melissa Madden and Garrett Miller of the Good Life Farm in Interlaken, NY. Having just used a permaculture design process to create their own 69-acre farm, we knew they would be wonderful coaches to help us thoroughly assess and understand the 10 acre site at EcoVillage. Permaculture design is a process of truly understanding both the land and the people that you are working with. Not only have we been evaluating the water flows, soil composition, and landform that make up the Incubator site, but Melissa and Garrett also helped us design an interview process that collects a swath of useful information from the many stakeholders who have an interest in the Incubator project.

After Melissa and Garrett introduced the permaculture principles, I think some of us were ready to just start designing! But they kept reminding us that we had a lot of observations to make and data to collect before we would be prepared to actually lay out plans for the site. Permaculture is really an iterative process between the needs of the land, the people and the life around them, so one of Melissa’s ongoing tasks has been to keep checking our expectations for the Incubator and help us to be open to the process as it develops.

Stakeholder Interviews and the Incubator Oversight Team

Through the next several months we’ll continue interviewing stakeholders, with a focus on potential users of the site -- the “incubees.” We are also establishing an Incubator Oversight Team which will help finalize the site design plans by late spring, so we can begin implementing the infrastructure design over the summer. Also during the summer, the Oversight Team will help draft the policies & procedures for the Incubator, and create an inclusive, accessible application process for the potential incubees by mid-Fall 2012. This will allow us to get this show on the road in early 2013.

Personally, I know there are still many people to speak with, and much work to do, but I am truly excited to see what kind of innovative infrastructure and services are created for new food producers by the launch of the Incubator next year.

Devon Van Noble
Groundswell Incubator Development Coordinator

Student Profile: Max Chapman

2012-01-19T17:00:00.002-05:00

Groundswell volunteer Audrey Gyr caught up with 2010 Summer Practicum student Max Chapman to find out what he's been up to and what the Practicum means to him.

Max Chapman

Max Chapman first heard about Groundswell's Summer Practicum from his adviser Kelly Wessel when he was an Environmental Studies major at TC3. At the time, Max was interested in becoming a biology major and was hoping to gain a greater scientific background in agriculture. He quickly grew to love working on West Haven Farm in Ithaca and began to feel a deeper connection to the Ithaca area after visiting local farms and businesses.

He began working at Greenstar Cooperative Market in Ithaca after a Practicum class visit, and you can currently catch him at the deli counter at the West end location. He says that taking part in the Summer Practicum "broadened my awareness and consciousness, and helped shape my personal philosophy." He enjoys working at Greenstar because they sell many local products and he can see firsthand how they contributes to Ithaca's food system. When not working at Greenstar, Max is busy completing his EMT certification. In the future he plans on focusing on wilderness medicine.

Fracking and Farming Are Not Compatible

2012-01-13T09:53:00.014-05:00

By Joanna Green

In 2011, Groundswell Advisers agreed unanimously to take a stand in opposition to hydraulic fracturing in our region. Director Joanna Green submitted the following comments to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on January 11:

I am commenting on behalf of the staff, Steering Committee and Advisors of the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming based in Ithaca. NY. We urge that DEC withdraw the draft SGEIS on the basis of its failure to evaluate the potential for unparalleled negative impacts on the integrity and economic viability of agriculture in our state.

As an organization devoted to agricultural and food system education, Groundswell collaborates with dozens of farmers, food businesses, educational institutions, organizations and community groups here in central New York in order to build a resilient, ecologically sound and equitable food system for our region. In our first two years of programming we have provided intensive training and education for over one hundred aspiring and beginning farmers.

These farmers are dedicating their lives to creating a strong and enduring agriculture that will continue to feed us here in New York and the wider region for generations to come; an agriculture that is responsible to our local communities and to our neighbors downstream. They are ready to invest everything they have in creating a sustainable and abundant future for New York.

Groundswell is a very young organization and we have no precedent for taking positions on matters of public policy. However, after much discussion our diverse group of almost 30 Advisors agreed unanimously to take a stand in opposition to hydraulic fracturing in our region. We have taken this action because the evidence suggests hydrofracking is likely to have serious detrimental impacts on the economic viability and ecological sustainability of our farms and wineries, our regional food system, and our communities.

New York State is on the verge of an agricultural renaissance. This revival of interest in farming, especially in our youth, has the potential to create thousands of new jobs and livelihoods, reduce our medical costs, and feed hungry communities, all while conserving our natural resources. If we choose to support a method of energy extraction that displaces and deters farming entrepreneurs, hinders regional agricultural investment, and damages our resource base, we are seriously undermining upstate New York’s most vital economic engine, and weakening the foundation for a robust and sustainable regional food system. And we are nipping in the bud the dreams and destinies of our future farmers.

We believe a better approach is to foster a diversity of economic strategies and land-based solutions that strengthen our communities and protect our future. New York State is blessed with a vibrant diversity of land-based enterprises that contribute significantly to the State’s economy and to our social and cultural vitality. We understand that if we want to see our agricultural economy and our farming families prosper in the future, we must protect the integrity of the resource base which sustains this economy and this way of life.

Leading scientist says agroecology is the only way to feed the world

2012-01-08T23:40:00.004-05:00

There is much discussion today about the need to “feed the world” because of the growing global population. What do you think needs to be done in order to ensure there is adequate food for everyone in the world?

HH: The issue is less on how to feed the world than how to nourish the poor and hungry. Today we produce 4600 calories per person per day, so there is enough food to feed twice the present population. The problem is that we produce mostly cheap commodities rather than quality food. These cheap products, in addition to being of low nutritional value, are based on a few crops that carry a large ecological, social, and economic footprint. What is needed is to support farmers in developing countries to grow their own healthy food by providing information, know-how, financial support for inputs, and support for them to access markets, among others.

Read the full article

Video: Malik Yakini: Undoing Racism in the Food System

2011-11-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

Malik Kenyatta Yakini was invited to Ithaca, NY to share his experiences in Detroit's urban agriculture development with our growing food justice movement. This community conversation took place in Cornell University's Anabel Taylor Hall café after a weekend of food justice events in Ithaca. Yakini is a founder and the Interim Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates a four acre farm in Detroit and spearheaded efforts to establish the Detroit Food Policy Council, which he chairs. He is an activist and educator dedicated to working to identify and alleviate the impact of racism and white privilege in the food system. He views the "good food revolution" as part of the larger movement for freedom, justice and equality. He currently serves as a Food and Community Fellow of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Event cosponsored by: Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming, New World Agriculture and Ecology Group at Cornell, Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell Department of Development Sociology, Dorothy Cotton Institute, Gardens 4 Humanity, Whole Community Project, Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program, Moosewood Restaurant

Modern Day Slavery in Agriculture: Another Good Reason to Buy Local

2011-11-22T13:55:00.007-05:00

Florida farm workers tell their stories as part of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' anti-slavery media campaign.

By Milagros Gustafson Hernandez

In 1993, in Immokalee, Florida a group of Latino, Mayan, and Haitian workers began meeting regularly to discuss changes in their community. They organized and named themselves the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (“CIW”). Fighting for fairer wages, and succeeding, they moved on to help the federal government in the fight against involuntary servitude through worker-led investigations. In the last 10 years they have helped in the prosecution of 7 cases in Florida alone (with two pending) --exposing the horrendous farm-worker abuses. Here are some examples:

U.S. vs. Flores -- In 1997, Miguel Flores and Sebastian Gomez were sentenced to 15 years each in federal prison on slavery, extortion, and firearms charges, amongst others. Flores and Gomez had a workforce of over 400 men and women in Florida and South Carolina, harvesting vegetables and citrus.
U.S. vs. Cuello -- In 1999, Abel Cuello was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on slavery charges. He had held more than 30 tomato pickers in two trailers in the isolated swampland west of Immokalee, keeping them under constant watch. Three workers escaped the camp, only to have their boss track them down a few weeks later. The employer ran one of them down with his car, stating that he owned them. The workers sought help from the CIW and the police, and the CIW worked with the DOJ on the ensuing investigation. Cuello worked for Manley Farms North Inc., a major Bonita Springs tomato supplier. Once out of prison, Cuello supplied labor to Ag-Mart Farms, a tomato company operating in Florida and North Carolina.
U.S. vs. Tecum -- In 2001, Jose Tecum was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison on slavery and kidnapping charges.
U.S. vs. Lee -- In 2001, Michael Lee was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison and 3 years supervised release on a slavery conspiracy charge. He pled guilty to using crack cocaine, threats, and violence to enslave his workers.
U.S. vs. Ramos -- In 2004, Ramiro and Juan Ramos were sentenced to 15 years.
U.S. vs. Ronald Evans -- In 2007, Florida employer Ron Evans was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
U.S. vs. Navarrete -- In December 2008, employers Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete were sentenced to 12 years each in federal prison.
U.S. vs. Bontemps -- In July 2010, Cabioch Bontemps, Carline Ceneus, and Willy Edouard were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit forced labor.
U.S. vs. Global Horizons -- In September 2010, staff of guestworker recruiting giant Global Horizons were charged with operating a forced labor ring active in 13 states, including Florida. Global Horizons President Mordechai Orian and six others are accused of holding hundreds of guestworkers from Thailand against their will, in what prosecutors call “the largest human trafficking case in U.S. history.” FBI Special Agent Tom Simon described the latest case as "a classic bait-and-switch what they were doing. They were telling the Thai workers one thing to lure them here. Then when they got here, their passports were taken away and they were held in forced servitude working in these farms." The prosecution is ongoing, with more details to emerge about the various states workers lived in and what crops they picked.

Now, I take you back to 1961. In a small town in Puerto Rico, someone dear to me (who would like to remain anonymous) was recruited by a large U.S. corporation to do farm work in the U.S. We will call him Jose. I interviewed Jose in July of 2011 for my final project in Groundswell's Summer Practicum in Sustainable Farming and Local Food Systems.

Jose was 19 at the time and was very interested in working in the US. He heard that the company would pay for the flight to the U.S. and would pay for room and board as well. The company spread word throughout his town of the date they would start the recruiting process. When the day came, the company set up a tent and Jose got on line with many other young men hoping to be chosen for what they thought would be a wonderful opportunity in the U.S. The recruiters would choose the men on the basis of whether they had calluses on their hands or not.

Jose did. He was passed on to the next corporate representative who had him sign a 6 month contract and handed him flight tickets to NYC. Stipulated in the contract was the salary of .90 per hour and that expenses for the flight, plus room and board, would be paid back through weekly payroll deductions. The day of departure came and they landed in New York’s Kennedy Airport and driven, by bus, to Delaware. There they entered a building where there were hundreds of other men. Outside of the building were security guards armed with rifles.

The building had hundreds of cots lined up and a large shower room where the men would bathe in groups. Local farmers would come to the facility and pick anywhere from 40-50 men, to work as laborers on their farm. Jose was chosen after two days. On the farm the menu consisted of turkey soup, turkey soup and then some more turkey soup. They worked 12-13 hour shifts, ate, showered then went to sleep.

After 6 weeks of the never broken routine, Jose and another laborer decided they had had enough and planned their escape. Having monitored the security guard’s breaks throughout the day, they faked illness one morning and while one stayed behind to pack his belongings, the other dug a hole under the fence.

Around 8pm that evening the two escaped. They headed towards train tracks that had been visible from the farm. They walked on the tracks until they reached a station, 3-4 hours later, where they purchased tickets to NYC.

I interviewed Jose in July of 2011. He told me there was no physical abuse that he was aware of, at that time. It’s astounding, that in 50 years not much of a change has taken place. If anything, it seems worse. Visit your local farms to see the conditions first hand.

Student Profile: Ellie Limpert (Summer Practicum 2010)

2011-11-22T11:27:00.008-05:00


Ellie at West Haven Farm.

Groundswell volunteer Audrey Gyr caught up with former Groundswell student Ellie Limpert this past week to capture her reflections on her participation in Groundswell's Summer Practicum in Sustainable Farming & Local Food Systems.

Groundswell: What is your background?

Ellie Limpert: I am a senior at Cornell University majoring in Biology and Society with a focus on Human and Environmental Health, and Agricultural Development. Before the Summer Practicum I was a nutritional science major. My minimal agricultural experience was as a horticulture apprentice at a greenhouse for 2 summers, and a bit of volunteering at Dilmun Hill the student Organic Farm. 2010- I was unsure how to spend my summer, I got an email from a sustainability club about the practicum and I was intrigued…looked into it, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

GS: Where are you and what are you doing now?

EL: I am currently studying abroad in Granada Spain—in an Environmental Studies program. I am taking classes on Sustainability in the Mediterranean, Environmental Politics of the European Union, and Ecosystems of the Andalucia. In addition (most exciting!) I have found work on a local small organic farm! Never would I have even dreamt of seeking this out on my own, but since working at West Haven I have been longing to be on a farm again—there honestly isn’t another way I’d rather spend my free time—and it’s one of my most cherished experiences here!

Speaking of this—I met the man through my professor of Ecosystems after expressing great interest in working on a farm—when we visited, the farmer was very impressed by my knowledge of working on a farm—what all the vegetables were, the weeds (they have purslane!) and my ability to jump right in.

GS: What are your plans?

EL: I have a few opportunities I’m exploring, but what I’m most excited about is the Peace Corps. I am currently in the process of applying, and I hope to work with Agricultural Development and Food Security in Latin America.

GS: How has your experience in the practicum shaped your thinking or your plans?

EL: My experiences in the summer practicum completely reshaped my thinking. Firstly, from the many prominent speakers we had to come lead our classes on Wednesdays, I was exposed to a variety of topics, issues, and opportunities I was until then unaware of. We were always stimulated, always learning, debating, sharing ideas, and although it was a “long” day (9am-4pm), I honestly left each class filled with an intense energy to learn more. As I said, I was originally a nutritional science major, but after the practicum decided to switch my focus to include Environmental Science and Agricultural Development. The Groundswell course really sparked an incredible interest within me. It wasn’t long before I caught the passion and excitement our instructors exuded, and I never wanted to lose that.

GS: Looking back, what was the biggest thing you got out of the Summer Practicum?

EL: When I was in the program one of the most inspiring things for me (and I touched on this above) was just being around such passionate people- everyone who came to lecture, or we met on our tours had such incredible passion, such drive for what they were doing. They were excited to be doing what they were for a living, and proud to share. None of them were making the big bucks but they were definitely some of the happiest people I had ever seen. It was really eye-opening after being forced into the fast-paced money-making mentality my entire life and it really taught me to follow what I believe in when it comes to the future, and possible jobs-- do what excites me and makes me feel proud, rather than seeking the largest pay-check because that is where I will be more willing to give my 100%, that is where I will always be learning and always be teaching.

Student Profile: Lynne and Justin of Finger Lakes CRAFT

2011-10-21T16:39:00.002-04:00


Lynne and Justin plowing with horses at Northland.

Interview by Audrey Gyr, Groundswell volunteer

Lynne Haynor and Justin Schaude were both members of the Finger Lakes CRAFT program this year while they interned on Northland Sheep Dairy. While they were there, they started a vegetable market garden and sold at the Homer Farmers Market.

They first met while studying at UW Madison. Lynne was studying agroecology and Justin was working at the student garden while studying Rural Sociology. Lynne grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and first discovered agriculture at the age of 24 when she worked at a periurban gardening program for youth. The program focused on education and work readiness in marginalized communities and Lynne spent 3 growing seasons there producing organic vegetables.

Justin grew up in the suburbs of Minnesota and California. He dropped out of college and traveled extensively while working odd jobs, including in an orphanage in India. He first became attracted to agriculture while working at a men’s shelter in Minneapolis. During that time he read a book that posited farming as a strategy to get people off the street. Justin decided to go back to school for social work but he became more and more interested in farming. He has been farming for the past 5 years. Lynne and Justin both did another apprenticeship on a CSA farm in Wisconsin after graduating from college. They have also worked on farms in Mexico. They strongly suggest any beginning farmers to have an apprenticeship because it can really help you plan what you want to do. They also stress the importance of having a mentor and that a beginner can accomplish a lot by just working on a project.

This summer Lynne and Justin were apprentices at Northland Sheep Dairy. They chose the farm because it was a place where Lynne could learn about sheep while Justin learned about horses. Maryrose suggested that they begin a market garden on 1 acre of available land. They began selling their vegetables at the Homer Farmers Market which enabled them to gain practical business experience. During this time they also were members of CRAFT. They enjoyed that the program enabled them to tour many different farms and see how other people did things.

Justin and Lynne have recently moved to Viroqua, Wisconsin and are excited to begin their life there. Lynne will be working at an organic certification agency and Justin will be working in carpentry and construction.

Slow Money on the Move in Central New York

2011-10-21T15:58:00.006-04:00

Slow Money advcate and Groundswell advisor Krys Cail reflects on her participation in the Third Annual Slow Money Gathering. Krys also recently wrote an article in TCLocal, Relocalizing Investment in Our Local Food System, which delves deeply into this topic.

The Groundswell Center has been participating over the past year in the development of a Slow Money Central New York group. This growing planning group sent me, as the convener of the group, to the Third Annual Slow Money National Gathering in San Francisco last week. Three packed days long, this gathering was the largest meeting yet of people inspired by Woody Tasch’s ideal, set out in his book Slow Money, that local investment in farm and food enterprises at a relatively modest rate of interest—no higher than a natural rate of return based on sustainable agricultural methods—could transform both farming and investing.

Any reader who is interested in more detail about the Slow Money movement should see (and, if you agree, sign!) the Slow Money Principles. They are available on the Slow Money website.

The Slow Money Alliance local and regional groups across the country sent representatives, and it was very interesting to learn about how different groups were organizing their work and beginning to move funds to local farm and food businesses. The models in use in Boulder, Colorado and Madison, Wisconsin seemed particularly interesting and good for local emulation to me, resembling as they did the Ithaca area in the make-up of investors, members, and farm and food businesses. Also of note is ACEnet, an Ohio regional economic development organization that predates the Slow Money Movement, but has adopted the Slow Money Principles and is developing related programming.

Krys Cail

Since the last annual gathering, more than 9 million dollars in investment has been put to work through the programming of national and regional Slow Money groups. The tremendous energy to do more to bring patient capital and farm and food entrepreneurs together was evident at all the plenary and break-out sessions. People were inspired by the talks given by thought leaders such as Wes Jackson and Winona La Duke. They became eager to do due-diligence on some of the business plans briefly presented in the Entrepreneur Showcase, and make investments. A number of the conference attendees were themselves qualified investors, or represented investment clubs or investment funds.

Slow Money Central NY has a couple of local farm and food businesses currently looking for investors, and some introductions have been made. Some of these connections were facilitated through the National Gathering, and some in collaboration with Slow Money NYC. However, most Slow Money investment is initiated and carried out on the local/regional level. If you are interested in working with the Slow Money Central NY group, please consider joining us at our next meeting, Thursday, November 3, 7-9 pm at the Alternatives Federal Credit Union (corner of Fulton and Seneca Streets in Ithaca). All are welcome, whether you are interested in gaining access to debt or equity capital, or have a small or large amount of money that you want to invest in local sustainable farm and food enterprises, or just want to help move money into a more sustainable economy locally. As was noted frequently at the National Gathering, we are all potential investors in our food system, as we all eat!

Read Krys Cail's "Relocalizing Investment in Our Local Food System," published in TCLocal in June of 2011.

Woody Tasch's "Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered" is available for purchase at Slow Money's website.

Volunteer Spotlight: Fred Schoeps

2011-09-16T22:35:00.004-04:00

Since being a part of its creation in 2009, Fred Schoeps has volunteered for Groundswell in many capacities and we are grateful for the significant commitment he continues to make!

By Devon Van Noble

This month’s Volunteer Spotlight is on a very special Groundswell contributor, Fred Schoeps. Fred was instrumental in the planning and creation of the Groundswell Center in 2008-9 and he has continued to provide support through advising, envisioning, and putting his shoulder to the wheel on numerous projects.

Fred’s contributions have included helping to manage the early phases of our website development, scoping out database options for tracking our many contacts in the community, reviewing budgets and grant proposals, and harnessing his tremendous passion for Groundswell to reach out to organizational supporters and community members. He is a model of inspired and inspiring volunteer commitment, making himself available to address almost any of Groundswell’s organizational needs as they come up. He was also our first Advisor to step forward with a generous donation for the Groundswell Farm Enterprise Incubator.

“Fred brings a wealth of business and organizational expertise to the Groundswell team,” says Groundswell Director Joanna Green. “He is absolutely passionate about what he calls 'knowledge management systems' and he loves to think creatively about how to improve communications, organize information, and support people to achieve great things.” Fred’s professional background includes many years with IBM in its systems engineering, management consulting and marketing departments. He was a member of the launch team for IBM’s original foray into the PC business and later, as IBM’s Director of Learning and Knowledge Management, was instrumental in the Re-Engineering IBM project. After retiring from IBM he moved with his wife Margot to Ithaca in 2008. Shortly thereafter he joined the Board of Directors for EVI, Inc. that advises EcoVillage at Ithaca Center for Sustainability Education.

As the Treasurer of EVI, Inc., Fred has been able to share a lot of insight with Groundswell staff about managing non-profit budgets, planning strategically, and understanding funding opportunities. This summer he joined Groundswell's volunteer Development Team to prioritize and pursue major grant opportunities. Fred has helped open a dialogue between Groundswell and The Community Foundation of Tompkins County, and has also guided Groundswell staff (in particular, me!) through the process of approaching major funders and organizational supporters. I can see that Fred intends to nurture a fundraising competency in the organization so that Groundswell can be more financially resilient and self-reliant. But Fred is just as eager to be the spokesperson himself, and I have recently seen his wife, Margot, have to literally pull him by the hand away from a Groundswell tabling event!

Groundswell Program Assistant Rachel Firak says, “Fred is a positive force with strong ideals for our community. He is a visionary who sees Groundswell’s full potential as the amazing agricultural training and resource center that it can be, and he has worked tirelessly in pursuit of that vision.” Fred is constantly contemplating Groundswell’s potential in the future. For example, he recently began meeting with a group of Ithacans who intend to develop a local investment fund for agricultural and other sustainable resource enterprises in our area. Fred is keeping an eye out for the potential ways local food & farming groups, especially Groundswell, will be able to fit into such future systems. This type of visionary thinking, and exploration is fundamental for Groundswell’s long-term sustainability, as well as its functionality within the community.

We are all grateful for the energy and creativity that Fred has invested in growing Groundswell!

Student Profile: Marcia Harrington

2011-09-16T22:15:00.006-04:00

This month, Groundswell is proud to spotlight Marcia Harrington, a trainee from Groundswell's New Farmer Training Program!

A lifetime New Yorker from Syracuse, Marcia grew up spending time in the garden and has happy early memories of her grandfather’s small urban farm. Her interest in agriculture continued in her teen years, when she enjoyed visiting family member’s farms. 6 years ago, after years of backyard gardening, she began seriously looking for a property where she could create a farm of her own. Two years ago, she bought a beautiful piece of land in the town of Skaneateles, and found herself living her dream of getting back to the land. Although Marcia did have an understanding of agriculture that she gleaned at an early age, she felt she needed to get some training to refresh her knowledge and says the New Farmer Training Program has given her the confidence to begin some of her dream projects.

Although she spent brief periods of her life in other places across the Northeast, Marcia has maintained a very close connection to the Central New York area. As a young adult, Marcia got a Fine Arts Education between Carnegie-Mellon and Syracuse Univeristy. She had a studio at Eureka Studios in Armory Square where she founded a figure-drawing group called the “Walton St. Irregulars” that provided local atists with an opportunity to work with live models. In the 1980’s she became a cartographer at SU, where her work focused on thematic mapping of post-colonial Latin America. Marcia has also been a committed community organizer, active in the Interreligious Council’s Community Dialogue to End Racism, Syracuse’s Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today community councils, working in community gardens, and on the Board of the Syracuse Neighborhoods Initiative, addressing neighborhood vitality and safety. For the past 12 years, she worked for United Way of Central New York as the Marketing Vice President.

Marcia’s 8-acre homestead has been the same contiguous parcel since the house was first built in 1830, and has been a family homestead farm ever since. The previous owners had bought it just after the Great Depression and raised a family there. When the patriarch passed away, the home sat empty for about 5 years before Marcia moved in. Because it had not been updated in some time, Marcia hired a contractor to renovate the home. But when he went bankrupt in the middle of the project, Marcia realized that she was going to have to learn much more than just how to farm. She soon found that home renovtions can be a time and money pit, but the the work itself was something she could learn to do and she steadily took on each new challenge. Working on the home renovations gave her time to observed the land’s life through the year before she planted or modified the landscape, but this spring she could wait no longer! She prepared a 50’ x 50’ garden (see above; Marcia’s garden in June 2011) and has already grown a wide variety of herbs, flowers, and vegetables (see below; September 2011). You can see the joy in Marcia’s face when she describes the beautiful land and its Wassaic silt loam soil!

Facing the complexities of planning and managing many aspects of a farm venture, Marcia felt she needed to enroll in a famer training program to learn “how to get from where I am now to the beginnings of a farm.” When she began searching out farmer training courses, she originally explored an online option but decided it was worth travelling to get the practical experience that Groundswell’s New Farmer Training Program offered. Marcia says one of the greatest things she has found through the program is connection to a diverse community of people and resources that have helped to put her farm vision into perspective and make realistic plans. She has been delighted to be part of a diverse cohort that is enthusiastic and supportive. “The program and people seem well sensitized to the complexities of diversity—age, gender, life history as well as racial diversity," she says. “There weren’t any cliques, just a lot of intermingling, and the electives are a wonderful personal setting to get to know people.”

Marcia also found mentorship to be a key component of education. “Some things you learn from the farmer educators are technical, but there are many things that you learn about the life of farming as well.” Marcia has found that the farm tours and workshops have given her insight to the pragmatic decisions that farmers have make in order to make their operation run. “It’s not about being right, it’s about what works with what you have, and what you’re going to do. It’s really artistic design, and it's iterative. You go back and forth between your farming ideals and the reality of the land you’re on.” She has realized that enterprise farming is very different from gardening or homesteading. Since enrolling in the program, Marcia has realized that her primary interest is in creating a productive homestead rather than operating a commercial farm.

Now 5 months into the program, she has found that one of the greatest things she has gained is the realization that she might know more than she originally believed. There is so much that she had internalized during her early experiences that she is tapping back into and getting reacquainted with. She says she has also lost some of her anxieties about getting it “right” and realized that though you may try your best, some things will be out of your control. “And it helps to know,” she says, “that each year you get a fresh slate.”

Ithaca’s Growing Food Justice Movement

2011-09-16T19:47:00.000-04:00

By Kirtrina Baxter

The food justice movement in Ithaca and surrounding areas is spreading fast. What exactly is a food justice movement, you ask? Well, according to Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi, authors of the book Food Justice,

“Food advocates may work on several different issue areas, but share the common goal of challenging the injustices that exist throughout the dominant industrial and increasingly globalized food system. By striving to alleviate these injustices in the entire food system, the Food Justice movement is linked to and supports allied movements such as those related to the environment, land use, health, immigration, worker rights, economic and community development, cultural integrity, and social justice.”

For decades, there has been a robust local foods movement in our area, promoting healthier ways to eat while educating people on sustaining our community. However, because the planning of this was not inclusive, ultimately the benefits of this movement have not been shared by all. The food justice movement strives to correct this fact by engaging communities of color and those of limited means so that they too have access to affordable, healthy food choices. Not only that, but the food justice movement serves to include diverse voices in the planning of a local food system that benefits all populations of our community and address issues of disparities and inequities. But as the definition above alludes to, the food justice movement seeks to provide a holistic approach to addressing the inadequacies of our current food system.

The fight against our current food system is also about community health. The rates of diabetes and high blood pressure disproportionately affect people in communities of color and next, people in lower income ranges. Information about the connections between our health and our eating habits are being addressed somewhat by health agencies, however, giving community members the resources to access culturally relevant food solutions is still a large problem.

I believe that if we educate our communities to be conscious consumers, then they would chose what is best for their families and community. I also believe that until such time as we all have the information and knowledge necessary to be conscious about our food choices, our goal as a community should be to help pass knowledge and information along by any means at our disposal. Someone could share with a neighbor about their garden and how much it feeds their family, one could start a community garden in their neighborhood, or one could choose to research and find ways to eat healthier, modeling those practices that will help to sustain our community more. Then there are those of us who volunteer or work to get information out to our communities via schools, agencies, programs and more.

As part of a growing food justice movement, Greenstar Community Projects (GSCP) and its collaborative partners have been serving our community on various levels.

In our schools:
Ithaca Community Harvest’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program serve elementary students a cup of fruits and vegetables every day at BJM. Also, The Youth Farm Project engages a diverse body of teenagers from our local schools. While teaching them to grow organic produce on a farm for their community and families, they also educate them around issues of social justice related to the food industry.

In our community:
The Congo Square Market provides an outlet for this locally grown produce of the Youth Farm Project while Gardens4Humanity, which is also educating our children in after-school programs about gardening and agriculture, helps citizens and organizations to establish community gardens in their area. GSCP’s market box pilot provided locally grown organic produce to BJM, Southside and GIAC families twice a month during fall at a reduced cost, while also providing them with nutrition information and culturally appropriate recipe ideas.
Also in the community, our partners are providing access to agricultural skills building. Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming offers a Summer Practicum in sustainable farming and local food through TC-3 and a beginning farmer trainer course. Gardens4Humanity also provides training in urban gardening and food justice. And all of our partners are committed to connecting local citizens with the local farmers who grow their food, through crop mobs, gleaning, farm field trips and community volunteer days.

Food justice is not just about food, it’s about our right as humans to access that which is necessary for us to live. Food is a basic human right and as such, we should be aware of the discrimination and injustice in our current food system and work together as a community to correct this. The Institute for Food and Development Policy had this to say about food justice advocates: “We are also committed to dismantling racism in the food system and believe in people’s right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Read more...

In order for us to effectively move forward on the issue of sustaining ourselves as a community, we must ensure that voices from our diverse community of citizens are represented as we move forward. In that vein, this Food Justice Summit strives to engage the “whole” community in a family day of fun to help raise funds towards the efforts mentioned above, while also providing community members with access to information and resources around agriculture, health, worker’s rights, farm and food related industries, and many other opportunities previously unavailable to them.

There are many layers and levels to how we can contribute to this food justice movement. Together these practices will form the necessary knowledge base within this community that is needed for us to become informed citizens in charge of our own destiny with regard to our quality of life. Together we will walk on October 22nd to help with the fight to inform and empower all community members to know and act in the best interest of the whole, with regard for our food system!

Kirtrina Baxter is the Program Director of GreenStar Community Projects. To learn more, visit the Food Justice Summit's website.

EVI turns 20!

2011-08-18T19:31:00.002-04:00

EcoVillage was the benefactor that made the creation of Groundswell possible just three years ago. Now EVI is celebrating their 20th anniversary, and you're invited!

EcoVillage at Ithaca Celebrates its 20th Anniversary
Saturday, September 17, 2011, 1- 4pm, Free & Open to the public
EcoVillage at Ithaca, 100 Rachel Carson Way, Ithaca, NY (off Route 79 West, 2 miles west of Route 13.)

Come Celebrate! EcoVillage at Ithaca is 20 Years and Growing. Twenty years ago, EcoVillage at Ithaca held a kick-off event, a five day “Envisioning Retreat” attended by 100 people. The purpose of the retreat was to inspire people to create an ecological village, one that could serve as an educational model of sustainable living. Now, twenty years later, award-winning EVI is one of the most well-known ecovillages in the world, and the largest in the U.S.

While there is much to celebrate about the accomplishments of the last twenty years, EVI is looking ahead to the future, with the expansion of a new 40 unit neighborhood, a new 50 KW solar array to power the first neighborhood, and new educational programs, such as Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming www.groundswellcenter.org and a Climate Showcase Communities collaboration with Tompkins County Planning Department.
Activities:
Free Tours of:

EcoVillage Cohousing Communities
New 50 KW solar array for 30 homes
Green Buildings
Organic Farms

Family Friendly Fun:

Scavenger Hunt
Local musicians
U-Pick Raspberries
Solar Popcorn & Snacks
EcoVillage Crafts Sale

For further information contact: Fred Schoeps, kmtalk@earthlink.net, 914-500-7872 or Arlene Muzyka, amuzyka@panix.com, 908-537-9933

Groundswell Goes to Kentucky, Finds Friends in the Local & Just Foods Movement

2011-08-18T13:48:00.004-04:00

Wendell Berry greets the crowd at the SAEA conference.

By Sam Bosco, Groundswell CRAFT Coordinator

It may be strange to see Groundswell, Lexington, Kentucky (over 650 miles away), and the word “local” in the same sentence. But indeed, two weeks ago, Groundswell and over a hundred people from across the country (and some from as far as Norway) descended upon the University of Kentucky’s (UK) campus from August 4th through the 5th to engage in a national conversation about education in local, sustainable agriculture – for students of higher education, youth, and adult learners, especially those in traditionally underserved communities.

The Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) provides the only forum for discussing education within sustainable agriculture on a national level. I represented Groundswell at the Association’s 4th conference, presenting about Groundswell’s mission to provide diverse learners the access to knowledge and resources, through our educational programs, in order to facilitate the growth of a sustainable and equitable food system.

In a series dedicated to new farmer training programs, I gave Groundswell’s presentation alongside the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Michigan State Univserity’s Organic Farmer Training Program, and the Farm Life Ecology Summer Intensive at Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT). The overall notion was that there is no one right way to grow a farmer and the diversity of approaches shared by the presenters is a testament to this. We all felt that each others’ offerings provided learning experiences and resource access in unique ways suited to our local context.

Through a Service-Learning field trips organized by the conference, Groundswell was able to meet and briefly partner with two organizations dedicated to bringing fresh, local food to those that need it the most. Seedleaf is small not-for-profit community garden on donated land in downtown Lexington whose mission is to “increase the amount, affordability, nutritional value, and sustainability of food available to people at risk of hunger in central Kentucky.” They accomplish this through several avenues: offering community garden space, work share u-pick, food preservation and cooking workshops, personal garden installments, garden based educational programs, community-wide composting, and food distribution.

FaithFeeds is another not-for-profit “cooperative association of individuals and faith communities who seek to assist in alleviating hunger in the Bluegrass”. FaithFeeds engages in four main activities to support their mission: gleaning extra or utility grade produce from local farmers, cooking workshops for youth and adults, urban garden installation, and food preservation of gleaned goods. Since June 2010 they have gleaned 59,000 lbs of food; 21,500 lbs of which is from this year alone! All of the acquired food is donated, raw or preserved, to several emergency food providing agencies. Groundswell helped to glean nearly 300 lbs of peaches and yellow squash (check out the pictures on the FaithFeeds website)! Now central Kentucky has a bit of Ithaca love.

One of the most jovial moments was during an astounding farm-to-table farmside feast at the UK organic research and CSA South Farm. The meal was catered by local chefs as well as the UK Sustainable Agriculture Program’s own chef, Bob Perry, specializing in farm-to-table meals. After the feast, we were surprised by a guest speaker: Wendell Berry, a prolific agrarian writer, Kentucky native, and friend and confidant of the College of Agriculture’s Dean, M. Scott Smith. Wendell read us his short story titled Sold, a historical and current commentary on the loss of small farms in the United States. After the reading he answered a few questions. An audience member asked him, “Mr. Berry, do you have hope?” Wendell replied, “Yes. But, hope is a virtue, we cannot assume it.” At that moment I felt his words speaking through to the core of Groundswell and I was reminded of why Groundswell (and each of the other groups at the conference) was there: to change the story of the present and help to write the story of small farms in the future.

Sam Bosco is Groundswell's CRAFT coordinator. He is also a graduate student studying horticulture at Cornell University, where he is president of the New World Agriculture & Ecology Group.

Plowing Over: Can Urban Farming Save Detroit and Other Declining Cities? Will the Law Allow It?

2011-08-07T00:28:00.001-04:00

This article from the American Bar Association Journal addresses the legal intricacies of urban farming in Chicago and other cities- how organizations are acquiring land, what zoning challenges they face, and how some city governments are bending their own rules to make way for the new green industry.
The article also links to three urban farming resources (in PDF) that are available for public view:
Growing Food in the City: The Production Potential of Detroit’s Vacant Land
Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland
Vacant Land Management in Philadelphia

It’s a warm day in April, and Skip Wiener is showing off the crown jewel of gardens that the Urban Tree Connection has created out of 29 vacant lots in the poverty-ridden Haddington neighborhood on Philadelphia’s west side.

The site, tucked away in the center of a block of 60 homes, once was used by a construction firm for storage. When Wiener, the founder and director of the UTC, was first alerted about the property by a local block captain, it was overgrown, riddled with industrial waste, and a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes.

It was just what the UTC was looking for. The nonprofit organization supports renewal efforts in low-income communities by turning abandoned open spaces into various types of gardens, including some devoted to growing fruits and vegetables.

The site is now called the Neighborhood Food Central Production Farm. Any remaining debris has been pushed to the side; wood chips have been sprinkled over the driveway; and, in the center, neat rows of vegetables are growing, marked by cheerful hand-painted signs announcing such crops as potatoes, bok choy, collards and cabbages.

The “farm” is special, partly because of its comparatively large size—two-thirds of an acre—but also because it’s the only property over which the UTC enjoys actual legal possession. On the others, says Wiener, the organization’s founder and executive director, “we’re basically squatting.”

The UTC’s farm typifies a growing but still uncertain movement to bring agriculture back to America’s cities.

Read more...

Food Justice Certification Gains Momentum: Certifiers and Farm Worker Representatives Complete Training and Qualifying Exam

2011-08-05T14:31:00.002-04:00

The Agricultural Justice Project proudly announces the awarding of certificates to representatives of four organic certification agencies and five farm worker organizations who successfully completed a 3-day training on the requirements for the Food Justice Certified label. Twenty one people took part in the training May 3 – 5, 2011, in Eugene, Oregon, which included formal presentations on AJP standards and policies, and three practice inspections on area farms and a business. Management Committee member Sally Lee explained, “A Memo of Understanding with AJP will allow the certification agencies to offer our domestic fair trade certification to farms and food businesses across North America. A unique feature of the AJP system requires the trained certification inspectors to cooperate with representatives of farm worker organizations in performing the third party verification.”

The long-term goal of the AJP is to transform the existing unjust food system. AJP envisions a food system that is based on thriving, ecological family-scale farms that provide well-being for farmers, dignified work for wage laborers, and that distributes its benefits fairly throughout the food chain from seed to table. As a first small step towards this ambitious goal, AJP is launching domestic fair trade in the United States with a social justice label, Food Justice Certified. This new label allows family-scale farms to distinguish their products from industrialized organic products. The standards for this label are based on the complementary principles of fair pricing for the farmer and just working conditions for farm and food business workers resulting in a win/win/win/win scenario in which workers, farmers, buyers, and ultimately consumers all benefit.

For more information, contact Sally Lee at agjusticeproject@gmail.com or visit the website – www.agriculturaljusticeproject.org.

Via Campesina: Shashe Declaration

2011-08-01T15:50:00.003-04:00

Via Campesina, the International Peasant Movement, just released the Shashe Declaration, a culmination of a recent meeting of agroecology trainers from around the globe. The document discusses threats to food security and affirms the goals and commitments of Via Campesina as they work to support sustainable farming by farmers with small holdings. To learn more, visit http://www.viacampesina.org.

1st Encounter of Agroecology Trainers in

Africa Region 1 of La Via Campesina

12-20 June 2011

Shashe Declaration

We are 47 people from 22 organizations in 18 countries (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Angola, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Central African Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Portugal, USA, France, and Germany). We are farmers and staff representing member organizations of La Via Campesina, along with allies from other farmer organizations and networks, NGOs, academics, researchers, interpreters and others.

We have been meeting at the Shashe Endogenous Development Training Centre in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe to plan how to promote agroecology in our Region (Southern, Eastern & Central Africa). Here we have been privileged to witness firsthand the successful combination of agrarian reform with organic farming and agroecology carried out by local small holder farming families. In what were once large cattle ranches owned by three large farmers who owned 800 head of cattle and produced no grain or anything else, there are now more than 365 small holder peasant farming families with more than 3,400 head of cattle, who also produce a yearly average of 1 to 2 tonnes of grain per family plus vegetables and other products, in many cases using agroecological methods and local peasant seeds. This experience strengthens our commitment to and belief in agroecology and agrarian reform as fundamental pillars in the construction of Food Sovereignty.

Threats and Challenges to Small Holder Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

Our region of Africa is currently facing challenges and threats that together undermine the food security and well-being of our communities, displace small holder farmers and undercut their livelihoods, undermine our collective ability to feed our nations, and cause grave damage to the soil, the environment and the Mother Earth.

These include local and regional manifestations of the global food price crisis and the climate crisis that have been produced by runaway neoliberal policies and the greed and profit-taking of Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Cheap subsidized food imports brought by TNCs, made possible by misguided free trade agreements, lowers the prices we receive for our farm products, forcing families to abandon farming and migrate to cities, while undermining local and national food production. Foreign investors, invited in by some of our governments, grab the best farm land, displacing food producing local farmers, and redirecting that land toward environmentally devastating mining, agrofuel plantations that feed cars instead of people, and other export plantations that do nothing to build Food Sovereignty for our peoples, and only enrich a few.

At the same time, uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from Developed Countries and from the global corporate food system based on long distance transport and industrial agriculture are changing the climate in ways that directly affect farmers. Our lands become more arid, with water ever more scarce, we face rising temperatures, and increased extreme weather conditions like severe storms, floods and droughts. The dates of the rainy season have become completely unpredictable, so that nobody knows when to plant anymore. The changing climate is also implicated in epidemics of communicable diseases of humans, crops and livestock. All of this hurts farming families and affects food production.

We face TNCs who want to force GMO seeds into our countries, whether or not we currently have GMO bans, and agencies like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) who conspire with TNCs like Cargill and Monsanto and with our governments to buy off national research and seed systems in order to sell GMO seeds. These seeds threaten the integrity of our local varieties and the health of our consumers. The same companies even manipulate regional farmer organizations to push GMOs, and we call on such organizations to resist being used in such ways.

While our soils, agroecosytems and forests are ever more degraded by industrial agriculture and plantations, and local seed biodiversity is lost, the costs of production under the conventional “Green Revolution” model are more expensive and out of the reach of small holder farmers. The price of chemical fertilizer on the world market, for example, has risen more than 300% in the last few years.

Faced with this bleak situation for small holder agriculture and Food Sovereignty in our region, as members of organizations belonging to La Via Campesina we take the following positions:

Positions of La Via Campesina in Africa Region 1

We believe that…

Agroecological farming as practiced by small holder farmers, and Food Sovereignty policies, offer the only reasonable and feasible solutions to these multiple challenges facing our Region.

Only agroecological methods (also called sustainable agriculture, organic farming, ecological agriculture, etc.) can restore soils and agroecosystems that have been degraded by industrial agriculture. Even chemicals do not work after severe degradation, but with agroecology we can restore soil organic matter and fertility, along with functional agroecosystem processes and services like nutrient recycling, soil biology, natural pest control, etc. We have seen that small holder agroecological systems have much greater total productivity than industrial monocultures, with little or no purchased inputs, reducing the dependency and increasing the autonomy and well-being of rural families while producing abundant and healthy food for our peoples. Global research by La Via Campesina demonstrates that Sustainable Peasant Agriculture Can Feed the World, based on endogenous knowledge and agroecology.

The global food system currently generates between 44 and 57% of global greenhouse gas emissions, almost all of which could be eliminated by transforming the food system based on the principles of agroecology, agrarian reform and Food Sovereignty. Sustainable Peasant Agriculture Cools the Planet, and this is our best solution to climate change.

In order to adapt to a changing climate we need the greater resiliency of diversified agroecological systems (and water conservation and harvesting, watershed management, agroforestry, ground cover, etc.) and the genetic diversity of local peasant seeds and peasant seed systems. We demand that our governments withdraw support from the corporate seed industry with it’s standardized and often genetically modified seeds, and instead support peasant seed systems based on recovering, saving, multiplying, storing, breeding and exchanging seeds at the local level.

Our national education and research systems are heavily biased toward the very industrial agriculture practices that are killing our planet and contributing to the failure of Africans to feed ourselves. We demand the reorientation of research toward farmer-led methods and agroecology, and the transformation of curricula at primary and secondary schools levels, and in higher education, to focus on agroecology.

We call for an end to trade liberalization and the renewed protection of domestic markets so that African farmers can receive the fair prices that will enable us to boost production and feed our peoples.

We call on governments to create comprehensive programs to support agroecological farming by small holders and to rebuild Food Sovereignty, including genuine agrarian reform and the defense of peasant lands from land grabbing, the reorientation of government food procurement from agribusiness toward purchasing ecological food at fair prices from small holders to supply schools, hospitals, institutional cafeterias, etc., as a way to support farmers and to provide healthy food to children, sick people and government employees, and programs of production credit for small holders engaged in ecological farming instead of subsidies tied to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

At the COP-16 in Cancun, Mexico, the governments of the world (except Bolivia) met to conduct business with TNCs who traffic in false solutions to climate changes like agrofuels, GMOs, carbon markets, REDD+, etc., instead of meeting to seriously and effectively reverse global warming through real emission reductions by Developed Countries and the transformation of our global food, energy and transport systems. We demand that our governments behave more responsibly at COP-17 in Durban, South Africa, refusing to sign agreements imposed by the North and by TNCs, instead supporting the Cochabamba Principles on the Climate and the Rights of the Mother Earth.

Commitments of La Via Campesina

While we demand that our governments act in all the ways mentioned above, and will turn up the pressure on them to do so, we will not wait for them. Instead we pledge to continue to build agroecology and Food Sovereignty from below. We pledge to take the following practical steps:

We will build organizational structures in La Via Campesina at the regional level to support our national member organizations in their work to promote agroecology among their member families. This includes regional training programs, exchange visits, the production and sharing of educational materials, and the identification and documentation of successful cases in the region so that all can learn the lessons they offer. Among the structures we will build is a network of agroecology trainers and practitioners in La Via Campesina in our Region.

We will promote the creation of agroecology training programs and schools in our organizations, and farmer-to-farmer and community-to-community agroecology promotion programs.

Through our own organizations we will promote the creation and strengthening of local peasant seed systems.

We will document the experience in Zimbabwe of agrarian reform and organic farming by beneficiary families, as successful steps toward Food Sovereignty that we who are in other countries can learn from.

We will work to “keep carbon in the ground and in trees” in the areas under our control, by promoting agroforestry, tree planting, agroecology, energy conservation, and by fighting land grabs for mining and industrial plantations.

We will engage and pressure governments at all levels (local, traditional provincial, national and regional) to adopt Public Policies that favor agroecology and Food Sovereignty.

We will build a powerful small holder farmer and peasant voice to be present with other sectors of civil society at COP-17 in Durban, and at Rio +20 in Brazil, with the message that we oppose false solutions to climate change and demand the adoption of the Cochabamba Principles. We will insist on Small Holder Sustainable Agriculture and Food Sovereignty as the most important true solutions to climate change.

Africans! We Can Feed Ourselves with Agroecology and Food Sovereignty!

Sustainable Agriculture by Small Holder Farmers Cools the Planet!

No to the Corporate Food System, GMOs and Land Grabbing!

Yes to Agrarian Reform and an Agroecological Food System!

Globalize Struggle! Globalize Hope!

Masvingo District, Zimbabwe, 20 June 2011

Student Profile: Allan Gandelman

2011-07-20T14:26:00.004-04:00

Allan Gandelman is a student in Groundwell's New Farmer Training Program.

Interview by Devon Van Noble

Allan Gandelman in the greenhouse
at Main Street Farms.

Allan has had a lifelong passion for farming. "For the past 10 years I had my own gardens, fruit trees, and raised goats in New Paltz," he says. When he moved to the area and began working as a middle/high school social studies teacher at Cortland Alternatives School, Allan found himself deeply interested in school food. "Being aware of school food issues in the Cortland County School District inspired me to be able to provide healthy food for kids year round, food that didn't depend on international sources."

Now Allan is an urban farmer and entrepreneur in the rural town of Homer, NY. His enterprise, Main Street Farms, sells organic produce and vegetable transplants. He hopes to tackle the issue of healthy school food by distributing his locally grown produce to area schools through his nonprofit, Schoolyard Gardens.

His latest interest is aquaponics, a combined fish/plant production system in which plants purify water for fish, which in turn fertilize the plant life. "When I found out about aquaponics it all made sense to me. It seemed like an economically sustainable model that could produce year-round. It can be put anywhere. And fish are a really bountiful protein source without a lot of land demands or fossil fuel inputs." Allan has already built one aquaponics system and is looking to build another.

Allan was attracted to the New Farmer Training Program because he felt the organic farming curriculum would help him on his way to becoming a successful sustainable farmer. "I looked at the electives and thought I could really use this stuff, and could have used this stuff even 10 years ago when I was planning on becoming a farmer," he says. He says he's learning about the logistics of running a farm. "The most significant thing I've been picking up on recently is the layout of farms - where you put the cooler, where you wash vegetables. Seeing the workflow patterns has been helpful in my planning process for my own property. I'm also paying a lot of attention to production practices and their interaction with markets."

Just as importantly, the class is also giving Allan a supportive social network. "There have already been 6 or 7 people from the class that have been out to Main Street Farms, which is great. It's also really beneficial to simply see what other people are doing- what else is going on out there." Meeting all the farmers has been crucial, says Allan. "Now that we know each other, I'm able to go to them to ask questions when I need help. Being exposed to all these different perspectives has been really helpful too. Every farmer has a unique role in the food system, and they each approach their role in very different ways, philosophically and ideologically."

Student Profile: Joseph Amsili

2011-07-20T12:11:00.006-04:00

Joseph Amsili is a student in Groundswell's Summer Practicum in Sustainable Farming & Local Food Systems.

by Drew Walsh, Summer Practicum Teaching Assistant

Joseph carries transplants destined
for the field at the Ithaca Youth Farm.

Joseph entered the world of local food in 11th grade at the Lehman Alternative Central School (LACS) as part of the Green Thumb Committee, spending his summers in the fields at the LACS garden and West Haven Farm. During 11th and 12th grades, he was involved in in growing food for the school cafeteria in the LACS garden and hydroponically. He recalls preparing lots of pesto, salsa, and other produce for the school, musing that even though slicing lots of peppers doesn't seem like much on the surface, he was also forging connections between students and their food as well as gaining a better understanding the environmental consequences of agriculture, which he finds to be extremely important and meaningful work.

After high school, Joseph spent some time abroad in Barcelona, tending gardens in a housing co-op and working with Transition Barcelona and Wiser Earth, an environmental activist networking site, in between his many hours of skateboarding. Upon returning to the Ithaca area, he interned at Stick and Stone Farm, and resumed his volunteer work with the LACS garden and Localvores club. Joseph attended American University for about a year, finding himself again working in student gardens and even began an internship at Will Allen's Growing Power, before that was cut short by a broken collarbone.

Joseph was drawn to the Summer Practicum in part by his desire to work in the Ithaca area. "A sense of place is important," he emphasized. That sense of place, for Joseph, involves strong connections with the people around him. Everywhere Joseph has gone, he has grown relationships in the garden as well as food. He says he is always finding more and more admiration for the work of community gardeners, and learning there is always room for another pair of hands. The Practicum has continued this process, and he notes how great it is to meet new people from so many different places and backgrounds all branching out and trying new experiences, but still working towards common goals. The literature and discussions presented in the class, particularly around racism and food justice, have also proved useful, elucidating the complex interplays between many groups that together build a community.

Joseph finds exceptional enjoyment in the Monday work sessions on West Haven Farm. He always appreciates hands on experience, but he is particularly interested in the scientific perspective Todd provides on running a farm. "The little details are the most interesting part," Joseph explains, adding he especially enjoys learning about weed management and pest and disease identification and control. But it's not just agricultural science Joseph is learning from Todd. As a leader of the Ithaca Youth Farm, Joseph is looking to Todd as an example of how to teach and lead on farm. Joseph's proudest achievement of the Practicum was teaching the class about the mission of the Ithaca Youth Farming Project, and leading his peers in a successful work session at Three Swallows Farm.

Seven Principles of Food Sovereignty

2011-06-29T00:21:00.003-04:00

Reposted from savingseeds, this is La Via Campesina's (The International Peasant Movement) "Seven Principles of Food Sovereignty."

Seven Principles of Food Sovereignty

Food: A Basic Human Right. Everyone must have access to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food in sufficient quantity and quality to sustain a healthy life with full human dignity. Each nation should declare that access to food is a constitutional right and guarantee the development of the primary sector to ensure the concrete realization of this fundamental right.
Agrarian Reform. A genuine agrarian reform is necessary which gives landless and farming people – especially women – ownership and control of the land they work and returns territories to indigenous peoples. The right to land must be free of discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, race, social class or ideology; the land belongs to those who work it.
Protecting Natural Resources. Food Sovereignty entails the sustainable care and use of natural resources, especially land, water, and seeds and livestock breeds. The people who work the land must have the right to practice sustainable management of natural resources and to conserve biodiversity free of restrictive intellectual property rights. This can only be done from a sound economic basis with security of tenure, healthy soils and reduced use of agro-chemicals.
Reorganizing Food Trade. Food is first and foremost a source of nutrition and only secondarily an item of trade. National agricultural policies must prioritize production for domestic consumption and food self-sufficiency. Food imports must not displace local production nor depress prices.
Ending the Globalization of Hunger. Food Sovereignty is undermined by multilateral institutions and by speculative capital. The growing control of multinational corporations over agricultural policies has been facilitated by the economic policies of multilateral organizations such as the WTO, World Bank and the IMF. Regulation and taxation of speculative capital and a strictly enforced Code of Conduct for TNCs is therefore needed.
Social Peace. Everyone has the right to be free from violence. Food must not be used as a weapon. Increasing levels of poverty and marginalization in the countryside, along with the growing oppression of ethnic minorities and indigenous populations, aggravate situations of injustice and hopelessness. The ongoing displacement, forced urbanization, repression and increasing incidence of racism of smallholder farmers cannot be tolerated.
Democratic control. Smallholder farmers must have direct input into formulating agricultural policies at all levels. The United Nations and related organizations will have to undergo a process of democratization to enable this to become a reality. Everyone has the right to honest, accurate information and open and democratic decision-making. These rights form the basis of good governance, accountability and equal participation in economic, political and social life, free from all forms of discrimination. Rural women, in particular, must be granted direct and active decision-making on food and rural issues.

Dynamic Equilibrium as a Farm Goal

2011-06-24T11:51:00.001-04:00

Elizabeth Henderson, farmer of Peacework Organic Farm, ag justice champion and regional organic/CSA pioneer, wrote this piece back in 2002 for Growing for Market. We wanted to share it with beginning farmers who are seeking balance in their lives on the farm.

Running a Resilient Farm Business
by Elizabeth Henderson

For several years, I followed the engaging saga of the Arnosky’s farm in this magazine (Growing for Market). They added more flowers, more acres, more greenhouses, more employees. Then they added vegetables. And then they announced that they had no more time to write for Growing for Market, an activity they had seemed to enjoy. While creative and adventurous in their farming techniques, the Arnosky’s turned out to be orthodox true believers in their business strategy. The sign over the door of US business reads: “if you aren’t growing, you’re dying.” The ag. establishment bullies farms with the demand: “get bigger or get out.” Are these good mantras for sustainable farm businesses? Wouldn’t “resilience,” and ”dynamic equilibrium” be healthier goals to guide us in developing our farms?

Achieving dynamic equilibrium or dynamic stability means finding a way to run your farm so that it does not run you into the ground. Designing your farm for maximum resilience means that you can withstand the shocks of bad weather, business cycles, and the fragility of human existence. Most of us who are doing market farming chose this path because growing vegetables or flowers or tending livestock is something we love to do. We get satisfaction from living close to the earth, working outdoors, planting and seeing things grow, nurturing living creatures, using our bodies as well as our minds. We can imagine small-scale farming as a wonderful style of life for ourselves and future generations. The trick is to design our farms so that we do not destroy our love. That means we have to find the right scale of activities, the number of acres we can handle, the optimum amount of equipment, the fairest markets, and the financial goals that will make our farming socially as well as environmentally sustainable.

Definitions: Dynamic - “marked by continuous productive activity or change.” Equilibrium - “a state of adjustment between opposing or divergent influences or elements.” Stability - “the strength to stand or endure.” Resilience - “ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” Webster.

In the way that the writings of Sir Albert Howard, Robert Rodale, Masanobu Fukuoka and Rudolf Steiner, have helped us understand the meaning of farming in nature’s image, Jane Jacob’s new book, The Nature of Economies (Vintage, 2001), is a guide to seeing how the human economies of our farms follow the patterns of natural systems. Jacobs explains that there are “three master processes that govern successful economic life as surely as they govern the rest of nature: development and co-development through differentiations and their combinations; expansion through diverse, multiple uses of energy; and self-maintenance through self-refueling.” Add to this her discussion of “stabilization through self-correction,” and we have a conceptual model for achieving dynamic equilibrium on our farms and local food systems.

How do we bring these abstractions down to earth? In my experience, taking a training in Holistic Management is a good way to begin. Holistic Management teaches you to put into words for yourself and your farm a 3-part set of goals: environmental, economic and social/spiritual. No need to chisel these in stone. These are living, evolving goals for us to revisit as we live and learn. These goals serve as a guide to decision-making. Whenever you consider a major, or even a minor, change in farm management, you can weigh this change against your goals so that you don’t find yourself shooting off enthusiastically in a direction that ultimately makes you unhappy and conflicts with what you most want to accomplish.

My partners, Ammie Chickering and Greg Palmer, and I created these goals for Peacework Organic Farm:

* to produce safe, nutritious, hand-crafted, fresh food for area families.

* to reduce to the minimum the miles our food travels to reach the tables where it is eaten.

* to minimize or eliminate the soil erosion that usually comes with crop production.

* to maximize biodiversity above and below ground.

* to recycle nutrients, and reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources like diesel fuel and other off-farm inputs.

* to create an attractive and orderly farmstead that is a complement to the beauty of Crowfield Farm.

* to create a work atmosphere that is calm, cheerful, and welcoming; that allows us to enjoy the rhythm of the seasons, and to be attentive to the natural beauty around us.

* to create an environment that is safe, fun and educational for children, including our own.

* to involve the community in our farm, and our farm in the community: to improve local food security, social justice, and cooperation among farmers and between farmers and consumers.

* to continue to learn and to share with others the knowledge and skills we acquire.

* to make a modest living for our two families: we are blue collar farmers; we enjoy physical labor and have no desire to become managers or exploiters of other people’s work.

We have also decided to avoid borrowing money. If we want to purchase a new piece of equipment, we have to pay for it in cash. At the end of each season, when we finish our bookkeeping, our first priority is a bonus for the interns who have spent the entire season with us. We pay ourselves, set aside start-up money for the next season, and then see how much we have left to spend on improvements. We have a priority list of things we want, and we get as far down the list as we can with the cash on hand. In the contract the members of our CSA sign with us, there is a line for “contributions to the farm capital fund.” In the four years since we founded Peacework, members have entrusted us with thousands of dollars with no strings attached. Each fall, they pay a $50 deposit to hold their place for the next year. That is our seed money.

Another part of our balancing act is our conscious choice to live as lightly on the planet as we can manage. The less cash we need to live on, the freer we become. I keep pretty close track of how I spend my money - both because there isn’t a lot of it, but also because I am aways looking for little ways to spend less. I recycle fanatically. I can, freeze, and root cellar food from our farm to keep me out of the supermarket in the winter, and I belong to a food buying club that cuts out at least one layer of middlemen. My fashion-plate mother would have been horrified to see me shopping for clothing in second-hand stores, though my grand-mother-in-law would have been tickled at my observance of her slogan - “never buy anything new.”

My farm partners and I have expanded our production to generate enough for the three of us to live on - and that is as far as we intend to go. Our farm pay covers health insurance (a major medical type of plan with a big deductible), and we have started a small pension fund. We share our farm budget with the members of our CSA because we want them to know what we earn. Some members are embarrassed; others feel challenged to simplify their own lives too.

Let me give you an illustration of how we make decisions. For years, we have been doing all of our transplanting by hand. After suffering from sore knees for an entire season, Ammie proposed that we purchase a transplanter. Is buying a transplanter a decision that fits with our farm goals? Let’s see: 1. We have the cash to buy one. 2. All of our knees are getting older. 3. If the equipment runs well, use of this machine will shorten our work hours. 4. However, the transplanter transforms a quiet job into a noisy one requiring more passes over the field with a fuel-guzzling tractor. On balance, after observing the equipment of several farming friends, we have decided that the time and body savings outweigh the negative environmental costs.

Knowing how much money is enough for our needs helps us direct our energies to our other important goals. At least once a week, a well-meaning person suggests to me some additional enterprise we could undertake at our farm to earn more money. We could expand our vegetable production using the many available acres near us, add winter shares, keep bees and sell the honey, grow medicinal herbs, collect wild herbs, raise chickens, hogs, goats, make tinctures, soap, dress up and give tours, etc. and so on. I nod and smile graciously, and think to myself, and how long would it take me to learn to do that, how much would I have to invest, how many hours would it add to my work year, and do I really need to be any busier?

At Peacework, we do not have a lot of financial capital, but we are rich in social capital and that contributes to the quality of our lives. Rather than finding ways to work more and earn more, we put our energies into developing our farm as a sustainable enterprise. We are creating a new kind of hybrid, part business and part community organization. We devote time and energy to getting to know the people who join our CSA. We work along side them at the farm, we socialize with them, and communicate through all the media at our disposal. We have a core group that meets once a month all year round, a regular newsletter, an active website, an email group, a May Day celebration and an Annual Dinner. Every year, we ask our members to fill out a questionnaire on what vegetables and what quantities they want, and an end of the season survey on what they liked and disliked about the CSA experience. This year, we even did mid-season focus groups to ferret out how to make the CSA fit into their lives as comfortably as possible.

Joining our CSA requires a significant commitment of time, a minimum of 17 hours of farm and distribution work per season for all 270 households. The twenty four members who participate in the core group spend even more time. Each core member has a job, such as distribution coordinator, bookkeeper, outreach, newsletter editor, etc. Our members respond to the demands we put upon them by giving even more than we ask - friendship, services and financial donations to the farm’s capital fund. Belonging to our farm means more than a weekly source of high quality vegetables. For the farm, the dense network of interrelationships with our members is a major source of the resilience which has enabled us to withstand a move, starting over at a new site, and three successive seasons of alternating drought and flooding.

After writing most of this piece, I picked up the April, 2002 issue to Acres U.S.A. and discovered the cover article by Joel Salatin, “Balance: Stability for Your Life and Farm.” Salatin and I are singing in the same key: “We eco-farmers set the standard for balance. We decry the no-impact worldview of Wall Street. We must make consistency and balance normative in both words and action. Our world needs us to provide examples of balance, to show that production need not compromise the local ecology, to show that a profitable business need not adulterate the demographics of the community. We need to pioneer new ways of growing that regenerate communities and our families rather than destroy the bedrock institutions of a culture. If we don’t, who will?”

On our farm, we are trying to live out the kind of balance Salatin talks about. I think I can fairly claim that we are onto some alternative approaches to conventional business and farming challenges. Some resources I have found useful are E. F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful, M. Gerber’s The E-Myth, and Resource Manual for a Living Revolution. There is a rich history of cooperatives in this country and England. We need to delve into that history for ideas for decentrist design and community organization. I would like to close with an image to keep in mind. A business that is constantly expanding, feeding like a voracious predator on the failures of its neighbors, brings to mind a cancerous virus. A resilient farm that is in dynamic equilibrium is more like a brilliant, colorful whirling top.

Jerry Dell Farms in Dryden, NY now licensed to sell raw milk

2011-06-24T11:31:00.000-04:00

From ODairy:

BIG news for raw milk and the consumer!!

The LARGEST ORGANIC DAIRY in the Northeast US is now licensed by the NY State Dept. of Agriculture and Markets to provide consumers directly with uncooked, unfooled-around-with, natural, organic RAW MILK. Jerry Dell Farms in Dryden, NY (Ithaca area) now has a NYS Raw Milk Permit according to NYS Ag & Markets Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services. Though large by local, organic standards, it is still a small farm compared to the large conventional industrial milk "factories". They produce about 30,000lbs or about 3,500 gallons of organic, pastured, quality milk per day, so COME AND GET IT NEW YORK!

Jerry Dell Farm is a family farm owned by operated Vaughn Sherman & family. We congratulate him on his commitment to quality organic dairy and on his courage to stand up to Organic Valley. Mr. Sherman is not only an Organic Valley member farm, but is also chairman of the OV Dairy Executive Committee (DEC) so this should be a very interesting situation as it unfolds. I'm sure most of you are well aware of the prohibition that Organic Valley has placed on its member farms regarding the sale of Raw Milk. As I said before, Jerry Dell is the largest organic dairy in the Northeast, more than doubling the production of the next largest farm, so I find it hard to believe that they will "kick them to the curb". They may regret it if they do as this farm is big enough to have its own bottling plant. NY Raw milk permits only allow on farm sales, but a small plant could provide the low-temp pasteurized, non-homogenized milk that has seen real growth in popularity. This opt! ion also offers the producer an alternative to the big monopolistic dairy coops and processors. Or better yet, we could all pick up the phone and tell your NY Senators and Assemblymen & Assemblywomen to LEGALIZE OFF FARM SALES OF RAW MILK! All our best to Vaughn Sherman & Family!

Washington Post features local McDonald Farm

2011-06-22T19:09:00.002-04:00

The original article can be found here.

Ole McDonald Makes a Comeback in NY's Finger Lakes and Hangs Out a "Clean Food" Shingle

By Associated Press

The Washington Post

June 22, 2011

Peter McDonald assigns his 9-year-old twin boys the tricky task of erecting a mesh fence in one part of the family farm, then tramps across lushly carpeted fields for a daily evaluation of his grass-chomping cows and sheep.

But first, there's ... Hello! A hundred head-bobbing turkeys interrupt their foraging for bugs and clover-leaf morsels to hurtle across the pasture to greet him.

Behind this wholesome agrarian drama with its “Old McDonald” echoes from long ago is a determined effort to crystallize the definition of grass-based livestock farming. A father of nine with a picaresque past and a famous brother in Hollywood, this 57-year-old McDonald allows his assortment of amiable animals to loiter outdoors all day over a dense mix of grasses untainted by chemical fertilizers.

While his pigs and poultry get needed supplements of organic grain, his Finn-Suffolk sheep, Belted Galloway bull, cross-bred Angus beef cattle and a Jersey milk cow named Rosie eat only grass.
Eating large quantities of forage year-round is what cud-chewing animals are built to do, providing them all the nourishment they need to thrive and reproduce, McDonald points out. It’s better for the animals, the humans who consume them, and the planet, he says.
“Feeding ruminant animals anything but grass is biologically, nutritionally wrong,” he says.
Mechanized farming methods that roared in after World War II steered many animals into crowded feedlots, shifting them to a diet of industrial corn to grow them more quickly and cheaply. McDonald’s gripe isn’t with conventional American agriculture, but with other small-scale farmers who fatten their herds on grain, then label their meat “grass-fed.”
“If you’re giving them grain, you should tell everybody you’re doing it,” he said.
“The term is being used to misguide folks into thinking that a cow is fed only grass,” he says, his pale blue eyes gleaming, “when in reality it’s also fed 14 pounds of corn a day.”
Standard organic farming allows four-stomach ruminants such as cows to be fed grain, while animals can be called “free-range” simply by having access to the outdoors. The government’s rules don’t always specify how big a space animals should have or whether it’s on pasture or concrete.
“Outdoors, on grass, in the sunshine — that’s what I consider ‘free-range,’” says McDonald, whose 220-acre farm nestles in a bucolic thumb of land framed by lakes in central New York’s Finger Lakes region.
“I’m not saying tighten the regulations. I’m saying, buy from us or someone else but know the questions to ask. Cut through the fancy words, food marketed as ‘free-range, natural, beyond organic.’ It’s a sad testimony to human nature, but there are those who would say they’re organic when they’ve not even achieved the threshold.”
Critics counter that McDonald’s back-to-basics model — heritage breeds on a niche farm determined to stay small — results in pricey food that’s out of reach of most Americans.
Andy Alexander, 58, who runs an 800-sheep farm and sold McDonald his first ewes in 1991, commends him for drawing customers who “evidently enjoy the warm and fuzzy part and are willing to pay a premium. But alternatively produced food is not going to replace conventional agriculture as far as feeding the masses.”

Susan Eckhardt, 42, who owns 450-acre Brykill Farm in the Hudson Valley, says her pasture-raised Charolais cattle get hand-blended organic grain rations as well as hay “when it starts to get cold out, when there’s no grass! “All of this nonsense about how this is bad for them or toxic, give me a break!” she said.

Wholesaler George Cubillas sympathizes with farmers who go to great lengths to raise animals exclusively on grass only to find they’re competing with rivals “using the grass-fed term loosely.” But he finds it’s hard to get restaurants to carry their products.
“I could be a purist all I want but I have to make a living, and the bottom line is my (patrons’) customers prefer high-quality, grain-fattened meat,” he says.
McDonald counters that his beef is leaner and more flavorful while acknowledging that the fattier, grain-fed version can be tenderer.
After buying a hobby farm on the cheap 20 years ago, McDonald quit his career as a video producer a decade later and, with escalating success, is doing his bit to propel “fresh, local and above all clean food” farming into a postindustrial boom age.
Nationwide, organic-food sales topped $26 billion in 2010, the Organic Trade Association says. Roughly 900 of New York’s 36,000 farms are certified organic and several hundred more like McDonald’s Farm match that description but dispense with certification.
McDonald was resolute from the start on animal welfare. No antibiotics, hormones, synthetic vitamins. No notching of ears. No rings in the pigs’ snouts. No unnecessary stress. Or, to borrow his savvy motto: They have a great life but one bad day.
It took much longer to make a living catering to “an even smaller group of consumers concerned not only with how an animal’s raised but what it eats,” he says.
After years of experimenting, McDonald dispensed with commercial accounts and took aim at a high-end formula that relies on a mere 50 regular customers and a few hundred drop-ins at the Ithaca Farmers Market. While invariably more expensive — chicken is $5 a pound, beef $18 — McDonald says his prices reflect the food’s unsubsidized true value and are cheaper than choice cuts in upscale stores.
Friends say his loquacious charm and eagerness to delve into detail are crucial in marketing his goods. “Not all farmers are anywhere as eloquent as he is in communicating why we want what he has,” says Laura Villanti, 46, a longtime customer.
Using selective breeding within the herds, McDonald manages 130 cattle, 40 sheep and 50 hogs. The pace will quicken in summer with the arrival of 5,000 broiler chicks and 350 young turkeys. All animals are rotated through 12 fields to break up the parasite cycle by natural means, but McDonald also leans heavily on modern tools, from plastic hoop houses to Internet tips.
“Great innovations benefit us, but we don’t have to do what the corporate farmer’s doing — growing animals as fast as possible on the least amount of feed,” he says. “My way is nature’s way. You can’t make the farm 10 times bigger and expect 10 times the success. When you try to do too much, you cut corners.”
His iridescent-feathered turkeys, a Narragansett-wild mix, are an uncommon sight liable to stop traffic as they throng at the farm’s rim alongside a two-lane blacktop.
“Turkeys really are very inquisitive, gregarious, social creatures, far more than chickens,” McDonald observed last November as the last of his 350 birds roamed a grassy paddock. “The first day, they run from you. The rest of their lives, they run toward you.”
Now, after a quiet winter cycle with only sheep, cattle, laying hens and rabbits to care for, his grass is springing up fast. There’s enough work for a young army, and McDonald sends his 11-year-old out early to check on a ewe pregnant with twins.
“She had had one, but one was still in there,” Matthew recounts as his three enthralled younger brothers gather at the kitchen table between morning chores and homeschooling. “I’m glad I brought an extra pair of gloves.”
As McDonald tucks into a homegrown lunch of hickory smoked bacon and brown bread with butter the color of marigolds, the conversation turns to his brother, Christopher, who sometimes rides upstate on his Harley. The children rattle off his movie roles, beginning with golf-pro buffoon Shooter McGavin in “Happy Gilmore,” an Adam Sandler comedy. “I like ‘Flubber’ — that’s a good movie,” pipes in James, 7, to giggles.
“We had a pact early on about which one of us would be a high-paid actor, recognizable in every town in the world, or be an organic farmer. And I won,” McDonald says.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Broccoli and carrots and tomatoes, oh my!: The Youth Grow Summit

2011-06-18T01:29:00.001-04:00

by Emily Belle, Selene Chew and Amanda Wagner

Farming is cool
We learned that in school!

Tons of youth love it
So we’re having a summit!

We demand local
We will be vocal!

We don’t mind getting dirty
We’re all under thirty!

Don’t panic
It’s organic!

Community,
Unity!

Economically just
It’s a must!

Food for all
All for food!

Broccoli and carrots and tomatoes, oh my!
The Youth Grow Summit

This summer, high school students from across New York State will come together in our quest for food justice and environmental stability. The Youth Grow Summit, a new initiative sponsored by the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program, will be held from June 28-30, and will provide a forum for youth to discuss issues related to agricultural and food systems. Workshops will cover a breadth of topics, from leadership training and community organizing to the fundamentals of sustainable agriculture. Summit participants will have the opportunity to get into the fields in various farms and gardens around Ithaca, where they can experience the reality of local, community-oriented food systems and learn some new hands-on farming techniques.

As students at the Lehman Alternative Community School, we have had the chance to integrate the ideas of the local food movement into our lives, both inside and outside of the classroom. This spring, a group from our Ecology class joined a regional delegation and thousands of other youth at the Power Shift conference in Washington, DC. There, we took to the streets and lobbied our representatives on Capitol Hill, demonstrating our commitment to providing a sustainable future for people of all backgrounds and experiences. Now, we are excited to apply the energy and inspiration that came out of Power Shift to one of the most important factors in our vision for a better, healthier world: reshaping the food systems that support us and represent our most basic interaction with the earth. Over the last year, we have been able to work within our school and in collaboration with initiatives around Ithaca that share our goals. We look forward to expanding our network and learning from other knowledgeable, dedicated individuals at the Youth Grow Summit.

Come join us! Learn more and register to participate at http://blogs.cornell.edu/youthgrow/about/

Peace out, be happy, eat kale

~Emily, Selene, and Amanda

The Congo Square Market: an interview with Jhakeem Haltom

2011-05-18T14:59:00.005-04:00

The Congo Square Market at the Southside Community Center will reopen for its third season this Friday afternoon. A collaboration between Southside Community Center, Ithaca Youth Bureau's Paul Scheurs Memorial Program, and the Whole Community Project at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, the market's mission is threefold: "one, to build a stronger and more self-reliant local community; two, to develop Southside's economic base; and three, to encourage community and personal health." Groundswell interviewed Jhakeem Haltom, the market's founder and manager, to talk about how the market came to be and what he's looking forward to this year.

Groundswell: How did the Congo Square market get started and what inspired you and others to create it?

Jhakeem Haltom: The name Congo Square Market is derived from the physical space located in New Orleans called Congo Square. Throughout the American institution of Slavery, Congo Square was a space in which slaves, Whites, and Native Americans could share culture without the oppressive interruption of systematic bondage. This was a place of tremendous joy and jubilation, as plans for future freedom and community development were discussed, stories of the lost past were told, and the community shared music, dance, and food. The idea is to bring this concept to Ithaca, where we can honor African-American history and create a place of convening to better develop community health within the African American population, and eventually for the community at large. All will be welcome at the market, but what people will experience is the strength within the Southside and Northside communities, rather than weaknesses that are often overemphasized.

GS: What did you use as a model or a guide?

JH: In talking to various community leaders, it has become abundantly clear that many residents in the urban downtown community are interested in exploring a healthy diet as well as building a strong community for themselves and their children to live in. Although Ithaca has a farmers market, local organic farms, and multiple grocery stores highlighting organic and natural foods, there are durable barriers hindering many people in our community from accessing those goods. The lack of affordability is time and time again revealed as the primary reason behind not buying these foods or even entering these stores. There are very real cultural barriers as well. Through Congo Square Market, we hope to make this space available by providing affordable healthy food as well a cultural bend toward this community. The cultural element will include the types of foods and goods available, music, the personal element and people working in the market. This safe space will provide a more comfortable arena for members of this community to approach the idea of community unity and healthy eating.

GS: How has Congo Square Market grown or changed over the past two years?

JH: We realized that growing our own food was a must, so Katrina Baxter, also a co-founder of the Congo Square Market, started the Youth Farm Project, which hires youth to work on a farm that provides food to Congo Square Market as well as area schools. Last year, this was a great addition and this year promises to be bigger and better. We also have booked more bands to play at the market because we realize that this drew the maximum amount of people. We had a very professional and appealing banner made to represent out market which participants in the market will see every Friday. We have also added a few new vendors.

GS: What do you see when you visit the market?

JH: Vendors, live music and community.

GS: What are you looking forward to this year as the market enters its third year and beyond?

JH: More live music!

Check out the Congo Square Market, 4-8 pm every Friday from May 20th to September 2nd at the Southside Community Center, 305 South Plain Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. The market is open rain or shine- rainy days will be in the gym. To learn more, check out its website and visit the market itself!

Groundswell Events Calendar

2011-04-22T10:37:00.006-04:00

The Groundswell Events Calendar showcases upcoming farming and gardening events in the Finger Lakes area with some select additions from beyond our community. Click here to view in full-screen mode. Email info@groundswellcenter.org to add an event to the list.

A New Farmer's Story

2011-04-17T22:52:00.001-04:00

Antonio and Rebeca are starting their farm on a small scale this season.

We'd like to share the story of one of our trainees in the New Farmer Training Program. Anthony Ceravalo is a first generation American who is starting to farm this year with his fiancée on land he owns near Cazenovia, NY.

"I am an immigrant. My father was a farmer who had olive and citrus groves. My family has a long history of growing their own foods as well as canning and preserving. I worked in manufacturing in the upstate New York for 20 years. I lived through many plant closings. In 2009 I lost my job of 15 years when my former company went bankrupt. There are no jobs in upstate New York, so I knew I had to try something different.

"When I exhausted my unemployment benefits, I moved back to Spain with my fiancée Rebeca (we are dual citizens), leaving my young adult children at my home in upstate New York. However, there is a severe economic crisis everywhere. I missed my home and my relatives in New York. The quality of life here is superior. I started to plan to go home and start my own business. Rebeca inspired me to become a vegan in 2008. My health improved dramatically. She inspired me to think about where my food comes from, how it is produced, etc. We gardened extensively, but now I want to start a farming business to provide jobs for both of us (she is also unemployed) and my children (two of which are unemployed or underemployed) and my fiancée's relatives (also unemployed)."

"I want to focus on locally grown vegetables and fruits and prefer not to use pesticides. I think I can be successful because I own 30 acres of land in upstate New York, I have gardened all my life, and I worked as a maintenance manager so I can fix any machine and build anything. Farming is the future of America and it is the one thing that cannot be offshore."

We look forward to working with Antonio, Rebeca, and all of our other trainees as they embark on the exciting and challenging pathway toward creating successful farming enterprises.

Groundswell welcomes 2011 New Farmer Training Program participants!

2011-04-17T22:41:00.001-04:00

Trainees will be instructed by experienced farmer mentors like Maryrose Livingston and Donn Hewes of Northland Sheep Dairy, who'll be teaching about livestock husbandry and farming with draft animals (shown here demonstrating working with draft horses)

It’s hard to believe that after two years of planning, we are about to launch our New Farmer Training Program this Wednesday, April 20. And how gratifying to be able to report that we had 37 applicants to the program, and have confirmed 23 trainees! We are thrilled with the enthusiastic response we've received, and are ready to begin the first year of the program with a bang.

So we'd like to say a HUGE WELCOME! to this amazing and inspiring group of trainees. Some of you are probably reading this newsletter for the first time.

Let me tell you a little about yourselves. First, you're all from New York State, which isn’t surprising since we designed the program for people who live in this region and who already have housing, jobs, or farms. Fifteen of you are from Tompkins County, six from Onondaga County (Syracuse area), one each from Cortland and Madison Counties, and one coming all the way from Brooklyn! We had applicants from as far away as California, Detroit and Arizona, but as you might expect, these folks decided it was not feasible to relocate to Ithaca for the program.

An important part of Groundswell's mission is to engage a diverse group of trainees to ensure that historically marginalized people have access to our programs. We haven't collected demographic information from everyone yet, but so far our efforts have been successful insofar as our group includes 5 African-Americans, 2 Latinos, 2 immigrants and 15 women. At least 30% of the applicants identify as people of color. Thanks to our grant from USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, we were also able to provide scholarship support to twelve people who identified as being of "limited resources."

Every one of you has a unique background that you bring to the program, and unique goals and dreams. We are really looking forward to meeting all of you next Wednesday evening and beginning our journey together!

Supporting Farmers as Mentors: Groundswell's March Mentor Training Workshop

2011-04-17T22:04:00.003-04:00

It's an often-cited statistic: 40% of all farmers in America are over the age of 55. More people- especially young people- are going to need to step up to the plate when that 40% leaves the workforce. As Maryrose Livingston, one of Groundswell's most involved farmers, says, with emphasis on each word: "I. Want. More. Farmers! Thousands of 'em! Ten thousands of 'em!"

How do we raise new farmers? Traditionally, farmers came from farming backgrounds and took over the family enterprise when they came of age. Now that only 1-2% of Americans farm, that education path has narrowed considerably. Land grant universities take up some of the slack, but many students leave school without planning to become producers. For the aspiring small farmer, perhaps the most common site of learning is on another person's farm as an employee, intern, volunteer, or maybe just a visitor.

Now, maybe more than ever, farmers are being looked to as mentors by the next generation. However, most farmers don't have a teaching background. Groundswell's mission to grow a more ecological, sustainable and fair food system starts with supporting these farmers in their roles as educators.

On March 16, sixteen area farmers came together for a potluck supper and informal workshop on becoming a better educator and mentor. Hosted by the farmers of the Finger Lakes CRAFT, the Groundswell Center, and NOFA-NY, the workshop was aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of farm-based training in our region, and ultimately, improving the skills of the farming workforce and the success of new farm businesses. The workshop was facilitated by Dean Konayagi and Sharon Tragaskis from Tree Gate Farm, beginning farmers who also have strong backgrounds in communication and experiential education. The group included farmers with years of experience training and mentoring interns, and some who are taking on their first interns this season.

Being a good teacher starts with knowing your audience. Obviously, a farmer is going to communicate differently on a farm tour with the public than she does with her interns. But that's not all an educator needs to consider. How does one tailor a teaching moment to an employee versus an intern, an apprentice, or a volunteer? What about student groups, customers, or other farmers? International visitors? Visitors with special needs? Country folk? City folk? Each group that walks through your farm gates has a unique background and set of experiences and interests that a good educator is sensitive to before, during, and after teaching. What do your visitors want to get out of their experience on your farm? Do they come looking for tranquility, away from the bustle of the city? Are they coming to learn how to work? Do they have romanticized perceptions of farm life? Are they there to learn the nitty gritty details of your operation? Asking questions of your visitors can help you zero in on what they're looking for, and help you deliver an excellent lecture, demonstration or workshop.

Other, more ephemeral factors can also influence your teaching moment and can even cause a well-delivered presentation to go awry and miss the mark. Employees' state of mind and relationships with other employees and bosses come into play. A feud between two employees can bring down the efficiency of the entire group. It's worthwhile to examine how your own behavior as a boss impacts the educational experience of your learners. How do you react when an employee makes a mistake? Taking a deep breath and keeping your cool may be difficult in the moment, but ultimately it can save your employee-employer relationship. Negative affect in the workplace is a major distraction and can lead to a breakdown in communication. Maintaining an atmosphere of respect, cooperation and trust is crucial to effective knowledge transfer.

When it comes to your employees, interns, apprentices, and long-term volunteers--those you communicate with on a daily basis--understanding each others' learning styles and communication patterns can make the difference between a positive working relationship and a negative one. Do you tend to need peace and quiet when you're stressed? If your intern knows this, it can save you both a lot of frustration. Does your intern seem to have difficulty following verbal directions? Perhaps written instructions, a hands-on demonstration or a diagram would help. Using multiple teaching modes simultaneously is a sure way to reach every learner in your audience. Consider verbally explaining a harvesting technique while demonstrating it and then inviting your trainee to give it a try. For some learners, it can be as easy as explaining a procedure in different words.

What can you do when communication breaks down? Perhaps you're halfway through a farm tour and your visitors haven't asked a single question. Do they already know it all? Or do they have no clue what you're showing them, and feel too embarrassed to ask questions? Perhaps you've been talking too much, and your audience needs some time to process it all. One of our farmers suggested taking a 10 minute bathroom break, telling your tour group that you want them to have questions for you when you return. Prevention is often easier than remediation; checking in with your audience every couple of minutes and encouraging comments and questions from the get-go can create a safe space for your visitors to express themselves. When a issue arises in the workplace, nip it in the bud by setting aside some time and energy to conflict resolution, whether through open dialogue, or mediation or counseling provided by a neutral third party.

Having diverse learners on the farm, as one of our farmers pointed out, gives you a valuable opportunity to articulate in new ways what you're doing, how you're doing it and why. If the old saying that "the best way to learn something is to teach it" is true, then becoming a better educator is about more than growing new farmers; it's also about making yourself a better one.

Are you a farmer interested in continuing this conversation with other farmers? Consider joining the Finger Lakes CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance in Farmer Training). Got a topic you'd like Groundswell to cover in a future workshop? Send us an email at info@groundswellcenter.org.

Report from the Field: The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Started in Farming

2011-03-14T11:13:00.007-04:00

What kinds of pathways can an aspiring farmer take to get up and running? And what new tools can be found in a Northeast-based beginning farmer's toolkit? This past January, Melissa Madden of The Good Life Farm teamed up with other farmers and resource providers to present "The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Started in Farming” at the NOFA-NY Winter Conference. Here, she reflects on the presentation and shares some tips for those just starting out.

By Melissa Madden with input from Erica Frenay and Maryrose Livingston

As a beginning farmer, I am typically hungry for resources to help my planning and skill development. Before I reached my current stage in the process of Farming as a Career, I was able to bounce around through apprenticeships, manager positions and an incubator farm opportunity. These resources were essential to my personal development as both a farmer and a citizen, and when working with “aspiring” beginning farmers, I often emphasize this path. What is clear to me now is that over the past 5-10 years, resources to support the beginning farmer population have blossomed into a well-rounded set of tools designed for multiple learning styles. While both my partner and I took a very hands-on approach that landed us at our new farm (The Good Life Farm, Interlaken, NY), we barely tapped the current plethora of resources which range from non-profits, like our dear Groundswell’s programs and affiliates (Ithaca Crop Mob, Finger Lakes CRAFT), to increased offerings in sustainable agriculture at universities and colleges (see the Beginning Farmer Project, for one), to more focused apprenticeships and management positions offered through farming associations (see NOFA-NY’s new apprentice matching tool and the BioDynamic Association for examples).

From my perspective as both a farmer and Cornell’s former staff member assigned to the Dilmun Hill Student Farm, public and private resources are providing new farmers-- young and old--with everything from land acquisition advice to accounting to farm safety training and essential technical skills. Trying to encapsulate the variety of things a new farmer needs to know in any one session or resource can be daunting, and that is exactly what a group of Groundswell and Cornell- affiliated farmers and educators did this past January at NOFA-NY’s 2011 Winter Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. Led by Erica Frenay, Cornell Small Farms Program’s Beginning Farmer Project Coordinator, we guided workshop participants through a day-long session focused on de-mystifying the farm start-up process. The “Nuts and Bolts of Getting Started in Farming” topic was in its second year at the 2011 conference, and presenters Erica Frenay and Jamie Edelstein (Wylie Fox Farm, Cato, NY) brought in extra muscle (literally) with Donn Hewes and Maryrose Livingston (Northland Sheep Dairy, Marathon, NY) and the beginning farmer perspective via my partner Garrett Miller and me. Our focus sweepingly included advising participants about goal setting, getting access to good land, start-up financing and business planning, assessing resources and skills, and marketing and profitability. The way it turned out, we might have addressed many more topics than those specifically, but these were the framework for our day.

An important part of the session was getting a handle on who exactly our beginners were. This sort of assessment is something that Groundswell in particular finds itself doing more and more as programs supporting beginning farmers grow. I was personally surprised and impressed by the diversity, especially in age, in our beginners’ session. Erica sent out a survey to those signed up for the full day session several weeks before the conference, and while we intended to tailor the session to the survey results, we ended up finding that they were broad and hit on every topic we intended to cover anyway. We stuck to our original set of topics, and allowed each farm to facilitate one or more. Garrett and I facilitated the start-up financing and business planning focus and very much enjoyed putting all of our financial and production information into presentable format. We spent a good part of the preceding
weeks detailing how certain crops and animals in our perennial polycultures fit with our general values, our short- and long-term goals for the farm and our short- and long-term income cycle. Each topic was presented in a different style- some free-form with a discussion format and others, like ours, with detailed spreadsheets and PowerPoint backup. We also created several activities designed to let the audience assess some of their own resources and skills. Many of these resources are available online through the Northeast Beginning Farmers Project.

One topic that we all struggled to address was how to gain access to land as a beginning farmer. Each farmer at the workshop had a different path to land acquisition: some bought cheap land without outside financing, some farmers bought existing farms financed through older, retiring farmers, and others used a plethora of funding options to obtain productive, well situated land. The land access issue became an ongoing point of discussion throughout the entire conference. NOFA-NY had done so much work to attract young and beginning farmers to the “farm movement,” yet those start-up farmers are still struggling to find and finance land. This is a subject that we all hope to address further in the future.

The majority of our participants seemed pleased and felt well-informed after our Friday-long session. As a team, we left feeling that we’d brought useful resources to an eager group, and helped them on their way to a certain degree. Upon writing this, I find myself reflecting on what exactly led Garrett and I to decide we were ready for our particular (and peculiar?) farm start-up. At sessions like these, someone will inevitably ask “How do I know when I’m a farmer?” On the way to the winter conference, our carload joked that “you can tell you’re a farmer when you don’t have a social life and all you can do is talk about farming.” I’d amend that with “when most of your dreams revolve around your farming activities.”

Resources from the conference:
Northeast Beginning Farmer Project
• Production Plan worksheets
• The Alphabet Soup of Agencies and Organizations Serving Beginning Farmers and a Beginning Farmer Service Providers Map
• Beginning Farm Start-Up Template
• Beginning Farmer Skills checklist
• Guide to Farming in NY, updated for 2011

Melissa Madden and her partner Garrett Miller run The Good Life Farm in Interlaken, New York, a farm guided by permaculture, season extension, and animal-power principles. She is also one of the mentor farmers of the Finger Lakes CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance in Farmer Training) She can be reached at melissa@thegoodlifefarm.org.

Policies and Polycultures: Reflections on Race, Class and Ethnicity at the NOFA Winter Conference

2011-02-16T11:03:00.016-05:00

by Rachel Firak

In January, I was lucky enough to attend the annual Winter Conference of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). This year's theme was a nod to that all-around health- and equity-promoting principle: “Diggin' Diversity.” Fittingly, presenters took this theme in several different directions, speaking on the necessity of diversification of crops and animals, schools of farming, and, most importantly, people.

This was my second time attending the conference, but looking around, it was clear that this was some folks' 15th, 20th, even 30th+ year of involvement with NOFA. Over the decades, NOFA has managed to serve as a common ground for both organic pioneers and young activists. It's no small feat; often, sustainable agriculture programs are led by Generation Y, for Generation Y. Refreshingly, nearly every workshop at a NOFA conference begins or ends with a word of acknowledgment to the numerous older farmers present who blazed the trail, and a blessing to the young farmers just setting out on their journey.

NOFA has certainly succeeded in building a multigenerational organization that fosters communication and mutual respect among age groups. Now, NOFA is beginning to address the ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic monoculture that has dominated its membership for quite some time.

This winter, NOFA awarded 75 full scholarships to low-income beginning farmers to attend the conference (normally participants pay $225-$300 for the weekend). I counted six workshops that offered simultaneous Spanish translation via audio headsets for up to 20 audience members at a time. Saturday's keynote speaker Malik Yakini of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network spoke urgently and fearlessly about remediating injustice and fighting oppression in the food system. And a handful of workshops explicitly addressed the issue of community food security¹ in our cities and rural areas. The importance of these steps in creating a more inclusive community cannot be overstated. But they are also only a starting point.

While Yakini eloquently asserted that many white food activists do not recognize their own well-intentioned-but-damaging "missionary approach" to reaching out to communities of color, and challenged attendees to let go of deficit model conceptualizations² to embrace an asset model, he refrained from explicitly commenting on the demographics of NOFA itself. The next step, I believe, is to engage in direct dialogue about the ethnic, racial and socioeconomic makeup of NOFA and other similar groups. This essential conversation, while potentially uncomfortable for some in the short term, would be ultimately illuminating and constructive.

Why is NOFA so white and upper middle class? NOFA, like most agricultural, environmental, and good food organizations (including the one I work for, Groundswell), suffers from a massive affluent white majority. The factors that have brought about this are many, varied, and deeply embedded with the institutional racism³ of our society. We can point to the historical failure of environmental movements to emphasize environmental justice, remaining blind to and therefore complicit in the funneling of pollution and toxins away from rich white communities and toward poor communities of color. We can notice that the leaders of the sustainable agriculture and food movement—Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Joel Salatin—are an all-white cast who write, speak, grow, and cook for the wealthy. We can realize that since the advent of the Green Revolution and NAFTA, Latinos have been forced off their land and into jobs as "farmworkers" in the US, and that discriminatory lending practices committed by the USDA have caused many black farmers to lose their homesteads and farms. And we can recognize that only the privileged have the opportunity to learn about sustainable ag in college, to travel to conferences, to volunteer on organic farms, and to afford good food in the first place. But even so, we would only scratch the surface of what has been a history of exclusion and outright bigotry in the food system. Much more time, education, and honest conversation is needed to satisfactorily answer this question.

On its website, NOFA states its mission as follows: "to create a sustainable regional food system which is ecologically sound and economically viable... [and] to make high quality food available to all people". The latter is an essential principle for any certifying agency, as one criticism commonly leveled at organics is that they widen the food gap between the rich and the poor. While the affluent can simply pay more for healthier, higher-quality, toxin-free foods, there is no choice for those without the purchasing power to, as Michael Pollan suggests, "vote with your dollar." Further, when rich consumers disinvest from the conventional food system, there is less money and incentive pressuring the conventional food system to offer safe, healthy foods, and at a reasonable price⁴.

But justice in the food system goes beyond consumption alone. I suggest an amendment to NOFA's mission statement: All people should have the educational access and leadership opportunities necessary to build food systems themselves. NOFA, whose work focuses largely on farm education, is in a position to start a chain reaction of positive outcomes by broadening both its membership and leadership within communities of color. If NOFA expands its outreach and its job recruitment to inner-city Latino/a youth, for example, not only will the youth benefit from access to NOFA's educational toolkit, but the white liberal culture of NOFA will benefit immensely from the experiences, perspectives and knowledge of those Latino/a youth. Their collaboration will yield more ecological, efficient, profitable and fair food systems for inner-city neighborhoods and society as a whole.

The ball is in NOFA's court. However, NOFA's white liberals are not off the hook. Organizational change cannot come from the top down; it must co-occur with the increasing mindfulness of its members. During the conference, I attended a half-day session entitled "Community Food Security and Urban Gardening Policies in NYS," facilitated by five food system leaders who had enabled city residents to develop and access peri-/urban farms and gardens. During the Q&A that followed, many implored these leaders to explain exactly how they had managed it. The gist was, "How can we help them?" The presenters and some of the attendees patiently explained that while outsiders can provide resources and assistance, true leadership and change must come from within.

This year, NOFA's Policy Sub-Committees proposed a resolution called "Garden at Every Public School," which called for a society in which "as many children as possible... have the opportunity to learn how to grow food". It's a good place to start in working toward a future in which one's race and socioeconomic status are not prime indicators of diet-related disorders and food insecurity. However, the road is long, and much work is still to be done. I am enthusiastically and anxiously watching for NOFA's next move in ensuring that the next generation of farmers and food activists accurately reflects the diversity of the Northeast as a whole.

1 Community food security can be defined as the ability of a community to provide safe, healthy, culturally appropriate foods for all of its members from a variety of sustainable and accessible sources, including supermarkets, farmers' markets, and farms and gardens. It also refers to the ability of individuals within the community to be empowered and active in ensuring their own food self-reliance and independence, or "food sovereignty".

2 The deficit model of conceptualizing communities defines them by what they lack or what they are not, instead of what they can offer. For example, the term "underserved" can be considered a deficit model term because it couches communities of color, first-generation communities, and low-income communities in the language of insufficiency.

3 Institutional racism, as opposed to personally-mediated and internalized racism, is a system of racial inequality perpetuated in an organized way by social structures, such as schools, government policies, and private enterprises. Some widely recognized examples of institutional racism include redlining, racial profiling, and under- and mis-representation of certain racial groups in the media.

4 I'm not arguing that organic food shouldn't exist; instead, I stand with NOFA in the belief that organic food should be accessible to everyone—while simultaneously affirming the farmer's right to earn a living wage in selling it. This seeming paradox can be navigated with creative economic approaches, for example, by shortening the production chain from farmer to consumer, by using a CSA model or sliding-scale pricing strategies, and by appropriate use of government subsidies, such as the Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

Rachel Firak serves as the Program Assistant for the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming. She can be reached at rfirak@gmail.com.

Ithaca Community Harvest: Get Involved in Food Access & Equity

2011-02-13T13:23:00.002-05:00

A letter from Ithaca Community Harvest's Lara Kaltman on how you can support ICH's work in the coming year:

Dear BJM, GIAC and SSCC Families & Friends,

I'd like to first thank you for supporting Ithaca Community Harvest during the holiday season, whether it’s been through making a donation at the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair, stepping in to help with the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program at BJM when the college students went home for winter break, or simply inspiring us with your stories about our children learning to love and appreciate local fruits and vegetables.

Here's another opportunity to express your interest in introducing more local produce into our schools and healthier school meals. This link connects you to an online survey on ICSD school district budget priorities, in which we are asked to identify other essential needs we'd like the Superintendent to consider as he develops the 2011-2012 budget.

For those of you who have some more time to devote, I'd like to invite you to volunteer in one or more of the following activities to support Ithaca Community Harvest:

* Sell cornbread at the Chili Festival in the Ithaca Commons to benefit Ithaca Community Harvest. Volunteers (middle and high-school students are welcome) would work in pairs for 2-hour shifts anytime between 11:30 - 4:00 pm. Contact Jyl Dowd at jyldowd@gmail.com.

* Help prepare fresh fruits and vegetables for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program at BJM for a 2-hour shift Monday – Friday anytime between 7:30 – 11:30 am. Contact Vanessa Wood at vness.wood@gmail.com.

* Pick-up apples donated by Cornell Orchards and deliver to BJM. Contact Vanessa Wood at vness.wood@gmail.com.

* Glean produce at the end of the indoor Ithaca Farmer’s Market at the Women’s Community Center on Saturday’s at 2 pm and bring to storage at GreenStar. This produce will be served at BJM, GIAC and SSCC. Contact Katie Church at fullplatefarms@yahoo.com.

* Deliver gleaned produce from storage to BJM, GIAC and SSCC. Contact Vanessa Wood at vness.wood@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time and support.
Warm Regards,
Lara
___________________

Lara Parrilla Kaltman
Ithaca Community Harvest, Lead Coordinator
607-319-4074
larakaltman@gmail.com

Ithaca Community Harvest’s mission is to create, sustain and expand a system for providing access to local organic produce to youth and families in Ithaca's public schools, with particular focus on historically marginalized populations. The system will be integrated into school and after-school culture, curriculum and meal programs, as well as home, through empowering the community to exchange volunteer labor for donated produce from our local farms and school gardens, supporting food and nutrition education initiatives and strengthening collaboration amongst community programs with similar food access and equity goals.

Groundswell's Events Calendar

2011-01-31T11:35:00.000-05:00

The Groundswell Events Calendar showcases upcoming farming and gardening events in the Finger Lakes area. Click here to view in full-screen mode. Email info@groundswellcenter.org to add an event to the list.

Farm Business Workshops Offered through Cornell Cooperative Extension

2011-01-31T11:34:00.002-05:00

Whether you are an established farmer or just starting out, this is a good time of year to take stock and think about what could be done to increase sales and become more profitable. Cornell Cooperative Extension South Central NY Agriculture Program is offering three winter workshops on Sharpening Farm Business Skills focused on marketing and business analysis.

The workshops are offered in 3 locations on Saturday mornings. The first workshop on Feb. 5 in Montour Falls at the Schuyler County Extension office will focus on branding and promoting your business with an emphasis on building your identity and spending your marketing dollars wisely. A second marketing workshop on Feb. 19 at the Tioga County Extension office focuses on evaluating market channels you are using and on new marketing opportunities with a focus on how to establish successful marketing relationships. And the final workshop, on March 5, at the Cooperative Extension office in Tompkins County, will focus on record keeping and financial tools for business analysis.

All workshops run from 9:30-Noon at the various county extension office locations. Pre-registration is requested.

For Feb. 5 - call 535-7161; For Feb. 19 - call 687-4020; for March 5 call 272-2292. For more information as to which workshop is best for you, call Monika Roth at 607-272-2292.

The Food Safety Modernization Act becomes law

2011-01-09T17:15:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, January 4th, President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), ending a long and contentious debate about the government's role in the food system. In general, the FSMA is designed to limit the spread of foodborne illness through increased regulation. Among other things, the bill allows the Secretary of Health & Human Services and the Food & Drug Administration to more frequently inspect food processing facilities, recall tainted food, and impose stricter regulations on imported food. While most applauded the move as much-needed consumer protection, many were concerned that new regulations could put family farms and other small producers at a great disadvantage.

Thanks to the efforts of many grassroots political action groups, the FSMA we have today is far more sensitive to the needs of small- and mid-scale farms and food producers. Instead of imposing one-size-fits-all regulations, paperwork, and costs, the Tester-Hagan and other amendments ensure that our local food producers receive fair and evenhanded treatment. The result is an FSMA that most sustainable agriculture organizations are hailing as a "victory" for the local food movement and consumers in general.

According to the National Sustainable Agriculture coalition, six amendments in particular sponsored by NSAC and remain intact in the final version of the FSMA were critical in making the FSMA a better, more effective Act for small farmers:

An amendment, sponsored by Senator Sanders (I-VT), giving FDA the authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.
An amendment, sponsored by Senator Bennet (D-CO), to reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation required under the preventative control plan and the produce standards sections of the bill, including instructions to FDA to minimize the number of different standards that apply to separate foods, to make requirements scale appropriate, and to prohibit FDA from requiring farms and other food facilities to hire outside consultants to write food safety plans.
An amendment, sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), to provide for a USDA-administered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers, with a priority on small and mid-scale farms.
An amendment, sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), to strip the bill of wildlife-threatening enforcement against “animal encroachment” of farms and require FDA to apply sound science to any requirements that might impact wildlife and wildlife habitat.
An amendment, sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), to exempt farmers from extensive and expensive traceability and recordkeeping requirements if they sell food directly to consumers or to grocery stores, to allow labeling that preserves the identity of the farm through to the consumer to satisfy traceability requirements, and to in most cases limit farm recordkeeping to the first point of sale when the product leaves the farm.
An amendment, sponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan (D-NC),to provide a size appropriate and less costly alternative to preventative control plans and produce standards for farmers who:
- Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants,
- Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000,
- Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 275 miles, and
- Provide their customers with their name, address and contact information.

As the most far-reaching overhaul of the food system since the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, the law represents a sea change in the American food system. If implemented correctly, it may go a long way to reducing the number (currently estimated by the CDC as 48 million) Americans who are sickened annually by a foodborne illness.

What do we mean by a "sustainable" food system?

2011-01-07T17:57:00.004-05:00

Food activists often say they work for a "sustainable," "healthy," "fair," and "diverse" food system. These words sound good enough. But what exactly do they mean? Clarifying our terms is an critical facet of making a coherent statement and a measurable impact on our communities. As organizations and individuals, we would do well to sit down with our colleagues and elucidate our mission statements to ensure that we are all on the same page when it comes to envisioning a better future.

Last summer, four major public health entities- The American Dietetic Association, American Nurses Association, American Planning Association, and American Public Health Association- did exactly that. They worked together to develop seven principles of a healthy, sustainable food system that they could use as a "shared platform for systems-wide food policy change." Groundswell joins them in affirming these vitally important tenets of a food system that works for everyone. Thanks to Groundswell advisor Gil Gillespie for sharing this important message.

Principles of a Healthy, Sustainable Food System

We support socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable food systems that promote health — the current and future health of individuals, communities, and the natural environment.
A healthy, sustainable food system is:

Health-Promoting

Supports the physical and mental health of all farmers, workers, and eaters
Accounts for the public health impacts across the entire lifecycle of how food is produced, processed, packaged, labeled, distributed, marketed, consumed, and disposed

Sustainable

Conserves, protects, and regenerates natural resources, landscapes, and biodiversity
Meets our current food and nutrition needs without compromising the ability of the system to meet the needs of future generations

Resilient

Thrives in the face of challenges, such as unpredictable climate, increased pest resistance, and declining, increasingly expensive water and energy supplies

Diverse in

Size and scale — includes a diverse range of food production, transformation, distribution, marketing, consumption, and disposal practices, occurring at diverse scales, from local and regional to national and global
Geography — considers geographic differences in natural resources, climate, customs, and heritage
Culture — appreciates and supports a diversity of cultures, socio-demographics, and lifestyles
Choice — provides a variety of health-promoting food choices for all

Fair

Supports fair and just communities and conditions for all farmers, workers, and eaters
Provides equitable physical access to aff ordable food that is health promoting and culturally appropriate

Economically Balanced

Provides economic opportunities that are balanced across geographic regions of the country and at different scales of activity, from local to global, for a diverse range of food system stakeholders
Affords farmers and workers in all sectors of the system a living wage

Transparent

Provides opportunities for farmers, workers, and eaters to gain the knowledge necessary to understand how food is produced, transformed, distributed, marketed, consumed, and disposed
Empowers farmers, workers and eaters to actively participate in decision making in all sectors of the system

A healthy, sustainable food system emphasizes, strengthens, and makes visible the interdependent and inseparable relationships between individual sectors (from production to waste disposal) and characteristics (health-promoting, sustainable, resilient, diverse, fair, economically balanced, and transparent) of the system.

For more information, visit the American Planning Association's website.

Black Farmers & Urban Gardeners Come Together: Lessons from Brooklyn for Tompkins County

2010-12-15T12:31:00.011-05:00

By: Anthony Gallucci

Date: 12/10/2010

I was honored to attend the 2010 “Black Farmers & Urban Gardeners Conference: Growing Health, Wealth, & Justice in Our Communities” in Brooklyn, NYC. The gathering of numerous Original People (Black, Latin@ and Indigenous) to discuss, educate and network around food security, farming rights, agricultural policy, the need for agricultural autonomy, and methods for achieving such a reality was inspirational and motivational. The conference began with Will Allen of Growing Power in Milwaukee discussing the possibilities of using technological development for the purposes of healthy food market sustainability and closed with a personal peek into the concerns, remedies and aspirations of downtown Brooklyn community agriculturist, historians and urban farming operations. Since the closure of the conference I have been contemplating how the experience could translate to our local space here in Tompkins County.

The focus of the conference being Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners, I thought to focus on how we can credibly create opportunities for Black people to farm and garden in Tompkins County’s urban and rural areas. It has been my own conjecture that urban farming is a plausible way to increase health in the urban communities, traditionally composed of Black and Latin@ Americans. The Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference showed there are a plethora of individuals and organizations, locally and nationally, who agree.In reflecting on urban gardening and how to move forward on increasing Black farming in urban centers such as Brooklyn, I must remind people that however inspirational, a sixteenth or quarter of an acre on one city block in a housing project is not going to provide a sustainable way to feed the people in the area. This is especially the case when the (paid) organizers and directors of these operations rarely are empowered from within the communities being served. With limited financial backing, land and social investment there surely would not be enough yield to afford for the undercutting of mass-production farm products in the local food markets, nor for the sustainability of an independent “People’s” food market.

But the motivation, the markets, the distribution networks and the dedicated people already exist within urban centers. Therefore, adequate land space, "ownership," and autonomy of ecology* would secure a more independent and sustainable urban agriculture as a reality, and people could offer the access to year-round healthy foods that is required for individual behavioral change to beget cultural change in regards to healthy eating.

For this to happen there needs to be an initial exchange of land space, “ownership” and autonomy of ecology (voluntarily or involuntarily) from the private interest to the People whom inhabit the space. Secondly, there needs to be an increase in access, affordability and social comfort* offered, or taken, through land redistribution outside of the urban centers for people quarantined to the urban centers (traditionally Black and Latin@ Americans).

In regards to urban farming as an approach to ending food insecurity in Tompkins County versus Brooklyn we have slightly different geography and social circumstances that COULD allow for healthy foods to reach all people. In terms of arable land, or land that could be cultivated to become again arable, we must look beyond land located in our downtown urban areas to include land on our hills, heights and land-trusted spaces.

With the vast landscape of Tompkins County we must also think about urban farming, not just in terms of utilization of land (farming), but also in terms of the actions or policies that will enable redistribution of land “ownership” in urban settings and redistribution of land space, “ownership” and autonomy of ecology in our rural areas. The immediate goal should still be increasing access to healthy food and food choices for people living in urban areas. However, much effort should be put into increasing access and ownership of land for people in the urban centers (specifically Black and Latin@ Americans) inside and outside of the urban center. Without foresight, inclusion and equitable redistribution of land space, “ownership“ and autonomy of ecology a mere 1/8th of an acre can be a mockery, serving to create further disenfranchisement and distrust between people with access and those without.

The above thoughts are merely a reminder that social transformation is an intricate, tireless and selfless process. To secure health for all people and exemplify our supposed national exceptionalism takes commitment and sacrifice. We know what we need to do; it is the delusion of the availability of choice that keeps us choosing today’s comfort over collective responsibility, sustainability and future-mindedness. Remember, the world is small when we see each other as part of the same biospheric community with All Beings as part of Our evolutionary journey; let‘s step up and make a BIG change!!

*Terms:

Land Space: Space is a concept that must be included in the discussion around sustainability. Space beyond the scope of the traditional discussion includes not only access to land but the ability and comfort to participate in ecology once land is made available, or taken. Comfort in the sense of the feeling that comes with freedom and equity of access consistently available until a culture is able to be constructed through ecology.

Land “Ownership”: The process or state of having so-called “legitimate,” state-sanctioned autonomy of ecology that empowers one to the rights of protection and privacy of said space/land.

Autonomy of Ecology: The state of being independent and self-directed/governed in one’s ability to have an unadulterated, comfortable, sensitive and sustainable relationship with the earth.

Social Comfort: The ability to function, relax and otherwise exist in peace in any given social space; e.g. there is often a social discomfort imposed upon Black Americans who live in the rural areas of the US by the indoctrination of racial pseudo-science through theology, ideology and practice.

Note from the Author: To remain relevant to the behavior of the majority who need to self-initiate the behavioral and psychological changes required for our collective evolution; I decided to remain under the simple supposition of the John Locke treatise on the so-called logic of land “ownership” as an acceptable declaration of an innate human entitlement. To the contrary of the practices of the “conquering” of the western frontier to the imperialism of Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and many other states I believe that we must devalue our exceptional stratification of Beings that defines People as superior and begets a feeling of entitlement over the rest of Our biosphere and the other characters in our collective evolutionary narrative/journey. I apologize for being lofty versus truly pragmatic; however with thought and patience I know this approach to be constructive. Thank you for your time and attention; for time is our only commodity!!

Anthony Gallucci a.k.a. Maj*K is the co-founder of Overstanding Publishing & Production (Non-conventional Media Outlet) in Ithaca, NY. Anthony is also the father of two inimitable daughters... Please visit Overstanding Production the Webpage @ www.overstandingvision.info and/or Overstanding Ithaca @ Facebook.com for more information.

Working Toward Food Security in Ithaca: An Interview with Jemila Sequeira

2010-12-15T12:11:00.003-05:00

Last week the Ithaca community held a Community Food Security Dialogue to discuss what a food system that works for everyone would look like, and how Ithaca can begin moving toward that goal. We caught up with Jemila Sequeira, Groundswell advisor and Community Food Security Dialogue organizer, to ask some questions about this important work.

Jemila Sequeira

Groundswell: How did the Community Food Security Dialogue begin? What events led up to it?

Jemila Sequeira: In 2009, the Cornell Public Service center appointed myself and Bethany Schroeder as Civic Fellows. My fellowship focused on recognizing my work with Gardens 4 Humanity; Bethany's for her work with the Ithaca Health Alliance and the Ithaca Free Clinic. This gave rise to two civic dialogues in 2009 on health and food security. My fellowship ended in the spring of 2010, but I felt I had a moral obligation to continue this work. After the civic dialogues, many people- landowners, farmers, food preservers, and others- were looking for a way to bring cohesiveness and a sense of purpose around the creation of a healthy food system for our community. The Community Food Security Dialogue was a way to keep the conversation going.

I was also concerned about including people who, historically, haven't been part of the discussion. Conversations around food in our community are often fragmented and top-heavy, with disproportionate input at the academic and institutional level, while those usually most profoundly affected by these issues of food and well-being are not at the table. I didn't want to close out the year without a chance for those people who were not being represented to have a voice. I also had been inspired by my recent trip with other Ithacans involved in the food movement to the Community Food Security Conference in New Orleans earlier this year. The dialogue here was a way to begin to examine how the ten square miles around Ithaca fit into the global movement around building a healthy food system.

GS: Who has been working with you on this project?

JS: Logistically, to hold this dialogue, I worked with Joanna Green, Kirtrina Baxter, Elan Shapiro, Sarah Reistetter, Cornell students Meredith Palmer, Zackery Murray, and Ben Pinon, and several community representatives. But people have been working on and thinking about this project begun long before I came. It always has been, and will always be, a project of the whole community. This work is cross-generational, and spans the entire socioeconomic, political, institutional, and community spectrum, and so many people have been involved. In particular I want to recognize Tony Petito of the new Neighborhood Pride grocery store, and his role as part of a group of elders that are still active and committed to their community, with their hearts centered in the neighborhood.

GS: What is your definition of food security?

JS: I personally like the Community Food Security Coalition's definition: “Community food security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice.” But I believe food security is not only a goal- it is also the process of working toward that goal.

GS: What did you see at the Community Food Security dialogue on Wednesday night?

JS: On Wednesday night, I saw people from socioeconomically, politically, institutionally, and socially diverse backgrounds work together across age, race, and class, to really discuss what food security means to them, and what a food system that works for everyone might look like. I also saw a lot of support from people to take the conversation to the next level, and begin to act. I know the voice and the interest is there. The challenge for me is to determine how to convene groups in such a way so that people can get involved, and how to make it accessible.

GS: What would you like to see in the future?

JS: I was inspired by the turnout, but also knew many groups were not there who needed to be- in particular, farmers. [Many local farmers were absent from the dialogue because of a conflict with a Healthy Food for All program meeting.] I would also have liked to see more local restauranteurs and business owners represented. I do think we saw representation of families across different income levels, and many people of color from the Black and Latino communities, but I would have liked to see more representation from other groups, for example, the Southeast Asian community. In general, in the future, I would like even more people to be there! I am aware that not everyone can make these meetings, but we need to find a way to integrate their voices into the discussion.

GS: What is the next step?

JS: The next step is already in process. We need to recognize that all who came, and all who didn't, have something to teach each other. We need to appreciate what one another brings to the table, and understand that whether or not we see eye to eye, that what we share is a commitment to this community. And we need to continue the conversation. I have had the good fortune in my life to have met some people who have wonderful, creative ideas about how to address issues in the food system, and those people are going to determine where we go from here. For example, I have ten sets of notes from the small discussion groups at the dialogue that I haven't begun to sort through yet that will influence the next step, and what a future food security entity might look like. I plan to research other food security networks nationwide over the holidays and plan to bring ideas to a follow-up meeting.

GS: What concerns, if any, do you have?

JS: Working to achieve food security will require self-reflection around beliefs of who should be eating well. I believe if we are going to make real change, we must have the courage to admit that the current system isn't working, and be willing to adjust some of the old ways of doing things. We must also understand that change is uncomfortable- that's just human. But we have to be more mindful that people do suffer because of the infrastructure problems of our current food system. I hope we will be compassionate enough to work toward a vision of a healthy food system that works for everyone, and let that be the incentive that drives us through the messy process.

Thanks to Jemila for sharing her thoughts with us. If you'd like to get involved, you can contact her at es538@cornell.edu.

After the Summer Practicum: A guest entry from Krista Fieselmann

2010-12-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Krista was one of 14 students who participated in Groundswell's first college class, the Summer Practicum in Sustainable Farming and Local Food Systems. She caught up with Groundswell this past week to share a bit about where she is now- and relay some important reading material. Thanks Krista!

An update on me: After this week, my 1st semester of graduate studies in foods and nutrition will be completed! The program is really focused on practical application of the science of health and physiology and how it shapes policy, and life! So this was an exciting time for me, as the new dietary requirements from the government came out. I spent a lot of time reading the papers that went into the decisions and discussing the their strengths and weaknesses.

The summer practicum really showed me that food choice and nutrition has a wide range of impacts, and the research that goes into discovering what those are is really developing, and freaking awesome! I wanted to share the findings of a recent speaker in the department with you. Dr. Kevin Hall was the speaker, and he came up with a model for how people eat that reflects body weight (it is very complicated but that is the gist). Compared to the normal body weight for Americans, he was able to see that most food available in America is not consumed and an estimated 3-4/8ths of all food produced is wasted! The USDA doesn't have a good tracking system for food waste, but EPA data on food energy in landfills supports his numbers. This obviously has huge environmental impacts, and really shows how food in America has become more of an industry, and less about feeding people!

Heres a link to his paper (check out figure 1):

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007940

- Krista

Slavery in the Food System?

2010-11-30T11:34:00.001-05:00

You would never participate in slavery, right?
By Kurt Michael Friese, from the Huffington Post, November 5, 2010

I know, it seems like a bizarre question in this day and age -- of course no sane, civilized member of a modern society would take part in the indentured servitude of others. Lincoln ended all that 150 years ago, didn't he? And of course you and I would never have anything to do with slavery in 2010.
The dirty little secret though is that millions of Americans are contributing to it each week and they don't even know it. When you buy tomatoes at the local Publix, Ahold, Kroger, or Walmart, you become the last link in a chain that is attached to shackles in south Florida. Read more...

Panel Discussions from Mann Library Local Food & Fiber Fair

2010-11-27T14:01:00.003-05:00

Cornell's NWAEG (New World Agriculture and Ecology Group) has uploaded videos of the great panel discussion that followed the "A Farm for the Future" screening at the Mann Library Local Food & Fiber Fair last week! Groundswell is mentioned in the discussion by two of our partner farmers, Donn Hewes and Maryrose Livingston of Northland Sheep Dairy- thanks! Videos after the jump:

Request for Proposals: Cornell's TSF Organic Agriculture Research, Teaching & Outreach

2010-11-27T13:34:00.003-05:00

If you're a Cornell Student, Cooperative Extension educator, or organic farmer, you may be interested in this grant opportunity. The TSF (Toward Sustainability Foundation) has pledged a gift to Cornell to support organic agriculture programs, and they're putting out a request for proposals now. The deadline for submitting grants is December 15th, 2010. This is a chance to get your idea funded!

From the website:

The Department of Horticulture at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) requests proposals for innovative research, teaching and outreach projects in organic farming and food system sustainability. A gift from the Toward Sustainability Foundation (TSF) will provide support for successful proposals during calendar year 2011. Short proposals are requested (10-page maximum, single spaced, including an itemized budget) from Cornell staff and students, Cooperative Extension educators, and New York organic farmers. All funded proposals must include someone on the CALS faculty as a principal investigator or co-PI, in order for us to allocate these funds. Projects will be funded up to a maximum $10,000 for a one-year period (2011).

From Sandra Repp of the Cornell Cooperative Extension:

For those who may have an interest in partnering on a project with Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension or its Master Gardener Program, please contact Monika Roth, Agriculture Program Leader at CCE-Tompkins, at 272-2292 or mr55@cornell.edu.

For your convenience and reference, a map of local community and school garden sites in Tompkins County can be found here: http://ccetompkins.org/garden/community-school-gardens.

You can partner with Groundswell too!

Groundswell wants to work with you! If you're thinking about applying and want to develop a proposal to work with Groundswell and the Finger Lakes CRAFT to develop and deliver a suite of on-farm training workshops and materials for farming trainees (beginning farmers, farming interns), email Joanna Green at info@groundswellcenter.org. We will be organizing a bunch of training sessions next season and want to be collaborating with Cornell and CCE colleagues to deliver specific technical training during some of the sessions. Email us and we'll get in touch!

2010-2011 Groundswell Advisory Board Meeting Schedule

2010-11-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

Want to get involved in making social change around food and farming in our community? Consider joining the Groundswell Advisory board. Our committed group of advisors are involved in all aspects of Groundswell- policy, education, farming, fundraising, community organizing, and more. Everyone with a stake in the future of the agricultural community and food system of the Finger Lakes is welcome to participate!

Our advisory board meets bimonthly on the first Tuesday of every month, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Location is TBA for each meeting, though our preferred location is the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, located at 615 Willow Avenue in Ithaca, NY. Our meeting schedule is as follows:

December 7, 2010
February 1, 2011
April 5, 2011
June 7, 2011
August 2, 2011
October 4, 2011
December 6, 2011

Let's work together to create the food system we want to see in Tompkins County. If you're interested in joining, send an email to info@groundswellcenter.org.

Keys to Success for Start-Up Farms

2010-11-26T18:31:00.002-05:00

Do certain factors predict success or failure in the start-up farming operation, and if so, can we use this information to make recommendations to beginning farmers? This article, written by Groundswell advisor Gil Gillespie, discusses some of the challenges and keys to success for start-up farms in the Northeast region. Predictive factors in the farm's social context, the personal characteristics of the farm operator, and the farm business's attributes are elaborated upon in this study. The piece concludes with several helpful suggestions for start-up enterprises in our region.

http://www.agdevjournal.com/attachments/113_JAFSCD_Success_in_Farm_Startups_in_the_Northeast_08-10.pdf

Community Food Security Dialogue

2010-11-24T11:24:00.002-05:00

Hello Groundswell Community. Here's an important message from Jemila Sequeira, Director of the Whole Community Project...

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Community Food Security Dialogue
Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC)
301 West Court Street
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
6:30PM - 8:30PM

There is a growing interest in our community and nationally concerning local food systems and food security. On February 21st and April 24th 2009 Cornell University Public Service Center held two community dialogues on Health and Food Security. As civic fellow, I co-facilitated these events with Bethany Schroeder, Director of the Ithaca Health Alliance and Ithaca Free Clinic.

Since these events many people have requested a group to reconvene and continue discussions on food security. Several people have suggested that we explore how a food policy council might serve to support a food system that is equitable and sustainable while meeting the diverse needs of our neighborhoods. Other areas of interest include buying clubs, urban agriculture, food preservation and safety as important aspects of our local food system.

A light meal will be provided. Child care is available upon advance request.

This invite is open to the community for anyone interested or involved in our local food system. For additional information or to request child care, please do not hesitate to contact me at Cornell Cooperative Extension, 607-272-2292 or email at es538@cornell.edu.

A flyer announcing this event will be available November 29th. Please contact me if you are interested in posting at your workplace, residence or elsewhere in the community.

Respectfully,
Jemila Sequeira
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jemila Sequeira, MSW T: 607-272-2292x157
Whole Community Project F: 607-272-7088
Cornell Cooperative Extension C: 607- 280- 7482
Tompkins County Email: es538@cornell.edu
615 Willow Avenue

Lessons from New Orleans

2010-11-19T12:28:00.000-05:00

Groundswell Community Liaison Kirtrina Baxter describes her experience at last month's Community Food Security Coalition conference in New Orleans.

The role of black people and folks of color is greatly documented and heralded in the food justice movement and it was one of the reasons I was so excited to go to the 14th Annual Community Food Security Coalition Conference. There were several other reasons for my going as well. I wanted to connect with other food workers of color in this movement and talk with them about their experiences of growth, connections and allyship, inform myself about other work going on in the food justice and farming movement, visit and learn more about the local history of New Orleans, and answer a main question always on my mind which is, how do we engage everyday folks in our communities and get them to understand the positive impact of “real food” in their diets and lives?

As I planned for my first trip to New Orleans there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Not only was this my first trip to the famed city of Jazz and center of African American culture in the US but also my first time at a conference related to food justice. I would be expected to network with farmers and other food workers in the country as well as gain a working knowledge of practices and procedures that would assist in the work that I am doing in the Ithaca area.

Arriving at the conference, I noticed there were many more people of color than I had expected to find attending the conference. The more people I ran into, thinking they were perhaps just guests in the hotel, the more at ease I felt with the representation of folks who looked like me and had contributions to give at this conference. In my first workshop alone, there were at least ten people of color in a room of about 40 participants. This was inspiring in itself, considering I had been reading and researching about programs with black farmers and urban gardeners for quite some time but had very little personal contact with these groups of folks.

The connections weren’t difficult, it seemed like every other person of color went out of their way to speak or show a kindly nod in my direction as I was doing the same to them. It was an inviting experience. If they had any feeling close to mine I would say that we were all excited to see so much representation and careful to make the experience positive for everyone involved in order that these connections could grow. We met groups of folks from Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Virginia, of course, New Orleans, and from right here in NY!

In Philadelphia, youth from low-income communities are growing vegetables and providing access to fresh produce to families who live in the food desert of West Oak Lane. In LA, a group had just petitioned to get a school garden for youth garden project in an underprivileged area; they identified allowing people to present and share traditional cultural histories around food practices as a way to engage the interest of communities of color. I met a woman from Virginia who is basically working alone to engage and educate people in the housing project where she lives in garden and healthy eating practices. She works part-time and has three children, yet understands the need to educate her community and is committing her time to finding the resources to ensure this happens.

In Milwaukee there is an amazing community development corp that has formed over the last 10 years in an old impoverished black area of town, newly under the stewardship of long-time residents and dedicated community members who have revitalized their community to the point where now there are tours going through their section of town to highlight the newly built houses, high production gardens, and even a small tree nursery. In NYC a group is building farmboxes out of recycled materials and providing schools and community institutions with the educational tools and resources needed to grow fresh organic fruit. Many of these programs and efforts were shared first-hand and are part of the network of individuals with whom we have connected to help keep us inspired and knowledgeable in our work in this food justice movement.

When I began to speak with others who were generally concerned with ways to introduce and educate communities of people who live in poverty or are making a low wage in the principles of good eating habits and sustainable living practices, I was immediately inspired to continue the work that we are doing around food access and education in Ithaca. Not only that, but I also began to understand the sense of urgency needed in our efforts after visiting the sites of New Orleans and witnessing firsthand the devastation and oppression that still sits with the residents of the 7th and the 9th wards. Only 10% of the residents in the 9th ward have returned. This neighborhood is unique in that 90% of the residents owned their own homes, yet the community was still impoverished. They have nothing to come home to; houses are gone, businesses are closed and social service agencies have moved out. Schools are shut down with no indication of re-opening and families are cohabiting to afford the cost of newer housing being built in their neighborhoods. I could speak more on the atrocities facing New Orleans low-income residents but then this article would be twice as long.

Knowing that the work we are doing in Ithaca will help our area to be more self-sustaining in the face of natural or man-made disaster, and seeing the overwhelming effects of disproportionate economic well-being in the NOLA disaster, has helped to fuel my desire to ensure that everyone is included in this concept and plan for sustainability. For my part, understanding food to be a right and that basic rights should be accessible to all, and knowing that we have the resources to provide nutritious food in abundance in this country, gives me hope that people will wake up to the realities that some of their neighbors face and work towards making this planet a better place to live for us all.

What I learned from the participants at the conference that I was blessed to be able to meet and connect with was that change is already happening! The high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure in our black communities are already bringing the issue of diet into the everyday arena. Doctors and social workers are informing more folks about the need for exercise and diet changes. Media messages abound about the benefits of a proper diet, and although there are even more messages pushing us to purchase food to the contrary, I believe access has been holding a lot of black folks back from making these changes. Lack of access along with proper nutrition and cooking education is a problem in our communities. But the answer lies in identifying key people in black and low-income areas who are already trying to make changes and giving them access to resources, information, facilities and funding to create the opportunities for education and empowerment in their communities.

To learn more about the Community Food Security Coalition, visit

www.foodsecurity.org. You can also check out videos from the CFSC conference at their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/CFSCvideos

Starting a Vegetable Farm Online Course Debuts in January

2010-11-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

NEWS FROM THE SMALL FARMS PROGRAM AT CORNELL

TOPIC:        Starting a Vegetable Farm Online Course Debuts in January
DATE:         For immediate release, November 10, 2010
CONTACT:   Erica Frenay at 607-255-9911or ejf5@cornell.edu

WEBSITE: www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/pages/news/

Starting a Vegetable Farm Online Course Debuts in January

Also Markets & Profits: Making Money Selling What You Grow

The Cornell Small Farms Program is adding yet another online course to its repertoire: Starting a Small-Scale Vegetable Farm. If you're in the planning stages of a diversified vegetable enterprise, this course will help you with site selection, enterprise budgets, cultivation, equipment, cover crops, and more. The course runs Jan. 5 Feb. 23, and incorporates optional face-to-face meetings at the Northeast Organic Farming Association conference on Jan 22-23 in Saratoga Springs, NY. Beginning farmer scholarships for the conference are available until Dec. 6 for those interested in attending, but you must register separately for the conference.

In addition, the popular online course Markets & Profits: Making Money Selling What You Grow is back, starting Jan. 20 and ending Mar 2. Explore market opportunities and profit potential for your product to take your planning to the next level.

Join experienced CCE and farmer instructors and 25 of your farmer peers in a dynamic learning experience that incorporates both self-paced readings and real-time virtual meetings with discussion forums, homework activities, guest presenters, and developing a customized plan for your next steps in farming.

COST is $150 per course

TO REGISTER, or for more details on both courses, please visit http://www.nybeginningfarmers.org/index.php?page=onlinecourse

Choosing a Sustainable Future

2010-11-08T20:41:00.001-05:00

Co-founder and director of Ecovillage (and Groundswell advisor) Liz Walker has a new book- and a new blog!

Here's a snippet from Liz about her book, Choosing A Sustainable Future: Ideas and Inspiration from Ithaca, NY:

"In this book, I try to capture the breadth and essence of the fast-growing sustainability and social justice movement in the Ithaca area. As the cover says, "A small city's big vision that can help transform your own community." I've been a grassroots activist my whole life, and I've rarely seen such a blossoming of interest and activity with a common purpose as is growing here.

There is a unity of purpose here that is reflected across a wide spectrum of players:

* from the county planning department, which has a goal of cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 - for the whole county of 100,000 people!

* to small businesses, such as Garden Gate, which uses a biodiesel-powered van to deliver fresh, locally grown produce, dairy, meats and more,

* to academia (we have Cornell University, Ithaca College and TC3, our local community college, all engaged in creating courses about sustainability topics, as well as greening their buildings and operations)

* to grassroots efforts to provide alternative health care, alternative currency, food security, and more.

Many of these players work with each other and form coalitions to address specific areas. I hope you get a chance to read all about it, since I think the people and the organizations here are creating something truly inspiring!"

For more information, visit:
http://www.liz-walker.org/

Video: BJM Snack Program/Ithaca Community Harvest

2010-11-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

An inspiring video about Ithaca's BJM Snack Program (now the Ithaca Community Harvest), one of the major new players in Ithaca's food system:

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program from Eric Miller/Hornbrook Prod. on Vimeo.

"This video is about the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in Ithaca, NY. The program was created and operated by the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food from Spring 2008 through Spring 2010 in partnership with Greenstar Community Projects and Village at Ithaca with funding from many local foundations, businesses and individuals. The program has been a huge success."

For more information, contact Lara Kaltman at larakaltman@gmail.com.

Nov 5th - Food access and justice: Rebuilding a healthy local food system for all

2010-11-02T22:39:00.000-04:00

From Cornell's New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG):

This Friday...

11/5 - Food access and justice: Rebuilding a healthy local food system for all @ Cornell's Emerson Hall, Room 135, Fri. 12:15-1PM
Elizabeth Karabinakis, Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension

Liz has been involved with the Healthy Food For All campaign:

http://ccetompkins.org/nutrition/healthy-food-all-csa

Apply now for SARE Farmer Grants

2010-11-02T19:52:00.007-04:00

The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) is now accepting grant proposals from farmers to support innovation in agriculture. Via Violet Stone, Cornell Small Farms Program and SARE Outreach Coordinator:

Are you a farmer with a new idea you would like to test using a field trial, on-farm demonstration, or other technique?

Funding is available to support your on-farm research via a Farmer Grant from Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education). The deadline for SARE Farmer Grants is December 7th, 2010. SARE Farmer Grant funds can be used to explore new marketing and production techniques, pest management, cover crops, composting, agroforestry, new crop trials, bee health and alternative pollinators, new tool development, and a very broad range of other topics that improve profitability, stewardship, and the rural community.

Grant awards are capped at $15,000. Grant funds may be used to purchase materials specific to the project, to pay you, the farmer, for your time, to compensate consultants and service providers, and to pay project-specific expenses like lab, travel, and outreach costs.

Funds cannot be used for capital costs or to buy durable equipment, nor can funds be use to buy land, start a farm, or expand an existing operation. Utility, food, and meal costs are also generally excluded except under certain limited circumstances, and clothes--hats, tee shirts, aprons, etc.--are not permitted. In the same vein, giveaways or imprinted promotional items are excluded.

If you think a SARE farmer grant might be the right fit for you, a great way to start is to download and read “How to Write a SARE Farmer Grant” at the link http://nesare.org/downloads/2010%20farmer%20how%20to%20write.pdf

Next, find out what Northeast SARE has funded in your interest area. Is your idea new, interesting, and addressing an important question about sustainable farming? Previously funded projects are posted at http://nesare.org/get/farmers-examples/

After you’ve refined your idea, you’ll want to discuss your plan with a technical advisor. This is often a field agent, crop consultant, or other service provider. A technical advisor is required as a project participant.

When you are ready, download the application materials from http://nesare.org/get/farmers/ Be sure to start early, as you’ll want to leave time for developing a budget, and getting feedback on your application from your techical advisor.

For further information about SARE farmer grants, or any other SARE grant, visit www.nesare.org. For assistance, contact NY SARE Outreach Coordinator Violet Stone at 607-255-9227 or vws7@cornell.edu. Violet can also provide printed copies of SARE application materials.

Take the Local Foods Survey!

2010-11-02T19:38:00.003-04:00

Nicole Novak, a Cornell student, is conducting a survey on the nutritional quality of the locavore diet. Here are the details:

Interested in locally grown foods?

I'm conducting research with Cornell's Sustainability of Food Systems Group, http://www.aem.cornell.edu/special_programs/hortmgt/sustainability/index.html
to learn more about your opinions on local food products, what foods you purchase locally, and how you use them! The goal of my project is to assess the nutritional quality of a "locavore" diet. Please consider helping us out by taking a brief, anonymous, online survey:

Go here! --> https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9GYY5w2S0IYhRdi

Thank you!!!
Questions or concerns? Please contact Nicole Novak at nln22@cornell.edu

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cZwqueNJ7Zhh1LS

Preview of Nov 1 Local Fair Trade Workshop in Ithaca Journal

2010-10-30T08:42:00.009-04:00

The upcoming NOFA/Groundswell sponsored workshop on local fair trade is previewed in an article in the Ithaca Journal. The workshop, coming up on Nov 1st at Ecovillage in Ithaca, will cover just labor practices, setting fair prices for goods and the concept of "Local Fair Trade". For more information, visit the Groundswell Center's website.

Ithaca farm programs examine food pricing
EcoVillage to host Nov. 1 workshop on community-supported agriculture

By Krisy Gashler • kgashler@gannett.com • October 17, 2010, 7:45 pm

One of the pioneers of community-supported agriculture in New York will be co-leading a workshop for farmers on labor and pricing policies on Nov. 1.
Elizabeth Henderson has been growing vegetables at Peacework Organic farm near Newark, N.Y., in Wayne County for 22 years.
"Ours is the oldest community-supported agriculture project in this area," she said.
Along with Robert Hadad, Cornell Vegetable Program fresh market specialist, Henderson is scheduled to host an all-day workshop on farm labor policies, pricing and local fair trade at EcoVillage in Ithaca.
"Paperwork is not what farmers most like to do -- that's why they're farming -- but it's something that you have to do, so we're trying to make it easier," she said.
Workshop topics cover creating a safe, just workplace and calculating reasonable production costs and fair prices.
"I would like to see fair trade done in our food system, but to get a fair price, you have to be able to calculate it accurately. That's what the workshop is about: laying the groundwork for fairer trade," Henderson said.
There's no set amount that workers or farmers should make, but it should be a living wage for everyone involved, she said.
"It's wonderful, wonderful work to do, if you could make enough working at it five, even six days a week. And it's so important. You know, why are we paying a lawyer $100 an hour and a farmer minimum wage?" she said. "So many farms go out of business and it's because we live in this cheap food system, and farmers aren't paid adequately for the important work that we do."

In a national and international market, community-supported agriculture is one of the solutions to that problem, and Henderson said she's spent her life trying to educate herself and other farmers about good, sustainable farming practices, and about creating "really good, dense community support."
The workshop is jointly sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York and the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming in Ithaca. The cost is $35. For more information, contact Hadad at rgh26@cornell.edu or (585) 739-4065.

Groundswell Director to speak at Cayuga Sustainability Council tomorrow

2010-10-27T22:58:00.005-04:00

Groundswell director Joanna Green will appear with other community food leaders at the Cayuga Sustainability Council panel tomorrow (Thursday) from 6 to 8 at the Southside Community Center! Official announcement below:

The Cayuga Sustainability Council will meet this coming Thursday from 6-8 at the Southside Community Center.

The CSC is a non-organization (eg no organizational structure, no officers, no dues, no formal membership) that meets quarterly to catch up on what's happening within the sustainability community. All projects, organizations, and sustainability-engaged folks are welcome.

From 6-7 we'll fill each other in on what's going on and coming up - and from 7-8 we're privileged to have a sterling team of leaders in the local foods movement to bring us up to date, and help us think about what we can be doing to support this key dimension in creating sustainable community.

Thursday's panel includes Joanna Green of the Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming; Kirtrina Baxter of Southside and Congo Square; Liz Karabinakis of Healthy Food for All, Ithaca Community Harvest, and Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty; Alison Fromme, founder/editor of Ithaca's Food Net blog; and Elan Shapiro, Ithaca College faculty member and catalyst for community garden mini-grants that are making a big difference in downtown neighborhoods.

Sure to be an inspiring feast for the mind - culinary feast contributions also welcome!

questions: Patricia Haines, Level Green Institute (607) 339-9472

Compos Mentis will close this season

2010-10-22T22:30:00.005-04:00

Compos Mentis, the horticultural therapy farm in Ithaca, will be closing at the end of this season. Below is a forwarded message from Howard Feinstein, the chairman of the board.

Dear Friends of Compos Mentis,

As we approach the close of our fourth season at the farm, we want to bring you up to date on the state of Compos Mentis and our plans for the future.

When we planned for this fourth season, the Board was aware that we had enough money to carry through this year. We did not get 3 grants that we had expected. Surprisingly, we had to delay opening the farm as planned for lack of apprentices. Although we know that there is a need in our community for the type of service we provide so well, for some reason those people were not coming to us.

Reluctantly, and with great sadness, we have concluded that this will be our final season. We recognize full well that what we have accomplished is remarkable, in no small measure, due to your generous support. The full moon shined on the farm at the Harvest Celebration in late September, but the stars were not aligned for our extended future.

For the Board

Howard M. Feinstein M.D.
Chairman of the Board
Rebecca Schwed
Executive Director
Compos Mentis: Working Toward Wellness, Inc.
http://composmentisithaca.org/

Ithaca Crop Mob will be presenting at the NOFA-NY Winter Conference this year!

2010-10-17T18:29:00.003-04:00

The Ithaca Crop Mob will be presenting "Stories from the Crop Mob: Barn Raising in 2010" at the NOFA-NY "Diggin' Diversity" Winter Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY this year! ICM Organizers Katie Church and Rachel Firak will be speaking with Deb Taft of the NYC Crop Mob about how our the two groups got started, how they function, and what agricultural activism and cooperative volunteerism can offer our community. The presentation will be on Sunday from 8-9:15 a.m. To register for the conference, check out the Event Schedule and learn more about the conference, visit NOFA's website at https://www.nofany.org/events/winter-conference.

Cayuga Pure Organics in the New York Times!

2010-10-16T20:42:00.004-04:00

Brooktondale beans-and-grains farm Cayuga Pure Organics is in the New York Times this week!

Field Report: Market Share
David La Spina for The New York Times
By CHRISTINE MUHLKE
Published: October 13, 2010

In New York City, the push to eat locally can go only so far, allowing diners the occasional gotcha moment at restaurants that promote their sourcing. When I tasted the smooth, rich polenta at Roberta’s, a restaurant in Brooklyn that grows vegetables out back, I was sure I’d caught them. “Anson Mills, right?” I asked the chef, Carlo Mirarchi, name-checking the South Carolina gristmill of choice. He’d got me: “Cayuga Pure Organics, upstate.” O.K. . . . Did the staff forager at Print, an upscale locavore restaurant, find the nutty freekeh (roasted green wheat berries, a Middle Eastern specialty) that anchors its vegetable plate at Kalustyan’s, across town? Cayuga Pure Organics again. The heirloom beans at Gramercy Tavern? Exactly.

Legumes and grains have come into play in New York in the last year, altering the lives of a small collective of farmers outside Ithaca along with it. Farro and polenta are no longer just Italian imports. Flour ground from organic buckwheat, rye or winter wheat can be found beyond the health-food store. Black, navy, pinto and heirloom beans like Jacob’s Cattle are sold at New York City green markets and snazzy grocers. Now that the missing links on the plate have been filled in by Cayuga Pure Organics, New York locavores can have their polenta cake and eat it too.

Read more...

Groundswell USDA grant award in Ithaca Journal

2010-10-16T18:46:00.004-04:00

A nice article about the Groundswell Center's new USDA grant in the Ithaca Journal:

EcoVillage's Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming has received nearly $350,000 in a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support training for new farmers and urban market gardeners.

The three-year grant from USDA is intended to help beginning farmers with business planning, training, mentoring and affordable access to land.

"Our goal is to increase the number, diversity, profitability and environmental sustainability of beginning farmers in the region," said Joanna Green, director of the Groundswell Center. "We're making a three-year investment to develop a strong, multicultural social and economic support network for new farmers."

Read More...

Groundswell's October 2010 Newsletter

2010-10-16T09:53:00.006-04:00

To subscribe to the Groundswell Newsletter by email, visit Groundswell's Subscribe page.

October 2010 Newsletter
From the Director
New Orleans, here we come!

I'm thrilled to be traveling to New Orleans this weekend as part of a group of Ithacans participating in the annual conference of the Community Food Security Coalition. This is a great opportunity for us to network with food systems activists from across the nation, and with each other. Groundswell team member Kirtrina Baxter will be sharing her thoughts about the conference in next month's newsletter, so look out for more information in the coming weeks!

We've just finished crossing the t's and dotting the i's on our new grant from USDA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and are gearing up to begin work on a series of new farmer training programs that will launch in 2011. If you're a beginning farmer, a farming intern, or an urban gardener considering the possibility of becoming a market gardener, we want to hear from you!

I hope your harvest season has been as bounteous as Groundswell's, and that you're almost ready, as I am, to trade in the long days of summer for long, cozy evenings, spicy pumpkin soups, and hot (fair trade) chocolate...

Joanna Green, Director
Read More...

10/10/10 Work Party for Ithaca- Video!

2010-10-14T19:58:00.005-04:00

Last Sunday, Ana Ortiz, Gardens4Humanity, and 350.org organized a Permaculture Build in Ithaca, creating a garden site for the Chestnut Hill apartments. Check out this awesome video made by Overstanding Ithaca about the event.

For more information, visit 350.org's website.

Reviving Social Justice in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture

2010-10-11T09:41:00.012-04:00

This piece from the Agricultural Justice Project was written by Elizabeth Henderson of Peacework Farm, who has been an ardent supporter of fair farm policies and farm worker rights for many years. Elizabeth will be giving a workshop on the topic of Farm Labor Policies, Pricing and Local Fair Trade on November 1st at EcoVillage in Ithaca, NY. For more information, visit the Groundswell Website.

Reviving Social Justice in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture
By Elizabeth Henderson
Northeast Organic Farming Association representative to the Agricultural Justice Project Steering Committee

If you can remember back to the early days of organic agriculture in the 1970’s, you may recall its history as a movement with a wholistic approach to land and livelihood. The farmers who were attracted to organic practices and their loyal customers agreed that decent prices, fair treatment of workers and animals, and care for mother earth all went together. Organic food enthusiasts were willing to pay a small premium for organic products to sustain the farms economically. They understood that the prices had to cover the true costs of production and they trusted their farmers to charge fairly. That all started to change as larger entities became involved and organic began to enter the mainstream. The initial family-scale farms and small independent processors faced overwhelming competition from an “organic industry” and large-scale farms that converted to organic purely as a marketing decision. The “American Organic Standards” developed by the Organic Trade Association did not touch pricing and labor issues and then the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which established the National Organic Program (NOP) under USDA, followed suit. When commenters criticized the national organic regulations for leaving out the social component, the NOP responded, that is “not in our purview.”

This departure from the principles of organic agriculture inspired the creation of what evolved into the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP). Michael Sligh of Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA), Richard Mandelbaum of the Farmworker Support Committee (CATA), Marty Mesh of Florida Organic Growers (FOG) and I decided to go "beyond" the NOP definition of organic as a marketing label to develop standards for the fair and just treatment of the people who work in organic and sustainable agriculture. As a small-scale organic farmer, I feel strongly that it is not enough to treat earthworms with respect. For our farms to thrive, we need prices that cover our costs of production, including living wages for ourselves and everyone who works on our farms, plus a surplus to invest in the farm's future. We need to make agricultural work a respected career with appropriate benefits.

The social justice thrust of AJP has deep roots in the movement for organic agriculture. Sometime in the 1980’s, the Northeast Organic Farming Association endorsed these principles that can be found in our Program Manual to this day:

To encourage non-exploitive treatment of farm workers.
To create conditions for livestock that ensures them a life free of undue stress, pain and/or suffering.
To maximize farmers' monetary returns and satisfaction for their work.
To maintain the land in healthy condition for future generations.

The early versions of the principles of the International Federal of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), whose standards formed the basis for most of the organic standards around the world, included these comprehensive statements on social justice:

a . To allow everyone involved in organic and sustainable production and processing a quality of life that meets their basic needs and allows an adequate return and satisfaction from their work, including a safe working environment.

b . To progress toward an entire production, processing, and distribution chain that is both socially just and ecologically responsible. (From IFOAM Basic Standards list of Principle Aims.)

The most recent version of IFOAM’s Principle of Fairness is even more explicit:

“Organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities. Fairness is characterized by equity, respect, justice and stewardship of the shared world, both among people and in their relations to other living beings.

“This principle emphasizes that those involved in organic agriculture should conduct human relationships in a manner that ensures fairness at all levels and to all parties – farmers, workers, processors, distributors, traders and consumers. Organic agriculture should provide everyone involved with a good quality of life, and contribute to food sovereignty and reduction of poverty. It aims to produce a sufficient supply of good quality food and other products. This principle insists that animals should be provided with the conditions and opportunities of life that accord with their physiology, natural behavior and well-being.

“Natural and environmental resources that are used for production and consumption should be managed in a way that is socially and ecologically just and should be held in trust for future generations. Fairness requires systems of production, distribution and trade that are open and equitable and account for real environmental and social costs.” (IFOAM Principles 2005)

Bringing Fair Trade Home

Since 1999, AJP has been at work elaborating upon these principles. The success of international fair trade with the steady climb in numbers of people willing to spend a little more money to support family farms in developing countries has provided an encouraging model. The AJP standards were developed over four years of meetings with workers, small-scale farmers, fair trade companies and organizations, indigenous peoples, consumers, and organic certifiers. Hundreds of people from over sixty countries participated. The standards address the following issues:

• farmer and all food system workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining
• fair wages and benefits for workers
• fair and equitable contracts for farmers and buyers
• fair pricing for farmers
• clear conflict resolution policies for farmers, workers and buyers
• the rights of indigenous peoples
• workplace health and safety
• farmworker housing
• high quality training for farm interns and apprentices
• the rights and protection of children on farms

In August, 2010, AJP posted a revised and expanded version of these standards on our website – www.agriculturaljusticeproject.org. Four years of pilot projects where we tested the draft standards against the reality of actual farms and food businesses and then two years of experience with social justice certifying shaped the revisions. During this time, AJP has also developed the policies that will govern our program, training modules for certifiers and auditors, and materials to help farms and businesses comply with our standards.

In response to the rapidly growing market for socially responsible goods, the AJP steering committee joined with others to found the Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) in 2007. The purpose of DFTA is to organize food system stakeholders around the issue of justice in the North American food system. It is a collaboration of farmers, farmworkers, food retailers, processors and distributors, non-profits and civil society organizations to bring the principles of international fair trade to bear on the challenges of local and regional food production at home.

The urgency of reuniting the principles of fairness and organic is underlined in the concluding report of the National Organic Action Plan, From the Margins to the Mainstream – Advancing Organic Agriculture in the US (January 2010). As Lynn Coody summarized in The Organic Standard of June, 2010, “At their beginning organic regulations set a high bar for advancing cultural and social values in agricultural production. It is proposed that this foundation be restored by rededicating organic practice to an ethical food and agriculture system that honours the values of fairness and basic rights. Fairness includes fair trade; fair pricing (and contracts); fair access to land (and credit); and fair access to quality, organic food and seeds. These basic rights also encompass the rights of all people to follow their own cultural and traditional knowledge systems and the rights of farmers and farmworkers to have an empowered voice in the continued improvement of an ethical food system. This should apply directly to both domestic and foreign agricultural policies with the recognition of organic agriculture’s contributions to local food security and the alleviation of hunger both nationally and internationally.” (p. 7)

Elizabeth has worked with the Genesee Valley Organic CSA (GVOCSA), the Governing Council of NOFA-NY, the Wayne County Agriculture Enhancement Board, and the Organic Committee of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and is a frequent speaker and writer, earning her the distinction in 2001 of being named one of SARE's (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Farmer Educators. For more information about the Agricultural Justice Project, visit http://www.agriculturaljusticeproject.org/ .