Fall 2009

Vol. 2, No. 82

Publication of the Northeast Organic Farming Association

1077-2294

NOFA Summer Conference 2009 Draws Record Numbers!

by Megan Pacelli

A camper doing his morning stretches in the

grass outside his tent, a woman teaching a
group of adults how to make felt from wool,
a man setting up a spot for animals to run in
the grass, a pile of books at an exhibitors tent,
waiting to be browsed throughThese are the
things I saw as I walked through the UMass
campus on Saturday morning. A community
of people, all gathering to share in the NOFA
experience.
People were willing to share their stories, their
lunch table, and their knowledge. I spoke to a
young woman at the keynote who had come to
the conference with a group of people from her
university, and a woman at the zydeco dance
who came to learn more about permaculture
for her landscape design business. I spoke with
a college student who lived down the road and
just stopped by for the keynote, zydeco music,
and organic beer. I met a man at the fair who
manages a co-op in a nearby town and has been
attending and presenting at the conference for
over five years. His words, that the summer
conference feeds all of us, rang true. It seems
that, no matter who we are or where we come
from, we leave the conference full of nutritious
food, knowledge and skills.
A sense of community abounds. I felt it
watching a circle of people hold hands at the
contra dance, and at a free emergency meeting
on the late blight, open to all who wanted to
attend. I felt it at workshops where neighbors
shared tools and information. And I felt it when
I heard one child yell down the hall to another
Come by our tent later!
In the words of Julie Rawson, the workshops
are the heart of the conference. As a beginner
gardener who lives in the suburbs of Boston,
I am just stepping into the wonderful world

photo by Clare Caldwell

A record 1600 people attended the 2009 NOFA Summer Conference.

of NOFA. I chose to attend workshops that
Food As Medicine, with Betzy Bancroft
focused on natural health and wellness, just a
focused on how to create a truly balanced
small portion of what is offered.
diet based on personal constitution, essential
nutritional needs, and the four seasons. Betzy
Herbal Medicine from the Outside In, with
explained how we can use the energy in fruits
Jane LaForce, was next on my list. Jane began
(continued on page 37)
the class with a moving song thanking Mother
Earth and the elements for their bounty, in this
case a lovely jar of herbs that sat before her.
Janes manner was as calming and soothing as
the lemon balm foot bath that she demonstrated
on a lucky attendee. She showed us examples
NAIS Listening Sessions Get an Earful!
5
of the tinctures, salves and compresses that she
Photo of new NOFA-NJ executive directors 6
makes from herbs like ginger, calendula and
Connecticut TASTE!
6
lavender. The more I learned at the workshops,
The Organic Summit
43
the more I wanted to know.
Organic with a French Accent
45

Inside This Issue

Features

Supplement on
Localization

Its Happening in Hardwick

Local Harvest
You Are where You Eat
Chewing the Local Scenery
A Rhode Island Community Garden
Feeding Manhattan Locally
Culintro: the Culinary Trade Organization
Canterbury Winter Markets
Hunterdon Land Trust & Comeback Farm
Home Delivery: Valley Green Feast

Departments

photo by Jack Kittredge

Keynoter Will Allen meets with Springfields Garden the Community kids

Letters
Editorial
NOFA Exchange
News Notes
Book Reviews
NOFA Contact People
NOFA Membership
Calendar

9
12
16
20
22
23
29
30
31
34

2
2
4
7
42
46
47
47

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Letters tofor space)Editor

the
(edited
To the editor:
Our often ill-fated attempts to try to destroy the
microscopic life around is brings to mind a scene
from Gone With the Wind where Rhett Butler was
pointing out to a gathering of southerners that one
of the few areas that the South might boast of a
superiority over the North was in arrogance. This
strength seems to be an all-to-common human
quality, and it is certainly no stranger to science.
Time and again, some of our most cherished
scientific inventions, after a few years or a few
decades, prove to be folly. We so often want to have
an easy time and forget the old saying: there is no
free lunch. Unless a benefit holds up to the test
of time, it isnt a benefit. The watchword for our
society, it seems, has for a long time been newer is
better. The traditional wisdom of the ages, on the
other hand, tends to be conservative.
Robin Ostfeld said in the last issue that in our
society Physical labor that is actually productive is
considered boring, chore-like, or even degrading
This has probably always been the case in
fashionable society. The fashionable people of
ancient Rome, and London, and early America felt
much the same way. When a truly difficult time
arrives in history, however, and it always does
sooner or later, the fashionable people are in deep
trouble because they do not know how to live nor do
they have the hardihood.
It is ever the simple country people who farm and
hunt and fish and live more directly off the land
who are the stalwarts in a tough time. In times of
plenty they are scorned, in times of difficulty they
shine. For this reason, and other reasons, it is a good
thing to be a farmer. As one of Americas best early
agriculturalists wrote: we farmers should toss our
dung about with an air of majesty.
David Ellis, Portsmouth, RI

continued on page 3

The Natural Farmer

Needs You!

The Natural Farmer is a quarterly membership

journal of the Northeast Organic Farming
Association.
We plan a year in advance so those who want to
write on a topic can have a lot of lead time. The
next 3 issues will be:

Winter 2009-10:

Nutrient Density in our Food

Spring 2010:

Organic Animal Nutrition

Summer 2010:

Small Farms & Govt Regulation

If you can help us on any of these topics, or have

ideas for new ones, please get in touch. We need
your help!
Moving or missed an issue? The Natural Farmer
will not be forwarded by the post office, so you
need to make sure your address is up-to-date if you
move. Those who regularly send us a subscription
fee should send address changes to us. Most of
you, however, get this paper as a NOFA member
benefit for paying your chapter dues and should
send address updates to your local NOFA chapter
(listed at the end of each issue).
Archived issues from Summer 1999 through Fall
2005 are available at http://www.library.umass.
edu/spcoll/digital/tnf/. More recent issues are
downloadable at www.nofa.org as pdf files.

Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson

411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005
978-355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046
tnf@nofa.org

ISSN 1077-2294
copyright 2009,
Northeast Organic Farming Association, Inc

Localization and Organic Agriculture

by Jack Kittredge

It is no surprise to any reader of this journal that the

interest by consumers in the Northeast for locally
produced food has never been higher. From more
subscribers in CSAs, more customers at farm stands,
more interest by chefs, and farmers markets in
more towns to a resurgent production of processed
foods, local grains, raw milk, and grass-fed meat,
the value of local farm sales is again becoming a
significant part of the economy in some of our rural
communities.
In part driven by anxiety about the healthfulness
of the countrys dominant industrial food system,
in part by concerns about the fragility of the fossil
fuel-dependent global sourcing and delivery of such
food, in part by the hard political economy lessons
taught by our recent recession about the difference
between paper and real value, and in part by the
popularity of writers such as Michael Pollan and
Barbara Kingsolver, this confluence of motives has
created a demand which gives new opportunities to

farmers throughout the region. The response, also to

no ones surprise, has been enthusiastic and creative.
In this issue of The Natural Farmer we examine
some case studies of this resurgence of local
farming and gardening. For every story told here,
of course, there are dozens more untold. But we
hope this sample will give readers a taste of what is
happening throughout the region. From Manhattans
upscale restaurants to down-home community
gardens, from isolated rural communities to urban
centers, this phenomenon is real, growing, and
portends to give growers and their craft a stature not
experienced in generations.
At the just-concluded 35th annual NOFA Summer
Conference we actually heard someone talking
about the Jeffersonian ideal of a sturdy, self-reliant
democracy based on yeoman (and yeowoman)
farmers. We saw hundreds of young people
expressing an interest in being farmers and felt a
new energy and optimism among even the old guard
who have been at it for 20 or 30 years. This is a well
deserved success story, and needs to be told.

Advertise in or Sponsor The Natural Farmer

Advertisements not only bring in TNF revenue, which means

less must come from membership dues, they also make a
paper interesting and helpful to those looking for specific
goods or services. We carry 2 kinds of ads:
The NOFA Exchange - this is a free bulletin board service
(for subscribers or NOFA members who get the TNF) for
occasional needs or offerings. Send in up to 100 words and
well print it free in the next issue. Include a price (if selling)
and an address, E-mail or phone number so readers can
contact you directly. If you dont get the paper yourself you
can still send in an ad - just send $5 along too! Send NOFA
Exchange ads directly to The Natural Farmer, 411 Sheldon
Rd., Barre, MA 01005 or (preferably) E-mail to TNF@nofa.
org.

Frequency discount: we give a 25% discount for

year-round ads. If you reserve the same space for
four consecutive issues your fourth ad is free! To
receive the frequency discount you must pay for all
the issues in advance, upon reserving the space.
Deadlines: We need your ad copy one month
before the publication date of each issue. The
deadlines are:
January 31 for the Spring issue (mails Mar. 1)
April 30 for the Summer issue (mails Jun. 1)
July 31 for the Fall issue (mails Sept. 1)
October 31 for the Winter issue (mails Dec. 1)

Disclaimer: Advertisers are helping support

the paper so please support them. We cannot
Display Ads - this is for those offering products or services
investigate the claims of advertisers, of course,
on a regular basis! You can get real attention with display ads. so please exercise due caution when considering
Send camera ready copy to Bob Minnocci, 662 Massachusetts any product or service. If you learn of any
Ave. #6, Boston, MA 02118 or BMinnocci@nofamass.org
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and enclose a check (to TNF) for the appropriate size. The us and we will take appropriate action. We dont
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Contact for Display Ads or Sponsors: Send
Note: These prices are for camera ready copy on clean
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out to TNF) to our advertising manager Bob
any changes we will be glad to make them - or to typeset a
Minnocci, 662 Massachusetts Ave. #6, Boston, MA
display ad for you - for $45 (which includes one revision -02118. If you have questions, or want to reserve
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check for the space charge plus $45.

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Letters (continued from page 2)

tilted towards the sun not just the glass covers,

but the black tube-and-plate assemblies that extract
solar energy from the sun.

In the current gardening literature Im struck by the

increasing enthusiasm for cold frames. This handy
type of concentrated growing is meeting a need.
Its not surprising. The high cost of vegetables, the
rebellion against the long-haul industrialized and
chemicalized food system, wanting more greens
in our diet, a desire by families to grow some of
their food on their own small lot, and the interest
in exotic greens such as tat soi or mizuni all are
pushing this trend.

Another important advantage of this design is that

because of the slope each plant is more exposed to
the sun because it is slightly higher than the one in
front of it. Like a concert hall with a sloping floor,
the small music-lover in row D is not blocked so
much by the large one with the bouffant hairdo
in row C. With more direct sun on each plant its
chlorophyll can better do its job of converting
carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates.

Dear Mr. Kittredge

There is another thing. The hardest part of making

a cold frame is the large glass lights that form
the movable cover. But right now, because storm
windows are perfect for the purpose, and are
available for free from contractors replacing old
windows with modern double-glazed ones, the hard
part of the job is done for you!
This letter is to point out a simple improvement that
will make a cold frame both better in its function,
and at the same time easier to construct. In the
gardening literature the advice is almost always to
slope the glass top to get more sun, and to leave the
planting bed flat. This is backwards. There is no
advantage in the top sloping, while the planting bed
does get more solar heat if it slopes towards the sun.
The plants want warmer soil, not warmer glass.
This steeper angle resulting in more heat on the
planting bed is the same reason Florida is hotter
than New England. Its the reason solar panels are

The frame itself is simple to make because its the

same all around like a childs sandbox. Its best
made of 2 rough sawn lumber so you have the full
2 to kneel on. I used 2 x 10 boards with a 2 x 2
edge strip at the bottom which can be replaced when
it rots. Be sure the storm windows are all the same
height, while the width can vary. I use a bed slope of
2.5 inches per foot of box, which is about as steep
as you want to go before the soil washes downhill
when watered.
It puzzles me that the solar advantages described
here have apparently not been discovered before.
I have found in the literature only one mention
of tilting the whole frame rather than just the
glass. This is in Mel Bartholomews Square Food
Gardening. He describes a frame with a sloped bed,
but only for convenience in making it to avoid the
angle cuts at the ends. No hint of either of the two
solar advantages described here!
Ernest Wright, Randolph, VT

Angle b is larger than angle a

Please help us thank these

Friends of Organic Farming
for their generous support!

Supporting a Food Culture that is

Regional
Sun-based
Grass-roots
Kim Q. Matland

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

NOFA
Exchange

This is my first year growing wheat and now I have

certified naturally grown glenn spring wheat which
is suitable as a cover crop or bread flour. It is a
work in progress so be patient. I am charging $30
for 50 lbs. I am located in central Conn. so delivery
needs to be worked out on an individual basis. This
has been a real learning experience and I can see
why not many people want to raise wheat, but next
year will be even better. Call me at 860-742-5717
or e-mail adappollonio@charter.net. thanks Andy

Central Vermont Farmland For Sale. 60 acres (15

acres in pasture, 35 acres in woodland). Beautiful
southern aspect, extensive woods roads, unfinished
post & beam cabin with a view, pasture grazed by
organic beef herd since 2000. Threeorganic farms
in the neighborhood. 30 - 45 minutes to major
markets. $170,000. Contact Mia Rubow at (802)
685-7726 or rosie@innevi.com.

Blow Your Own Horn

Farm Manager Wanted: Work with experienced

farmer-owner, on busy and successful 35-acre
certified organic CSA farm. Duties include:
Managing 10 person field crew; tractor operation;
planting; cultivating; harvesting; washing and
packing; maintaining records; driving box truck;
CSA deliveries.
$30,000 starting salary, plus on-farm housing,
produce, and performance bonuses. Year-round
position with some winter vacation time. Min 2
years previous farm experience and multi-year
commitment required. Email resume, letter of
reference and 3 employer references to farmer@
gardenofevefarm.com. More farm info at www.
gardenofevefarm.com
Farm Manager: The Mountain School, Vershire,
VT. Hiring now for job beginning January, 2010.
Oversee a 3-acre garden, 90 acres of pasture.
Full time position. Minimum 5 years experience
managing a diversified farm. Salary comes with
benefits and housing. Please send rsum and
cover letter by Sept. 27th to susie.rinehart@
mountainschool.org or (802) 685-4520 x112.

Coastal Maine Organic Farm For Sale. Salt

Meadow Farm is located in the small downeast
fishing village of Milbridge. Private 50 acres
includes 6 acres fenced fields and gardens, 23 acres
spruce and fir forest, 21 acres salt marsh. Sunny
1810 farmhouse with new 20x28 country kitchen,
living room with original fireplaces, laundry room,
mud room, 3 bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths, 4 greenhouses,
heated workshop/guest cottage, outbuildings.
Many local farmers markets; large area demand
for locally-grown, organic produce. $279,000.00.
Please call for more info and pictures. (207) 2800016 or rleroy@myfairpoint.net.
Free how-to instructions for making a Planet
Whizbang wheel hoe with an 8 oscillating stirrup
blade. www.PlanetWhizbang.com. It is notable for
four reasons:
1) The how-to plans are available free on the
internet,
2) The plans are easy to follow and the hoe is
easy to make.
3) The Planet Whizbang wheel hoe is comparable
to storebought hoes that cost $300 to $400
4) Gardeners can build their own Planet
Whizbang wheel hoe for 1/3 (or less) of the cost
of other wheel hoes on the market.

Cozy 2 bedroom, 1 bath home, 1000 sq. ft. of

living space on 22 beautiful acres. Full unfinished
basement, second floor attic space, 300 ft. of road
frontage. Wood/oil heat, artesian well. Quiet road,
small stream on property. Large organic garden
space, 6 acres open fields, private. Excellent land
for market garden, farming or animals. Half hour
from Montpelier, hour from South Royalton, 10
minutes from Wellspring Waldorf School in Chelsea
VT. Property is in Williamstown VT. $185,000.
Margaret or Andy (802)433-5989 or margaretandy@
pshift.com
Four Winds Farm in Great Barrington, MA
is for sale. There is a small organic market
garden, an apple orchard being brought back, a
beautiful farmhouse, dilapidated barn, woodland
and overgrown pasture for a total of 10 acres
for $425,000. There are also 3 building lots ( 5
acres@$140,000 and 3 acres@$110,000) that could
be worked into a small co-housing type situation
with the farm. Total is 23 acres. Walk to town center
and beach. If you are interested in any aspect of
this, or have other ideas, please contact MaryBeth
via fourwindsfarmgb@aol.com. I will work with
you!
Knox Parks Foundation is seeking an Executive
Director with a passion for the organizations
mission and the ability to thrive in a small business/
small nonprofit environment. Throughout its fortyplus year history, Knox Parks has greened the
City of Hartford, CT and helped to build stronger
communities by connecting people with horticulture,
reestablishing the tree canopy, providing youth
with job skills, establishing community gardens,
and beautifying neighborhoods. Please go towww.
tsne.org/employment/ed_Knoxorwww.knoxparks.
orgfor more information.
Bookkeeper for the NOFA Interstate Council
(and formerly for Connecticut NOFA) looking
for additional non-profit and small business
bookkeeping positions, either on contract basis or
on salary; will be based in western Mass. Please
contact Marion Griswold at mbgriswold@yahoo.
com.

Managing Soil Temperature

04.07.09In the wild, where our crop plants evolved their
microbial partnerships, plants are provided with nutrients from
soil by the work of partner microbes in their employ. In the
greenhouse, it is important that the grower provide soil condi-

COM PA N Y

tions to support the efforts of those same plant employees in

the soil. The grower should seek to mimic the soil conditions of
the plants evolutionary history. It pays to know, and manage,
soil temperatures. One of the main actors in soil temperature
dynamics is water. Cold water shocks the systemeven warm
water will cool soil by evaporation to well below air temperatures
unless heat is provided under the media. Assuming good media
and sound plant material, most greenhouse problems relate to
water, watering, and water temperature effects on soil life.
Generally, dryer is better, both because of the thermal effects
and because water displaces air in soil.

802-223-6049 /

fax 802-223-9028
1996 Main Street / Montpelier Vermont 05602

www.vermontcompost.com
We speak organic.

Makers of Living Media for Organic Growers

We speak organic.

NAIS Listening Sessions Get an Earful!

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

by Jack Kittredge

A remarkable populist phenomenon occurred this

summer, perhaps out of the view of most farmers
who were dealing with drought or deluge, early
and late blights, and the other urgencies of the
agricultural life.
In a strange move, given the universal opposition
among small farmers and livestock owners to the
proposed National Animal Identifications System
(NAIS), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
scheduled listening sessions around the country to
engage stakeholders and producers to hear not only
their concerns about {NAIS}, but also potential or
feasible solutions to those concerns.
If he was hoping to devise a NAIS that producers
could live with, he was sadly mistaken. Instead, over
1500 people turned out on a workday in the middle
of the summer at 14 locations around the country.
The vast majority of them were small farmers and
individuals who own a few backyard animals. Their
message was resounding: This program cannot be
fixed. End it!
Less than 10% of the participants supported NAIS
in any fashion, and they were largely paid staff in
suits representing large livestock organizations or
equipment makers such as ear tag manufacturers,
the Pork Producers, the Dairymans Association,
Smithfield Farms, and the Farm Bureau. The little
people in droves castigated the USDA for holding
sessions like this during prime haymaking time,
requiring them to dress up and take a day to drive to
Louisville, Jefferson City, Austin, and Rapid City.
But they came anyway, riled up about NAIS in a
way that has captured populist energy not seen in
rural America since the Depression.

the head when he said NAIS was being pushed by

industrial ag interests. They want to sell into foreign
markets that are skeptical about the health of meat
raised in factory farms, and NAIS is a shortcut to
making those sales without actually cleaning up the
filthy conditions in CAFOs and slaughterhouses.

In Storrs, CT, a grandfather spoke of talking about

life as he and his granddaughter walked out to do
chores each day. He said the costs of NAIS would
force him to give up his animals and end that ritual
for them both. A Kentucky farmer hit the nail on

A 12-year-old home-schooled farm girl spoke with

passion when she said: Having electronic chips
placed in animals is not what God intended. A
veterinarian in Raleigh described the flaws of NAIS
as an animal health system and questioned why

photo courtesy Jeri Lynn Bakken

South Dakotans against NAIS display their brands at Rapid City press conference.

anyone would think it would make our food safer. A

cattleman from Ohio described the USDAs manner
pushing in NAIS and said it made him feel like an
old herd sire being pushed down an alley with an
electric prod and asked How do you want to be
castrated with a dull knife, with a burdizzo or an
elastic band?
There were no listening sessions in Wisconsin,
where NAIS has been made mandatory by the state
and opposition is red hot.

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The Natural Farmer

Perhaps the most eloquent testimony was by Wendell Berry, 75 year-old

Kentucky farmer and writer. Wearing a suit as fine as anyone supporting NAIS,
he put it quite clearly:

Fall, 2009

The need to trace animals was made by the confined animal industry which
are, essentially, disease breeding operations. The health issue was invented
right there. The remedy is to put animals back on pasture, where they belong.
The USDA is scapegoating the small producers to distract attention from
the real cause of the trouble. Presumably these animal factories are, in a too
familiar phrase, too big to fail.
This is the first agricultural meeting Ive ever been to in my life that was
attended by the police. I asked one of them why he was there and he said:
Rural Kentucky. So thank you for your vote of confidence in the people you
are supposed to be representing. (applause) I think the rural people of Kentucky
are as civilized as anybody else.
But the police are here prematurely. If you impose this program on the small
farmers, who are already overburdened, youre going to have to send the police
for me. Im 75 years old. Ive about completed my responsibilities to my family.
Ill lose very little in going to jail in opposition to your program and Ill have
to do it. Because I will be, in every way that I can conceive of, a non-cooperator.
I understand the principles of civil disobedience, from Henry Thoreau to
Martin Luther King. And Im willing to go to jail to defend the young people
who, I hope, will still have a possibility of becoming farmers on a small scale in
this supposedly free country. Thanks you very much. (applause, cheers)
The impact of the listening sessions is hard to judge right now. Did such a
universal rejection reach anyones ears at the USDA? Apparently Congess was
listening. The House voted to support Rep. Rosa DeLauros amendment striking
all funding for NAIS from the agriculture appropriations bill, and the Senate
voted to support Sen. Testers amendment to cut the funding in half, to $7.3
million. A conference committee has yet to resolve the difference. If the funding
disappears, the mechanism by which the USDA is enforcing the program
from afar cash grants to hard-pressed states and livestock associations will

disappear as well. But no one is counting the industrial ag operations down.

The costs of cleaning up large-scale meat production and processing are
daunting, and the industry will fight hard to avoid them however they can.

Michelle and David Glenn, new executive directors of NOFA-NJ,

at their wedding in May of last year.

photo courtesy Shelley Glenn

Connecticut Taste!

Celebrate the harvest at the ninth annualTaste! Organic Connecticut,sponsored by CT NOFAto be

heldSunday, September 20, 2009at Manchester Community College from10 am to 4 pm.Experience
theonlyLocal and Organic festival in Connecticutoffering afarmers market, fresh prepared food,
live music, sustainable vendors, artisans, free workshops and free kids activities!
Live Music By: The Alternate Routes, Cosmic Jibaros, Echo Uganda and C Minus
Free Workshops: Healthy Cooking Demonstrations, Community Gardening, Composting, Organic Beer
Making and more!
Free for Kids: A performance of Circus for a Fragile Planet by Art Farm, butter dancing, games and
more!
StandardAdmission:$10.FREEAdmissionfor kids under 12 and seniors over 80.
Discounts available with pre-registration and for members at:ctnofa.org
CT NOFA has been promoting local, organic agriculture through education and advocacy since
1982. CT NOFA, the non-profit Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut, is a growing
community of farmers, gardeners, land care professionals, businesses and consumers that encourages a
healthy relationship to the natural world.
Sponsored by: Stonyfield Farm,. Manchester Community College, Whole Foods, CT Farmland Trust and
Patagonia

News
Notes

Fall, 2009

compiled by Jack Kittredge

Eating Local Costs Only Pennies More per Day

According to Tufts Hugh Joseph, if you use the
US governments Thrifty Food Plan listing the least
expensive food items and remove soda pop, bottled
water, white sugar, TV dinners, boxed cereals,
unfairly traded coffee, frozen pizza, white bread,
frozen shrimp, farmed salmon, factory farmed
meats, processed desserts and snacks, and then
rearrange the list to include local produce, nuts,
seeds, homemade granola and tap water, the extra
cost is about $10 per month.
source: Farmers Markets Today, July/August 2009
Families Purchasing More Organics Despite
Economy
A study by the Organic Trade Association has found
that 3 in 10 US families (31%) are purchasing more
organic foods compared to a year ago. Seventeen
percent actually say their largest increases in
spending were for organic products.
source: Organic Processing, July/August 2009
Medical Group Calls For Immediate
Moratorium on Genetically Modified Foods
The American Academy of Environmental
Medicine (AAEM) has released its position paper
on Genetically Modified foods stating that GM
foods pose a serious health risk and called for a
moratorium on GM foods. Citing several animal
studies, the AAEM concludes there is more than a
casual association between GM foods and adverse
health effects and that GM foods pose a serious
health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy
and immune function, reproductive health, and
metabolic, physiologic and genetic health. The
AAEM calls for:
* A moratorium on GM food, implementation of
immediate long term safety testing and labeling of
GM food.
* Physicians to educate their patients, the medical
community and the public to avoid GM foods.
* Physicians to consider the role of GM foods in
their patients disease processes.
* More independent long term scientific studies to
begin gathering data to investigate the role of GM
foods on human health.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine
was founded in 1965, and is an international
association of physicians and other professionals
interested in the clinical aspects of humans and their
environment. More information is available at www.
aaemonline.org.
source: American Academy of Environmental
Medicine press release, May 19, 2009
Hemp Farming Bill Introduced
Representatives Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank
(D-MA) have introduced a bill in Congress to allow
the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp.
Hemp has enjoyed a global resurgence because of
its many useful attributes, including hemp oil, useful
in soap-making.
source: Acres, USA, August, 2009
NOP to Get Outside Audit
The United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has announced that it will subject its
National Organic Program (NOP) to a stringent
audit and continued oversight by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In

The Natural Farmer

a July 29 letter addressed to the National Organic

Coalition, USDA Deputy Secretary, Kathleen
Merrigan underscored the value of scrutinizing the
NOP to strengthen the integrity of the program and
the USDA organic seal.

NISTs National Voluntary Conformity
Assessment Systems Evaluation (NVCASE)
program reviews accreditation programs such
as the NOP to assess their ongoing conformity
with international standards for management
of accreditation program through onsite audit,
evaluation of office system, and oversight of record
keeping, enforcement, and corrective actions.
Third-party recognition is important for many
of USDAs audit-based programs, Merrigan said
in a letter announcing the audit.We understand
the value of this step as we continue working to
strengthen the integrity of the NOP and to build
the organic communitys trust in the program.
Merrigan anticipates that the NIST review will
begin October 1, 2009.
source: National Organic Coalition press release,
August 6, 2009
FRAC Act Introduced in Congress
In June, two bills were introduced in the House and
Senate that would ensure that natural gas mining
companies exploiting the Marcellus Shale natural
gas development boom comply with the provisions
of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Four NY
Representatives are among the ten co-sponsors
of H.R. 2766, known as the FRAC Act (Fracking
Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act).
The related Senate bill, S. 1215, is co-sponsored by
NYS Senator Schumer.

Four years ago, an exemption to the
requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water
Act was enacted to spur the development of a
new natural gas extraction technique, hydraulic
fracturing. The bills introduced in June seek to
eliminate that regulatory exemption.Under the
current exemption, hydrofracing fluid is allowed
to contain a mixture of chemicals that is kept
secret from federal regulators, first responders,
and the public at large. This hydrofracing fluid
is injected deep into the ground at high pressure,
to release the gas that is held in the shale layer.
Some hydrofracing fluid use, storage, and disposal
methods allow for some of the hydrofracing
mystery chemical soup to leave the site, where
it may become a threat to the safety of well water,
surface water supplies used in irrigation, or public
water supplies.
source: NOFA-NY press release, July 24, 2009
Enola Patent Ruled Invalid
On July 10, 2009, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that U.S.
patent 5,894,079 (the Enola bean patent),
which claims a yellow bean of Mexican origin, is
invalid because none of the patent claims meet the
criterion of non-obviousness. The casehas been
closely watched by civil society groups concerned
aboutbiopiracy, the patenting of life and corporate
control of foodproduction. The Courts clear 7page decision argues that anyone interested in
reproducing or improving Mexican yellow beans
would have done exactly what the inventor Larry
Proctor did: plant the beans,harvest the resulting
plants for their seeds, planting the latterseeds, and
repeat the process two more times. The decision
concludes with an appeal to common sense in
upholding a previousrejection of the patent by the
Board of Patent Appeals.
source: ETC Group press release, July 14, 2009

House Passes Food Safety Bill

HR 2749, the Food Safety Enforcement Act
of 2009 has been passed by the House of
Representatives. The Senate has yet to weigh in
with its take on this topic, but the House bill gives
the FDA power to regulate food facilities and
charge them a $500 annual fee for the privilege.
Farms which sell at least half of their products to
final consumers are currently exempt under the bill,
as are all livestock and grain producers (courtesy
of Collin Peterson, House Ag. Committee Chair).
Farms which produce over half their products as
processed items will be subject, no matter their
size. The bill imposes one-size-fits-all regulations
on the facilities it covers, and requires extensive
tracking and paperwork on the part of managers.

HR 2749 was first brought out of the Energy
and Commerce Committee and sent to the House
for a vote under rules which prohibited amendments
but required a 2/3 vote. A major effort by small
farmer groups and others resulted in a narrow defeat
for the bill under those rules. But the next day the
leadership brought it out and passed it under a new
rule which still prohibited amendments but required
only a majority vote. Had the bill been subject to a
fair process including debate and amendment, small
farm advocates believe they would have been able
to pass at least some amendments to make it more
realistic for small farm processors.
source: Acres, USA, August, 2009
Pesticide Database Online
The California-based group Pesticide Action
Network North America (PANNA) has just
launched a detailed and informative website - www.
whatsonmyfood.org. The site hosts an easy-to-use,
searchable database of government test results for
pesticide residues in food. The database shows what
pesticides are found on each food, in what amount,
and, for the first time, links those residues to the
health effects associated with exposure to each of
the chemicals.
source: MOFGA press release, June 17, 2009
CoolBot Delivers Economical Cold Storage
An ingenious device developed by New York farmer
Ron Khosla enables a standard room window air
conditioner to bring temperatures down to just
above freezing. The device, called a CoolBot, fools
the air conditioner into thinking the temperature
is 65 degrees F even when it is much cooler. The
air conditioner thus continues to generate cooling
air way past the point when its circuitry would tell
it to shut off. The device also detects when the air
conditioner is icing up and allows it to idle until the
ice melts.

The CoolBot sells for $300, and with an air
conditioner (prices for a new 11,000 BTU unit range
around $350) and an insulated 8 by 8 box make for
a low cost walk-in cooler. You can learn more about
the CoolBot at www.storeitcold.com.
source: Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener,
Summer, 2009
More Small Farms
300,000 new small farms were started between
2002 and 2007, according to USDA data. A farm is
any unit which generates $1000 per year in gross
agricultural sales. Even John Deere is responding to
this trend. The small tractor category is now one of
the fastest growing American markets. Table 1 gives
some interesting data on changes in the Northeast
farm economy between 2002 and 2007.
source: Acres, USA, August, 2009 and Innovations
in sustainable Agriculture, Spring/Summer, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Fall, 2009

Natural Products Expo East | Every season is a growing season for your business.

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September 23-26, 2009 Boston, MA
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Education & Events:

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September 23-26, 2009

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September 24-26, 2009

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until August 21, 2009.

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Special Supplement on

Localization and Organic Agriculture

Its Happening in Hardwick

by Beth Champagne

farmers market, and, of course, NOFA-VTthey

hung on, and hung out, in communityup here in
Hardwick where there were maybe more moose,
deer and cows than people. The co-op grew to
over 1,000 members, committed to its principles:
People, not profits. In a town where making a living
was tough, community thrived. Neighboring towns,
where people came from awaysome to stay, some
just for the summertapped into the energy at the
co-op, shopping and sharing expertise and weaving
the fabric of community that the first back-to-thelanders had begun when, as 24-year veteran co-op
staffer Annie Gaillard recalls, If you wanted tofu,
you had to go to Hardwick!

Whats happening in Hardwick? Localization? Hard

to imagine any place more local than Hardwick,
VT after granite got done. Loggers and farmers
wouldnt always have had cash enough to get out of
town. Folks with jobs out of town would have had
to spend a good deal of what they had just keeping a
vehicle on the road. Hard to take the Hardwick jokes
heard outside of town, too. Hard times, indeed, for a
long time.
Longtime observers wonder whether whats going
on today will finally turn things around for folks
whove hung on, however precariously, through the
years. Whats undeniable is that all over the media,
Hardwick is a blazing star. Tom Stearns, founder of
High Mowing Organic Seeds, and co-chair of the
NOFA-VT board, is also president of Hardwicks
Center for an Agricultural Economy. This year,
despite having delegated responsibilities in order
to get out and share his vision for building healthy
local food systems across America, Stearns has to
turn down many invitations. Its interesting, he
acknowledges, to see how much doing our [own]
thing is resonating with other people.
Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivores
Dilemma, and calls Vermont 30 years ahead of
the rest of the country in sustainable agriculture,
sees in Hardwick an important national test-case of
the possibilities of relocalizing an economy.
Another well-travelled and well-informed observer,
author and climate-change activist Bill McKibben,
sees deep and transformative things happening in
Hardwick, where all of the pieces of a healthy food
system [are] connected and ready to fall into place.
And a local observer, playwright and poet David
Budbill, whose mythic Judevine brought the
stubbornness, courage, hope and despair of people
subsisting in rural poverty to audiences far from
Hardwick, sees how similar todays interest in
reviving a sustainable agricultural economy is to
what we all wished for, dreamed of, 40 years ago.
Whats new, he asserts, is how much smarter,
shrewder, better prepared are this generations ag
entrepreneurs.
In some ways, things are happening exponentially
here, notes Tom Gilbert at Highfields Institute,
a non-profit supporting farm and municipal
composting programs, but its been 30 years
in the making, this watershed moment where it all
seems to come together for Jasper Hill Farm in
Greensboro, Vermont Soy and Vermont Natural
Coatings in Hardwick, Petes Greens in Craftsbury,
and High Mowing Seeds in Wolcott.
Its the folks who started Buffalo Mountain Coop in Hardwick, and Hunger Mountain Co-op in
Montpelier, Gilbert said, on whose work todays
entrepreneurs are piggybacking! Vermont has
the most certified organic producers in the country,
Gilbert pointed out, and leads the nation in per
capita spending on locally grown foods as well ($16

photo courtesy Petes Greens

Pete Johnson cultivating leeks.

in Vermont vs. an average of $2 nationally).

Highfields Institute, now in its 11th year,

does research and education in its Hardwick
headquarters. It also does frequent tours, runs
special-topic workshops, and assists organizers
of municipal composting around the state and
beyond, said Gilbert. While providing technical
services for farmers on composting everything from
manure to animal mortalities, Highfields Institute
also takes the food scraps for the Hardwick region,
and sells compost right off its site here.
The Center for an Agricultural Economy, with its
storefront on Hardwicks Main Street,gets the word
out about how communities can pull together to
grow their foodand their well-being, encourages
people to connectwith dirt, with everything
alive, and especially with what they can do with
their neighbors to build a healthy food system in
their towns. Director Monty Fischer supports the
efforts of Stearns, Meyer, Gilbert and the others to
encourage other localities to replicate the Hardwick
model.
Are we going to fix the national food system in
Hardwick? Maybe not now, admits Andrew Meyer
of Vermont Soy and Vermont Natural Coatings,
answering his own questionbut, he emphasizes,
Weve seen interest from all over the countryall
over the world!in what were trying to do. Its
amazing!
Whats happening in Hardwick started when backto-the-land hippies headed up Route 14 till they
found cheap land, something that Montpelier didnt
offer. They started homesteading, intent on growing
their own, and grew a community and a food culture
that survived and thrived, with its hub and gathering
place at Buffalo Mountain Co-op on Hardwicks
Main Street.
They farmed, worked to start a growers co-op, a

Come into Hardwick today, and you can walk out

of the co-op with tofu made just across town. At
Vermont Soy, co-owners Todd Pinkham and Andrew
Meyer are working with local growers, to whom
theyll pay premium prices for the white beans
they need to make soy milk. Theyre also working
to identify soybean varieties that can thrive in this
corner of the Northeast, enlisting the expertise of a
scientist at the University of Vermont. In barely two
years, Vermont Soys organic soy milks, plain and
baked maple-ginger tofu blocks have reached the
coolers in co-ops and natural food stores throughout
the region; they are now shipped to Whole Foods
northeast and mid-Atlantic stores also. Meyer, son
of local dairy farmers, was the butt of jokes as he
first let it be known he was milking soybeansbut,
today, hes riding a wave of excitement about
what he and half-a-dozen other 30-something ag
entrepreneurs have got going here.
What these sustainable ag innovatorsat High
Mowing Seeds, Jasper Hill Farm, Petes Greens,
Highfield Institute, and now, Claires, a communitysupported restauranthave pulled together is a
way of working together, from the ground up, to
strengthen the community by building onand
building upits soils. High Mowing uses compost
from Highfield Institute to grow the seeds that go to
growers like Pete Johnson at Petes Greens. Andy
and Mateo Kehler from Jasper Hill provide a market
for local organic milk, mentor farmers who want
to make their own artisanal cheeses, and provide
affinage in their state-of-the-art, seven-vault cave,
to other cheesemakers, from the humblest beginners
to the award-winning cheesemakers at nearby
Cabot Creamery. Andrew Meyer uses wheythe
cheesemakers wasteas the essential protein in
the green varnish produced by Vermont Natural
Coatings.
Then there are the second-tier synergies. Jasper
Hill offers affinage to other cheesemakers just to
support their business, since the demands of aging
cheese are the toughest challenge many would-be
cheesemakers face. The Kehlers are stepping up to
encourage new people to make artisanal cheeses.
At Petes Greens this summer, employees harvested
cucumbers in a High Mowing field, then made
pickles in Petes new commercial kitchen. Stearns
and Johnson had seen the potential for pickling the
early-ripening cukes without decreasing the later
harvest of ripe cukes for seed at High Mowing.

10
Last year, knowing that Johnson had new equipment
adequate to the challenge, Stearns arranged for
UVM students to harvest his surplus butternut
squash for Johnson to peel and puree. Students
at Sterling College in Craftsbury, who study
agriculture, forestry, conservation and ecology,
mixed up pie filling and billed crustsall made with
donated ingredientsto bake 60 pies last November
for the local food pantry.
More and more partners are getting involved with
the Center and its missionto ensure that farmers
can earn a living, to ensure access to abundant,
healthful food for all members of the community,
and above all to take care of the soil so that the land
can support all the people living here. A recognition
that a success for one is a success for allplus a
readiness to share energy and ideas, equipment,
even employees and capitalare at the heart of
the Centers practice. Energy ebbs and flows in
problem-solving, replicating the reciprocity and
interdependence occurring in natural systems,
whether on a microbial or an ecosystem level.
As Tom Stearns, who built a multi-million dollar
enterprise out of his hobby of saving seeds,
told a Collaborative Management class from
UVM visiting the Center in July, All signs point
towards local, organic food. The credit crunch
and the economic crash have done great things
for Buy localsupport your neighbors! across
the country. But, as people realize all these things,
they dont have too many models to work with,
like community-supported agriculture (CSA)
farms, or food co-ops or farmers markets. Here
in Hardwick, for years already, things on this food
system cycle were in place. Were trying to map it
and understand it and see where the voids are. This
is why people are coming from all over the country
and all over the world. Hardwick and surrounding
towns are what a lot of other places are needing to
become like. .
Last February, NOFA-VT offered a workshop
on the Hardwick ag revolution at its winter
conference, when a jam-packed workshop brought
the story of Stearns, Meyer and their fellow ag
entrepreneursand their collaborative approach
to building a healthy food system in Hardwick
and eight neighboring townsto inspire them
to strengthen their own communities roots.
Meyer, who grew up in Hardwick, returned
home after working for Sen. James Jeffords, then
advocating for the dairy compact as a lobbyist in
Washington, D.C. Having seen, again and again,
the overpowering influence from commodity food
processors on farm bills that began with great
intentions, Meyer concluded, I should just go
home and do it! Instead of asking for change, were
going to prove the value of our way. Our biggest
way of influencing [lawmakers] is going to be
proving that this can succeed!
Rebuilding essential infrastructure would permit
Vermont villages to reclaim the ability they once
had to feed themselves, says Pete Johnson, who
grew up in Greensboro from age 12 and runs
Petes Greens, farming 40 acres in Craftsbury. He
is excited about this seasons purchase, a tractortrailer-sized freezer, 8 x 48, that will permit him to
eliminate runs back and forth to Williston, about 50
miles away. Hes just begun raising meat animals
on grass Grass grows really well around here!
But the big thing this year has been working on just
farming really well, said Johnson, doing it right!
Thats been really fun for me, he noted, after so
much growth in recent years, ramping up production
from 10 to 40 acres.
I dont think this is a deprived way of life. I
think its a rich life, says Pete Johnson. Hands
in the soil, eating what hes grown, connecting
with customers who trust him to raise their food,
and working closely with people who share his
pleasure in working the landknowing that hes
strengthening his community as he toilsall this
rootedness is richness for his life.
Is it reinventing the wheel for folks to collaborate in
building an ag-based economy? Not exactlybut
it does mean creating a food hub. As envisioned
at the Center, the food hub would serve Hardwick

The Natural Farmer

and eight surrounding townsabout 8,000 people
supplying locally produced foodsfrom meat,
cheese, beans, tofu, grains and flour to vegetables
and fruitsand ensuring access to healthful diets
to all residents of the nine towns. The goal is to
reconnect all elements, from soils and seeds through
farms, processors, and distributors, to consumers
and composters, in a functional regional food
system that ensures access to healthful, affordable
locally grown foods for everyone in the region.
Its funny, mused Annie Gaillard, who met the
love of her life, Louis Pulver of Surfing Veggie
Farm here (and has since grown tons and tons of
organic carrots with him) that the vision we had
in the 60s and 70sand it kind of stalled for
a whilehas come to fruition in this decade in
Hardwick, as her own focus has shifted into more
social activism.
As grocery buyer at Buffalo Mountain (and member
of the board of the Center for an Agricultural
Economy), Annie is at the hub of a very stable
and committed group that understands food as the
basis of community. But her awareness of what
community requires has led her to work with others
to bring Hardwick and neighboring towns into
the Transition Towns movement. Hardwick joins
Montpelierabout 25 miles southin bringing
neighbors together to relocalize, developing
strategies to power down, decrease dependence on
oil, and build local resilience.
Reskilling, which often entails learning from
elders, is at the heart of the Transition agenda.
And it resonates with Pete Johnsons focus on
bringing back village infrastructure and acquiring,
or renewing, skills. Integrating appropriate 21st
century technologies may offer opportunities to
address questions that the earlier round of back-tothe-land people didnt adequately address: In the
words of David Budbill, Do the people who shop at
Price Chopper also patronize the Farmers Markets?
And if not, why not? How is the sustainable
agriculture movement going to get good, affordable
food to all Vermonters, rich and poor alike?
For Stearns, a key challenge has been to find a way
to retain ownership and control of his business,
even as its growth has accelerated, in order for him
to continue to pursue its mission: To support the
rebuilding of healthy, locally-based food systems.
As Stearns said, speaking for himself and his fellow
entrepreneurs, As we have money, we like doing
cool things with it. None of us are planning to get
rich.
Slow Money, a national organization of 300
socially responsible investors, defines its mission
as restoring and preserving soil fertility, catalyzing
increased mission-related investing and foundation
grant-making to support sustainable agriculture,
strengthening local economies andperhaps most
important of allto integrate principles of respect
and stewardship of the land into socially responsible
investment strategies: Care of the commons, sense
of place, carrying capacity of the land, and nonviolence. It adds up, in the mind of Slow Money
President Woody Tasch, to ushering in the age of
restorative economics.
Tasch, Stearns said, has realized that food and
agriculture companies are different: The soil can
only yield so much. Part of the reason weve got
a broken food system, Stearns asserts, is how
weve used money over the last 100 years. Ask for
too high a return on investment, and youre going to
destroy your food system.
Food and agriculture companies are also placebased and mission-based, Stearns noted, so the exit
strategy is to keep those things intact: Weve got
a feasibility study going on right now that looks at
investing $100 million in sustainable agriculture in
Vermont: One-third of that in land, another third in
companies, and the rest in conservation.
Tday, The Center for an Agricultural Economy is
the major Slow Money partner in Vermont, but there
are dozens of farmers, business owners and others
partnering with Slow Money here, said Stearns, who
coordinates the activities of Slow Money Vermont.

Fall, 2009
For High Mowing, Stearns said, putting together a
creative investment approach, ensuring investors
of an exit strategy, without us having to make an
exit, succeeded: People were excited...they could
pull their money out...There are investors out there
who are looking for things like that. Even angel
investors are sometimes looking for just as much
of a return as venture capitalists, they are just open
to flexible arrangements, Stearns told UVMs
collaborative management class at the Center in
July.
Of course, the new community-supported restaurant
on Main Street, Claires, came up with another
creative strategy, Stearns quickly pointed outa
strategy that offered people who invested $1,000 to
eat their investment, receiving $25 off each dinner
they ordered at Claires. The restaurant, which
has barely been open a year, and has won national
acclaim, sources almost three-quarters of the food it
serves locally.
There was no Claires, not even a co-op, when Larry
Karp moved to Greensboro in 1969. He and his
wife wanted to grow our own foodyou never
knew what would happen next, or what theyd
put in foodand they wanted to start a family.
Karp jumped into rural life, starting with bees and
beevesorganizing an informal beef CSA (without
the acronym), even trying to jump-start a farmers
market.
Neither the market nor the marriage prospered. Karp
completed a Ph.D. and now works in Hardwick as a
counselor. In his spare time he helps with his sons
bees, and orchard, in Greensboro. He shops, he
noted, almost exclusively at food co-ops. I try
and buy local organic, he stated. Local supports
individuals trying to provide for our local needs.
Local has less of a carbon footprint. Buying from
local growers, Karp notes, You know whats going
into your food.
And, he exults, Its just really gratifying to see the
next generation coming up even more into it. My
son is able to take things to the next level even more
than I was!
Dave Rogers, who works closely with longtime
director Enid Wonnacott at NOFA-VT, taught
agricultural policy for 20 years at the University of
Vermont. Today, he marvels, Look at the incredible
advancements and changes that have taken place!
Over the years I was there, organic agriculture
took off, and sustainable practices developed
credibilityat a land-grant university that, Rogers
notes, was carrying water for agribusiness when
he arrived there in the 80s.
I sort of take a longer view. You see that theres
incredible momentum in a positive direction.
Hardwick is right in the heart of that! Rogers said.
People are learning more...caring more about their
food. Vote with your food dollars! Thats probably
the way its going to have to change.
This is going to be a long, unglamorous slog,
Rogers acknowledged. Getting Congress to protect
small, farmers ability to do business, for example,
is a major challenge this year. This Congress did
pass a farm bill with some really significant bumps
in funding for organic agriculture, he noted.
Theres no cabal out to sink small, independent,
organic producers; they just dont know about
small farmers and small markets. The biggest
problem with getting this years food safety bill
repaired, he asserted, is to demonstrate to people
[in Washington, D.C.] that there is this alternative
food system [that] needs to be not damaged by the
bill that addresses problems belonging to corporate
agribusiness.
It takes courage, Rogers stressed, to continue to
work...and put your heart into something that may
not bear fruit even during your lifetime.
Hardwick Town Manager Rob Lewis grew up
in Derby, VT, on the Quebec border, fishing and
hunting and working on small farms before heading
off to college. Returning in 2007, after a 40-plusyear hiatus, to a state I no longer recognized,
Lewis brought back to Vermont skills in public
accounting and economic development as well as a

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

11

terms of its funding, to hire low-to-moderate-income

people for up to a third of its job openings.
At the Hardwick Gazette office, facing the co-op
across Main Street, longtime editor Ross Connolly
offers another perspective on the Center: To a large
extent, it breaks the mold, not maximizing profits
for shareholders but [working for] substantive
results that benefit their business and the larger
community.
The land has offered many opportunities over the
centuries, Connolly said; [these new] businesses
are not competing...so theres the ability to
cooperate. Its in the best interests of the Food
Venture Center to move here. Theres a community
of interest.
Then, theres the surge of interest in whats
happening here from so many other communities.
This resurgence, Budbill noted, has been noticed
by the powers that be...This summer in Newsweeks
recommended summer reading list, Wendell Berrys
The Unsettling of America -- first published in 1977!
-- was 11th on a list of 50.

photo by Gwenael Engelskirchen

Tom Stearns, founder & president of High Mowing Organic Seeds, and Andrew Meyer,
founder & co-owner of Vermont Soy at Claires Restaurant in Hardwick, Vermont.

recognition of what a transformation had occurred

during his time away.

Hardwick. So Claires will be able to offer a local

wine: Mead is a wine made by fermenting honey.

I shed a tear, he admitted. But back then, Lewis

noted, there were no jobs...except in agriculture.
(Today, 60% of the states farm laborers are
Mexicans.) And, calling the Hardwick of 50 years
ago hardscrabble doesnt begin to acknowledge
the plight of Vermonters struggling along without
access to dental care, decent paying jobs, quality
day care or affordable, accessible college education.
So, when Rob Lewis met with Tom Stearns, and
found out about the $12-an-hour jobs he and his
partners at the Center were bringing into town,
Lewis listened to what Stearns had to say.

I think whats most important, Lewis summed up,

is that these [ag] enterprises provide opportunities
for local people to obtain jobs. This renaissance
will...attract support business...[so], if you dont
get on the bandwagon, youre still going to reap
the benefit. As a base niche economy, its a pretty
good start! As he pointed out, the areas new ag
entrepreneurs have already brought almost 100 new
jobs into the area. When the Food Venture Center
opens, Lewis asserted, it will be obligated, under the

Now in his third year in the job, Lewis says, I told

the governor (Gov. Jim Douglas) that we appear to
have our own stimulus package going on hereand
in the regionprimarily generated by a group of
young entrepreneurs who have a marvelous concept
called sustainable agriculture. It has generated a
significant amount of interest. Ive had phone calls
from the Northwest, from British Columbia, from
North and South Carolina! Lewis is proud that
Hardwick is no longer the butt of jokes, but, instead,
the focus of so much excited attention that now,
everyones jealous of us!
Mid-summer, Lewis accepted a check for $650,000
from Gov. Douglas, representing a Community
Development Block Grant to Hardwick to support
the relocation of the Vermont Food Venture Center
from Fairfax, about 40 miles away, to Hardwick.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Lewis added, has promised to
provide the final $100,000 needed to break ground
on a new 13,000-square-foot building that will
provide state-licensed kitchens to novice specialty
food producers.
Another business is slated to break ground this
fall, and have its new building up before winter
in Hardwick. Todd Hardie, proprietor of Honey
Gardens Apiaries in Ferrisburgh, is building a
distillery and moving his mead production to

As Stearns told the UVM class, A producer for

The Rolling Stone told us, Ive been depressed...
you guys give me hope. Im gonna come up and
take you all out to dinner. This [the Centers vision]
is connecting with people in all sorts of interesting
ways. Were just doing our best to raise enough
money to keep the lights on!
The CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY operating in Hardwick and surrounding
communities is a Vermont regional food hub whose
purpose is to ensure that consumers have access to
healthy, secure, and affordable locally-grown food,
and farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs have
reliable and efficient access to local and regional
markets. The Center works to fill gaps identified
in the regional food system and makes community
connections so that food pantries, schools,
restaurants, and social service agencies are able
to count on a year-round supply of local food. P.O.
Box 451 41 South Main Street, Hardwick, Vermont
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12

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

LocalHarvest, and we are grateful to all who have

helped spread the word. Today the LocalHarvest
database contains nearly 19,000 listings, including
11,740 farms, and 4,425 farmers markets. On an
average day of 2008, ten new farmers and others
joined LocalHarvest by creating a directory listing
for their business. This year that number has
doubled to 20 new members every day.

by Erin Barnett
Back in the summer of 1999, a small group of
software engineers, farm activists, and farmers from
the Central Coast of California met to talk about
how the Internet could contribute to a vibrant future
for family farms. The conversation quickly turned to
marketing. For many small-scale farmers, marketing
was a costly weak spot in the family business. In
fact, at this particular meeting, every farmer in the
room named it as his or her biggest headache. Im
a really good farmer, but a lousy salesman, said
one. I want to spend my time in the fields, not on
the phone, said another. A third farmer said that
when people tried his produce, they loved it, and
came back. The problem was getting them to find
his farm.
Out of this conversation and others like it
LocalHarvest was born. Our mission was, and is,
to support family farmers success by connecting
people who are looking for great food with the
farms that produce it. We host a national directory
of direct-market farms, farmers markets, and related
small businesses. We call it a grassroots directory
because each member creates and maintains their
own listing. Listings include a description of the
business, photo, event calendar, list of products, and
market information. Members of the public use a zip
code search or interactive map to find local, directmarketed food.
LocalHarvest began as a project of Ocean Group, a
small software development company. As activists
and fans of good food, the four person Ocean Group
team wanted to build a website that would be a
gift to the organic farming community. They also
wanted to practice new skills, ideally combining
mapping technology and a SQL database. Hearing
farmers talk about their marketing troubles, the

photo courtesy Local Harvest

Author Erin Barnett, second from left, with

husband Ed Muniak and daughter Sylvie.
LocalHarvest founder Guillermo Payet (far
right) with wife Amber and baby Joaquin
Ocean Group team saw an opportunity.

Once the basic infrastructure was built, we needed

a good number of farmers to create listings so that
when the site was launched, users would find local
farms. The publicity strategy involved creating
partnerships with a number of regional sustainable
agriculture organizations. In exchange for a link on
LocalHarvest, organizational partners publicized
the site to their members. We also partnered with
the USDA, compiled the data they had for farmers
markets, and invited each farmers market manager
to complete their LocalHarvest listing. We launched
in the spring of 2000, and by the end of the year had
560 farm listings and 2,234 farmers market listings.
That initial publicity push was the only one in
LocalHarvests history. Word of mouth has been
the primary way that new members have found

Likewise, the sites traffic has grown considerably

over time. We are fortunate to be listed as a resource
in many articles and publications about CSAs,
farmers markets, and local food in general. This
exposure, along with our high ranking in Google
searches, is invaluable in driving traffic to the site.
Last year, there were 4.2 million unique visitors, or
about 350,000 new people every month. Since 2005,
when we began using our current analytic software,
over 11 million people have visited LocalHarvest.
Once they get to the site, many of these people
stay and look around for a while. The average
number of pages each visitor views when arriving
at LocalHarvest is 6.4. The same average across
Internet sites is two pages.
When LocalHarvest was first conceived, organic
farming was getting a lot of public attention,
but there was little or no public discussion of
local. Anticipating that the price of oil and
the environmental crisis would eventually make
geography a higher priority than production
methods, we built the site around the values inherent
in buying from local farmers.
By bringing farmers together in a single directory,
the LocalHarvest site has become a powerful
collective marketing tool. LocalHarvest promotes
small farms in the aggregate, and benefits individual
small farms all across the country. While members
may choose to maintain their own web sites in
addition to their LocalHarvest listings, many find
LocalHarvest to be the most effective way for new
customers to find them.
Many people assume that LocalHarvest is a nonprofit organization, probably because of the .org.
We chose to be localharvest.org not to confuse
people, but because the site was intended to be a

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Fall, 2009

service, rather than a business. We wanted the URL

to convey information rather than commerce.

13

The Natural Farmer

When the Internet bubble burst in late 2001, Ocean

Group closed its doors. By that time, the company
had grown to seven employees. Six of us found
other work. Guillermo Payet, software engineer
and founder of Ocean Group, did odd jobs and kept
LocalHarvest going through a few very lean years.
The site almost had enough momentum to make it
as its own business. Guillermo is a risk-taker, and
after investing so much effort and money in the
site, and receiving so much positive feedback from
farmers, he could not let it go. Again he had the
option to go the non-profit route, but chose against
it. In 2002 he incorporated LocalHarvest as its own
business entity (an S-corporation). As he tells it, he
wanted to see if he could create a different kind of
business, one that did three things: put its values
first in all decision-making, funded itself (rather
than being reliant on grants), and made a living for
its employees. It was a fine list, and a good idea
but a little idealistic for a business that had no real
revenue stream.
When LocalHarvest was still just an idea, the Ocean
Group team had long arguments about whether or
not to charge a membership fee for participation
in the directory. The final consensus was to make
it free for the first year, and then charge a nominal
fee. Though revisited many times in the early years,
we kept putting off the participation fee, and never
have instated it. It was vitally important to us that all
farmers feel that they could join the LocalHarvest
directory. We knew that even a $25 annual fee
would dissuade some people from joining.
Maximum participation was a high priority because
we knew that the value of the site, to farmers and to
the public, would be proportional to the quality and
quantity of information available in the directory.
In the end, we asked for a voluntary donation, gave
donors a boost in the search results, and left it at
that. It was a good choice. Most of our members
do not seem to feel like we are outsiders trying to
make a buck off of them. (A few do, and they let
us know!) Our perception now, after living with
the decision for nearly ten years, is that offering
LocalHarvest as a free marketing service has

photo courtesy Chris Kerston, Chaffin Family Orchards

Josh bringing home the sheep on a Local Harvest farm.

generated tremendous good will toward the site.
Among the farmers with whom we work, it is part
of what has made us trustworthy.
In 2003, still in need of a way of having the site
make money, Guillermo Payet added an on-line
catalog. The catalog allows any LocalHarvest
member to offer farm products for sale via mail
order or local pick up. LocalHarvest takes a 15%
commission on all sales made through the catalog
(with the exception of CSA shares, which have a
lower commission of 6%). Our biggest sellers are
CSA shares, fruits, turkeys, seeds, other meats,
lavender, herbal products and honey.
It was a good and necessary thing to have income
stream at last, but this one brought a tension to the
site. We are, after all, LOCALHarvest, and the way

we make ends meet is by shipping farm products

across the country. We see it; we know. And for the
time being, we are willing to live with it because it
allows us to do the main things that we do: promote
family farms and help consumers find sources of
good food.
The catalog offers about 5,000 products, from
heritage turkeys to dried lavender, honey to goat
cheese. Though we reserve the right to make a few
exceptions, the basic rules are these: products
have to be made by the member, and must use
a minimum of 50% ingredients produced on the
members farm or procured directly from a farmer.
We do not ship items that can be purchased locally
in most places for example, no produce commonly

continued on page 15

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14

The Natural Farmer

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Fall, 2009
found at farmers markets. Farmers can, however,
choose to offer such products for local pick up or
delivery, if they wish. Another example: five years
ago it was harder to get really good chicken eggs in
some parts of the country, so we allowed those in
the catalog. Our sense is that these are much easier
to get in most places nowadays, so we no longer
accept new chicken egg vendors (for shipping; local
delivery still accepted). Duck eggs are still hard to
find, so we still accept new vendors for those.
Adding the catalog was a significant move in
ensuring LocalHarvests longevity, as was the
revelation in early 2008 that we ought to ask
directly for an annual donation from our members.
There had always been a donation page on the site,
but it was pretty subtle, and oft forgotten. For the
last year and a half we have sent out an annual
donation request by email to all members, and our
donations have doubled. Approximately 10% of our
members make a monetary contribution to the site.
If you are one of them, thank you.
Financial constraints are the biggest limitation to
the growth of the site. We have a deep appreciation
for the organic nature of our businesss growth,
and have chosen to decline several investment offers
which would have required profit maximization to
take priority over our social mission. Like many
small business owners, we are acutely aware of
the gap between what we envision for the site and
what we are able to do with our current resources.
LocalHarvest is currently run by one full time
and three part time employees: Guillermo Payet,
president and engineer, Erin Barnett, director,
Kerry Glendening, webmaster, and Amber Payet,
membership coordinator.
We are sometimes asked to describe what
unexpected problems we have encountered in our
first ten years. It is a difficult question to answer,
because it implies that we had a plan! Mostly, we
spend our time laying down new track, trying to
stay ahead of the LH train. Sometimes we run into
trouble because we stretch ourselves too thin. We
added a new blog feature to the sight last year, for
example, enabling all LH members to have their
own blog on the site. Of course we created a blog

15

The Natural Farmer

for the site itself but rarely, rarely have time to
write anything for it. There it sits, a public reminder
of our overcommitted resources.
As a small company, we try to play to our strengths,
forgive the inevitable screw ups, keep things as
simple as possible, and trust our members. We make
decisions without bureaucracy, which suits us. We
put systems in place to maximize efficiency. For
instance, all new members listings come into an
approval queue, allowing us to quickly preview
them and weed out those that are not a good fit for
our directory. We do not fix every typo; we just do
not have time. Last year we added a rating/review
system, through which people can write public
comments about our members. This helps minimize
our need to police our members. If people have
a less than ideal experience with a farm, they are
welcome to air their grievance in a review, which
then alerts others to possible issues with the farm
in question. This system, too, can be abused, and
occasionally we need to remove vitriolic reviews.
For the most part, though, it works well. The review
system adds a level of public interaction that we
hope to expand in the near future.

CSAs have joined LocalHarvest, bringing the total

in our database to over 2,900. The word is out.
We at LocalHarvest are excited about the future.
We see big changes coming, and, with so many of
you across the country, are working hard to make
sure they are the kind of changes that strengthen
the common good. More thriving CSA farms.
More farmers markets, especially in areas where
good food is hard to come by. More backyard
gardeners. More people thinking deeply about the
links between food and justice, health, stewardship,
economic webs, and spiritual vitality.
Over the coming months and years, we plan to add
new tools to LocalHarvest, tools to facilitate both
online local food purchases and social connections.
The time for buy local has finally come. We at
LocalHarvest want to keep the momentum going, to
deepen the conversation, and to help create a food
system that serves us all.

Less clear cut are the issues that occasionally arise

with our catalog sales. A couple of times a year we
bump into issues we have not anticipated, and have
to write new store policies to accommodate. This
month, for example, we are adding a new policy to
clarify the commission structure for CSA add on
items (e.g. meat, eggs, flowers, sold separately from
the produce share, but sold only to CSA members).
As CSAs and online sales evolve, so too must our
policies.
It is delightful to see so many variations on the
basic CSA theme taking root. Farmers ingenuity
is at work in molding the CSA model to fit their
businesses, and in reshaping their businesses to
capitalize on the CSA model. This year we have
seen a growing interest in all sorts of meat CSAs,
cold-season CSAs, and multi-farm CSAs. Interest in
CSA is expanding even in this contracted financial
climate. Between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of
our traffic coming from people looking for CSAs
has increased 38%. Already this year, nearly 700

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16

You Are Where You Eat:

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

The Role of Consumer Co-ops in Local Food Distribution

Marina Michahelles, MS, Department of

Community Development and Applied Economics,
University of Vermont, Farmer at Shoving Leopard
Farm
Chyi-lyi (Kathleen) Liang, PhD, Department of
Community Development and Applied Economics,
University of Vermont
Consumer cooperatives (co-ops) play a role in the
distribution of local food in the Northeast, and may
have a direct impact on the viability of many small
farms. Benefits and barriers exist for both farmers
and co-ops that engage in local food distribution.
In this study, we explore the impact of 67 co-ops
in the local food market, and investigate the effect
that positive local food attributes and barriers to
sourcing locally have on those co-ops ability and
willingness to source food locally.

In the last few years, out of concern for health,

local economy, food security and the environment,
among other reasons, consumers have shown a
greater interest in buying locally produced food.
This has been manifest in an upsurge of alternative
food retail markets, including many direct sales
markets such as Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) farms and farmers markets. Conventional
food retail outlets, including Whole Foods and even
Walmart, have also recognized and responded to
the new demand. As member-run alternative retail
outlets, co-ops offer a unique local food distribution
hub, and may be leading the charge with this food
fad as they did with natural food and organics.
Co-ops are unlike institutions and restaurants in
that, by definition, they are groups of consumers
who make decisions through a democratic process.
They typically operate out of retail facilities and
are open to the general public, limiting their special
services, prices, or benefits to members only. Unlike
conventional food retail outlets, however, what the
co-op purchases either for the exclusive use of its
members if it is a buying club or a participatory coop, or for the community at large if it is a traditional
consumer co-op reflects the consumer preferences
of its members, and is not directly influenced by
what food manufacturers want to sell. Co-ops
therefore serve a function by providing consumers
with products that offer the desired attributes: lower
priced for bulk, environmentally or socially friendly
(organic or fair trade), or locally produced.
More and more, farmers are engaging in direct
sales of their products by participating in farmers
markets or using the Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) model. While some CSA farms
offer winter shares, farmers markets normally
close at the end of October or in November and do
not start up again until the spring. Co-ops provide
farmers with a year-round outlet for their products,
outlets that stay open even during inclement
weather, and whose patrons have a penchant for
healthy, natural, and seasonal foods.
Since the first American consumer food co-op was
established in 1822 in New York City, consumer
co-op membership in the U.S., including buyers
clubs, is estimated at over 620,000 with a retail
value of $600 million today. There are 67 Consumer
co-ops in the Northeast1, excluding college campusbased student run co-ops, member-only co-ops, and
those which are open to non-members as well. A
conservative estimate of annual expenditure on local
food by the 67 consumer co-ops in the Northeast is
$21,253,750, representing a little over 17-percent of
total food expenditure in recent years.
One of the strongest roles that co-ops can play in
the local food market is that of networking. Mark
Goering of the Brattleboro, VT co-op wrote about
the shift in strategic thinking that took place in
2002, wherein the co-op would no longer be thought
of as simply a retail store but as the community
that encompasses it. Further, subsequent meetings
with neighboring co-ops brought about the notion
that each of those co-ops was an entire community

as well. The final progression was to view all of

those communities as a single unit. Strengthening
networks within communities and among co-ops
offers local producers expanding opportunity to
grow the market through the sharing of information
and the fostering of relationships.

In an effort to assess economic and environmental

sustainability of the local food market, a study
conducted at the University of Vermont targets
consumer co-ops to help identify both the reasons
for and barriers to sourcing food locally. Some
quantitative results would provide more insight on
the current situations of the consumer co-ops in the
Northeast region. The economic impact of co-ops in
the local food market was also assessed.
The Way We Think About the Local Food Model,
Using Co-ops
A simple model can help us to describe the different
players and pathways involved in local food
distribution from producers to consumer (Figure 1):

The vertical black lines represent barriers for

farmers and distributors to sell to co-ops (line
closer to source) and for co-ops to buy food from
local sources (line closer to co-ops). By identifying
the single most important attribute or the best
combination of attributes that allows co-ops to
source locally, as well as the prevalent barriers
both for co-ops and for farms/distributors, it will
be possible to make recommendations to coops, farmers, distributors, and policy-makers,
highlighting ways to enhance the attributes, and
alleviate the barriers where possible.

Study Design
The objectives of our study are to:
Identify the attributes of local food that encourage
co-ops to source food locally;
Identify barriers that prevent co-ops from sourcing
local food, both directly from farmers and through
regional distributors;
Identify specific products, or product types that
are notably successful, abundant, or absent in the
local market;
Measure the value of consumer co-ops
contribution to the local food market.

Producers

Consumer Co-ops
Distributors

Processors
Producer Co-ops

Figure 1. Local food distribution through consumer co-ops

1. Food can be sold directly to consumer co-ops and

delivered by the farmer;
2. Food can be sold directly to the consumer co-ops
but transported on the trucks of a distributor for a
fee;
3. Food can be sold to a distributor who can store it,
and who can sell it to consumer co-ops;
4. Food can be brought to a producers co-op and go
through channels 1, 2, 3 or 5;
5. Food can be sold to a processor and go through
channels 1, 2 or 3.
The models contributed by co-ops in the Northeast
are not known, nor is it known which local
products are likely to be purchased directly from
the producer, to be distributed regionally, or not
produced for local markets at all. The framework
described below considers the economic and
physical constraints that exist for consumer co-ops
with respect to sourcing local food (Figure 2).

Source

The general hypothesis tested in this study is that

the percent of each co-ops expenditure on local
food is determined by an interaction between the
perceived strength of various local food attributes
and the barriers to sourcing locally. Further, it is
hypothesized that co-op rank (small, medium, or
large), setting (urban, suburban, rural), and whether
sourcing locally was explicit in the co-ops mission
statement is related to the percent sourced locally.
By definition, co-ops are democratically run by their
members, and what they carry for sale, therefore,
represents the preferences of their members. The
survey used in this study was designed to identify
the prevailing attribute - or group of attributes of
local food that motivates consumer co-ops to seek
out local sources of food, as well as the barriers
co-ops are faced with when sourcing locally. Datacollection, analysis and results are presented in the
following sections.

Attributes

Co-ops

Barriers
Figure 2. Reasons for co-ops to source and not to source locally
1.

The sources in Figure 2 are the farms, processing

facilities, producer co-ops, or local food distributors
that co-ops purchase local foods from. The large
grey arrow and the thin black arrows represent the
transfer of local food by co-ops, as determined by
various attributes. The strength of the connection
between the source and the co-ops is contingent on
the strength of the attributes, as is represented by
the single large arrow, and the three thin arrows.
Whether one strong attribute is sufficient to provide
the impetus for a co-op to purchase food locally, or
whether several attributes work simultaneously is
not yet known.

Data
The data set used in this analysis comes from a
survey of managers and working members of 67
consumer co-ops in the 13 northeastern states.
Co-ops were found through various directories
available online, including greenpeople.org and
coopdirectory.org, as well as the National Co-op
 Cooperative Grocer Ranking: Small = <$1.2 million;
Medium = <$8.5 million; Large = >$8.5 million, total
sales.
 Northeastern states: ME, NH, VT, NY, NJ, MA, RI, CT,
PA, DE, MD, WV, and VA.

Fall, 2009

17

The Natural Farmer

Table 1. Median scores for reasons for sourcing locally

(n=67) Highest to Lowest

Reason for sourcing locally

Environmental
Relationship with producers
Ethical
Quality of goods
Consumer demand
Political
Supply of goods
Cost of goods

Median Score
5
5
5
4
4
4
3
3

Table 2. Results for barriers to sourcing locally

(n=67) Highest to Lowest

Barrier to sourcing locally

Supply of goods
Distribution and logistics
Working with numerous vendors
Cost of goods
Quality of goods
Consumer demand

Median Score
3
3
3
2
1
1

Figure 3. Distribution of responses for the three top reasons for sourcing locally

Reasons for sourcing locally suggested in this

survey included:

- Consumer demand
- Quality of local products
- Supply of local products
- Relationship with producers
- Cost of local products
Table 3. Mean frequency with which various local food - Ethical
ble 3. Mean frequency with which various local food types were sourced, 0-3reasons
types were sourced, 0-3 (n=66) Lowest to Highest
- Political reasons
(n=66) Lowest to Highest
- Environmental reasons

Category
Nuts
Fish
Preserves
Milk
Fruit
Produce
Other Dairy
Meat
Cheese
Baked Goods
Syrup/Honey
Eggs

Mean Score
0.26
0.47
1.91
2.0
2.02
2.27
2.27
2.3
2.39
2.67
2.76
2.85

Directory published by George Keller. Buying clubs

were excluded from the sample, as were collegerun co-ops, which were not in operation at the
time of data-collection. The survey was distributed
through the mail, e-mail, and conducted over the
telephone to acquire the maximum response-rate.
Of the original list of 96 co-ops, 28 were no longer
operating, or otherwise unreachable, one was not yet
in operation. The survey elicited a total of 67 usable
responses.
The survey used in this study combined two Likerttype question sections (questions used to measure
attitudes along a scale). Background information
was obtained from each co-op, including physical
size of the retail store and storage capacity,
Cooperative Grocer ranking, and mission statement.
In addition to demographic information and
descriptions of the co-op, managers and member
workers were asked a combination of Likert-type
scale and open-ended questions regarding the
reasons for sourcing locally as well as the barriers.
In the first section, respondents were asked to rate
each listed local food attribute on a scale of 1-5,
1 being a very weak reason for sourcing locally
and five being a very strong reason for sourcing
locally. Similarly, in the second section respondents
were asked to rate the barriers to sourcing locally on
a scale from 1-5, where 1 was a very weak barrier
and 5 was a very strong barrier.
To identify the local food attributes and barriers to
sourcing we turned to existing literature. In 2002,
USDA conducted a consumer survey of consumer
co-op members to identify the members attitudes
towards the co-ops and local foods, and Gregoire
and Strohbehn (2002) also identified various reasons
for sourcing locally. The top reasons identified by
these sources were used in the first Likert-type
section.

The possible barriers to sourcing locally were

identified through several preliminary telephone
interviews with Vermont co-op managers. Barriers
to sourcing locally used in this survey included:
- Consumer demand
- Quality of local products
- Supply of local products
- Infrastructure (distribution and logistics)
- Cost of local products
- Multiple vendors
Respondents were also given the opportunity to
include attributes of local food and barriers to
sourcing locally that were not provided in the
survey.
In a final section, co-op managers and member
workers were asked to report how frequently
various local food items were sourced, what
percentage of all food sourced was local, and the
number of local producers they sourced from. A list
of food categories was provided, and respondents
were asked to identify whether each food type was
sourced never, seldom, seasonally or yearround. The list of food categories included:
-Fish
-Nuts
-Fruit
-Vegetables
-Milk
-Meat
-Other dairy
-Preserves
-Baked goods
What Have We Learned
The survey produced 67 valid responses,
representing a census of consumer co-ops in 13
northeastern states, excluding student-run co-ops at
colleges and universities, as well as buying clubs.
The number of co-ops per state ranges from one
in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and West
Virginia to thirteen and fifteen in Vermont and New
York, respectively. Half of all co-ops are located
in urban areas, just over a quarter are suburban
and just under a quarter are in rural settings.
Fifty-two percent of co-ops are ranked Small by
the Cooperative Grocer standards, 35-percent are
ranked Medium, and 13-percent are ranked Large.
Two-thirds of all co-ops explicitly mention local
foods in their mission statement.
On average, co-ops in the northeast source a little
over 17 percent of their food products from local
producers and regional distributors, and source from

an average of 40 farms. An estimate of the value of

the local food market through co-ops was calculated
based on percent sourced locally and Cooperative
Grocer rankings. As many co-ops were unable to
share specific financial data, more exact calculations
are not possible at this time. With that in mind,
a very conservative estimate is that $21,253,750
worth of local goods are sold annually through 67
consumer co-ops in the Northeast. It is estimated
that thirteen Vermont co-ops sell almost $4 million
worth of local food annually. This is particularly
significant when compared to the total in direct
sales of local food in the state, which includes over
200 CSA farms, farmers markets, and farm stands:
$9.5 million, as reported in the 2002 Census of
Agriculture.
The strongest reasons, reported in Table 1, were
environmental concerns, relationships with
producers and ethical reasons (median score of 5,
very strong reason). In Figure 3, ratings were
combined to create three groups weak reason
(combining very weak and weak), neutral
reason, and strong reason (combining strong
and very strong). The figure illustrates the
uniformity among co-op managers in sourcing
local food for these three attributes. The cost and
the supply of local food proved to be the weakest
reasons for sourcing locally.
The two greatest barriers to sourcing locally, as
shown in Table 2, were the limited supply of local
goods, and distribution and logistics. The least
problematic were consumer demand, i.e., consumers
did not avoid local products, and the quality of
goods, i.e., the quality was good enough. As Figure
4 shows, the degree to which various potential
barriers were problematic varied more greatly than
did the reasons for sourcing locally. Other barriers
mentioned by respondents included vendor coordination, the short growing season, marketing, and
vendor selection.
Co-op managers seem to agree that there are strong
positive attributes to local food, and that the barriers
are overall not very strong. Despite that, only an
average of 17 percent, and as little as <1 percent of
all food sold in co-ops is sourced locally. The supply
of local products, or lack thereof, is rated among the
greatest barriers to sourcing locally. Identifying the
gaps in local supply is a first step in improving local
food distribution.
Respondents were asked to report how frequently
various food items were sourced locally. Table 3
reports the results for what local foods were sourced
by least to most consistently. The lowest possible
score was 0 (for never) and the highest possible
score was 3 (for year-round).
The most consistently sourced local products are
eggs, syrup and honey, and baked goods. Nuts
and fish are most often never sourced, possibly
presenting opportunities for diversification on some
farms. Over one-quarter of co-ops do not source
local preserves of any kind. Salsa is most frequently
mentioned as a locally made preserve, but there is a
question as to whether all the ingredients are local.
Milk, fruit, produce, meat, cheese and other dairy
are sourced between seldom and seasonally.

18

The Natural Farmer

Summary and Recommendations

Local food is a topic that nearly every co-op

manager or member-worker is eager to discuss.
Some were enthusiastic about the growing market,
while others became down-right animated while
describing their most recent efforts to bring more
local products to their co-ops. Importantly, every
single person said they would be happy to source
more from local farmers if they could.
When asked what prevented them from sourcing
more, responses came in two principal categories:
what has not been problematic, and what has
been a barrier. Overall, eight themes emerge out
of the follow-up interviews with the 58 co-op
managers and member-workers. For what has not
been a barrier: Interest in local food, Supply and
demand, Cost. For what has been a barrier: How
to access local products, The question of organics,
Distribution, Competition, and Co-op cooperation.
A summary of the results from the follow-up
interviews is presented in Table 4.

Figure 4. Distribution of responses for the three top barriers to sourcing locally

Table 4. Results from follow-up interviews with co-op managers and member
workers

Topic

Responses

Interest in
local food

Interest in local food has emerged in the last few years and has
recently picked up momentum.

Is it a
barrier?
No

Its been a ten-year process, and the most rewarding part of

my job.
We were sourcing less than 1-percent locally seven years ago,
and the most notable change has been in the last 10 years.
Interest in local food has changed completely in the last two
years. There was very little two years ago other than produce.
Supply and
demand

Co-op customers and members actively seek out local food.

No

Demand far outstrips supply.

There is member support, and its become a new managers
priority.
Demand and interest are really there, especially in the cities.
Their
Customers want local food when its not in season. Theyre
expectations are sometimes unreasonable.
Cost

The relatively high cost of local products is not an issue when

co-op customers understand where the discrepancies come
from.

No

Access to local food ranged from most products being

available throughout the year to no local products available at
anytime.

Yes

We have most things growing on the peninsula for people

who would want to eat locally. We are almost self-sufficient.
Producers cant keep up with consumer demand; many items
have no local producers.
Consumer co-ops are obvious candidates for acting
as local food hubs. They are independent from the
mainstream food market and are not constrained
to purchase from one distributor. What they offer
their members and other patrons reflects the values
and penchants of their members, which often
translates into products that are healthy, natural,
and environmentally friendly. Co-op managers have
been ahead of the local food curve, picking up on
consumer interest long before the likes of Whole
Foods and Wal-Mart took an interest.
In order for co-ops to maximize their impact as a
local food hub, the barriers described above access
to local food, co-op cooperation, the question of
organics, distribution, and competition must be

co-op and agricultural extension agents, as well as

communication with other co-ops in the region cuts
down on the time spent researching local producers
and strengthens connections between farmers and
local food outlets;
Advertise: Publish a report or create a farmerfriendly web site that describes the specifications
of each co-op (i.e. loading dock, freezer and cooler
capacity, storage capacity, schedule), and what type
of products each co-op is seeking to source.

The question of Organics vs. Local

Educate: What are the national and regional
Organic standards? Who is the states organic
certifier? What is the cost to farmers? Can local but
not organic be fresher and better for the environment
than organic and imported? Demonstrating whether
the selected local farmers practices exceed organic
standards, though they may not be certified organic,
may assuage co-op patrons concerns.
Distribution
Organize local distribution: Provide vehicles to be
shared by local producers, or to be used by member
workers who run the distribution (this service can
be extended to restaurants, schools, hospitals, and
other grocers as well, lowering the overhead cost of
distribution significantly). Provide community coldstorage for preserving food, or on-site industrial
kitchen for processing;
Coach producers: Mentorship between farmers
currently sourcing to co-op and new farmers;
Delegate: Establish annual producers meetings
to establish who grows what for the co-op. This
limits how many farms the co-op can source from,
but maximizes gains for growers, and improves the
quality of products;
Competition
Network: Strengthening the networks between
co-ops and producers allows co-ops to share directly
with farmers what consumers are looking for, from
staple crops to specialty items. A reliable and broad
network gives co-ops an edge on conventional
grocers that might be constrained to source from
fewer larger distributors;
Promote local food: Host farmers markets or
CSA pick-ups in the parking lots as a way to raise
awareness of local food, and provide a venue for
customers to meet the farmers. This may increase
demand for local food throughout the year by
creating name-recognition for producers, and may
bolster the local food market overall.
Co-op cooperation
Hold multi-co-op meetings: Several Vermont
co-ops have recently met, and Maine co-ops meet
regularly to share ideas about co-op structure,
where to source local food from, and working
with new and changing regulations. The synergy
between co-ops would have a greater effect on the
overall local food market than would co-ops acting
independently;
Create a forum: An online co-op forum could
serve as a tool for sharing ideas, anecdotes, and
solutions to various problems that may arise.

It doesnt end up being a cost to the co-op, but the customer

has to understand the true cost of food on the environment,
transportation, workers, etc. Small natural retails cave in to
pressure and artificially lower prices. We let customers make
educated decisions.
People want to support an artisan operation, something
smaller. Not a factory farm. Not just for the product, but
helping to sustain a producer in a direct way.

Access to
local food

Fall, 2009

addressed, as consumer education can only do so

much. The results lead us to make the following
recommendations:
Interest in local food, supply and demand, cost
Continue to provide information: Why is
buying local food good for the environment, local
economies, consumer health, and community
development? What food is available at different
times of the year? What are the true costs of food,
and how does the pricing of local products reflect
those?
Increase access to local food
Network: Using the resources gathered by
localvore groups, Slow Food and NOFA chapters,

The solutions that co-ops have found for scheduling

deliveries, ensuring quality and presentation of
products, and facilitating the distribution must be
shared. Existing groups such as NOFA, regional
and state localvores, agricultural extension
offices, and others should take an active role in
disseminating this information, highlighting case
studies that can be used as models for other coops facing similar challenges, and facilitating the
sharing of information and resources among co-ops
and farmers. Further studies should be conducted
to measure the growth of the local food market
through co-ops, and to measure the impact co-ops
have on the viability of local agriculture. The local
food market is far from saturated, but co-ops in the
Northeast will not perform their role as local food
hubs to their maximum ability while barriers to
sourcing locally are in place.

Fall, 2009

19

The Natural Farmer

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Functional & Preventive Medicine
Complementary Medicine
Acupuncture
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Cranio Sacral Therapy
Polarity
Wellness, Stress Reduction
and Nutrition
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Detoxification
Non-Toxic Skincare & Facials
Bio-Identical Hormones
Allergy Testing & Prevention
Colon Hydrotherapy
Nutrition Coaching
Psychological Services
Psychotherapy
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Stress Management

Organic food
is the best
medicine
We counsel and teach cooking
classes to help our patients
reconnect to whole organic foods.

Education and Classes

Yoga Nia Tai Chi Pilates
Holistic Dentistry Education
Cooking with Organic Ingredients
Community Supported Agriculture
Support Groups
Health Focused Dentistry
All General Dentistry
Regular Checkups
Teeth Cleanings
Safe Mercury Filling Removal
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Its about all of you.

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www.grotonwellness.com
493495 Main Street ~ Groton, MA 01450 ~ 978-449-9919

Chewing the Local Scenery

20

by Jennifer Foley, Marketing & Owner Services

Manager, Berkshire Co-op Market

Barbara Zheutlin doesnt want you to just enjoy

the scenery, she wants you to eat it. Barbara is the
Executive Director of Berkshire Grown, the not-forprofit advocacy organization that joins local farmers
and producers with local restaurants, stores, and
consumers. Evolving from the Berkshire Regional
Food and Land Council founded in 1985 by Cathy
Roth, Robyn Van En and Clemens Kalisher,
Berkshire Grown is now a decade old, and more
influential than ever.
Via their Farm to Table: Business 2 Business
Program, local farms are linked with restaurants
and businesses who will purchase their harvest. The
goals of the Farm to Table Program are to increase
farmers direct sales, keep farms in business, and to
preserve agricultural land. Each spring, Berkshire
Grown convenes their Annual Farm to Table
networking meeting to bring the farmers, chefs,
food buyers and producers together face-to-face to
form relationships with each other, to ensure the
ongoing success of this core program.
We see the Annual Meeting as an opportunity to
grow the Farm to Table initiative, increase morale
among BG professional members, and provide
another way to promote Berkshire Grown and eating
locally to the public, Barbara says. We recruit
members, and increase sales of farm products
by strengthening the network. This program has
become a national model.
Farmers like Laura Meister, owner of Farm
Girl Farm in Egremont, MA, are very vocal
and enthusiastic about Barbara and the work of
Berkshire Grown. In a recent article in Berkshire
Business Quarterly (written by Christine Hensel
Triantos), Laura is quoted as saying, My business

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

wouldnt be what it is without Berkshire Grown.

In the same article, Laura goes on to say that
Barbara has, sparked a new dedication that has
brought a lot of new people into Berkshire Grown.

Berkshire Growns vision is to create a community

where healthy farms define the open landscape,
where a wide diversity of fresh, seasonal food
and flowers continue to be readily available to
everyone, and where we celebrate our agricultural
bounty by buying from our neighboring family
farms and savoring their distinctive Berkshire
harvest. To that end, Berkshire Grown prints and
distributes their Berkshire Grown Farm Map and
Buyers Guide to Locally Grown Food, Flowers and
Plants each spring. The annual Buyers Guide is
the only promotional piece that features, in detail,
Berkshire Countys farms, farm stands, and farmers
markets. Farms are listed by town and mapped out
on a user-friendly county map. Each farm listing
includes what each farm sells, highlights PickYour-Own and Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) farms, and offers detailed driving directions.
This promotional flyer also prints the names and
addresses of business and restaurant members of
Berkshire Grown.
In June of 2003 Berkshire Grown initiated
Restaurant Week to support professional members,
both restaurants and farmers. The goal is to
demonstrate how delicious local food can be, and
in a concrete way to educate the community to
buy local and support local agriculture, as well
as to increase revenue for local farmers. During
Restaurant Week, restaurants commit to buying local
foods and offering a three-course meal to Berkshire
Grown members featuring those local foods. In
this way, we bring more people to Berkshire Grown
professional member restaurants before the season,
Barbara tells us, and we promote more sales from
the farms as the season gets under way.

Of course, the most popular of the Berkshire

Grown events has to be the Annual Harvest Supper
(being held this year at Eastover Resort on Monday
September 21st), when the community is treated
to an evening of local fare from an array of local
Berkshire Grown member chefs, as well as a
chance to win fabulous local prizes in their Annual
Drawing. All of the food and prizes are donated and
the Harvest Supper is Berkshire Growns biggest
fundraiser. We cant exist without the funds we
receive from this event, declares Barbara.
Of all of the positive impact Berkshire Grown has
had on our community, perhaps the most impressive
is their Share the Bounty program. Share the
Bounty raises funds to buy shares in CSA farms
and give the fresh food to local food pantries, food
kitchens, andin a pilot project with Community
Health Programs and the Co-opshares are given
to participants in the WIC (Women, Infants and
Children) program. During the growing season,
volunteers help fund-raise for the Share the Bounty
project, as well as make the project function by
picking up the fresh vegetables from the CSA farms
and delivering them to the pantries.
The work that Barbara and her staff (only 2 parttimers!) and the Berkshire Grown volunteers and
members do is essential not only to a sustainable
local economy, but to a healthy environment and a
long future for agricultural open spaces in Berkshire
County.
For more information on Berkshire Grown,
their members, events and programs, visit
berkshiregrown.org.

Horizon Organic joins with

the Federation of
Organic Dairy Farmers
in support of regulatory
changes to require that all
dairy cows be raised
organically from the last
third of gestation.

www.HorizonOrganic.com

Lindstrom Farm, West Danville, VT

2009 Horizon Organic Photo by Keri Pickett

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Organic Equipment
Technology
Specializing in
Weeding and Cultivating
Equipment
Lely
Kovar
Einbck
Hatzenbichler
Call today with your cultivation needs!

Bob Lefrancois

P.O. Box 129

Byron, NY 14422-0129
716-984-7442
bobl@lwemail.com

21

22

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

A Rhode Island Community Garden Combats Hunger

and Brings Food into the Backyard Again
by David Binkley

With the rising popularity of farmers markets and

community supported agriculture (CSA), there is
increasing buzz about the importance of a more
local, decentralized food system. In Rhode Island,
the signup lists for many CSAs are full well before
the growing season begins, which reflects the
lopsided ratio between the states population and its
number of farmable acres - RI has the least amount
of farmable acreage per capita in the country.
Further, not all residents have the means to join a
CSA, or pay the premiums sometimes seen at the
local farmers market. Many residents choose to
grow their own food, but not everyone has the right
space, soil or sunlight requirements to do so. A
group from South County Rhode Island set out to
take on some of these issues, and have started the
South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad
Rock.
The concept of a community garden is not new,
but is certainly of unquestionable value. There
are different types of community gardens. One
type involves the leasing of individual plots within
the larger garden to members eager to grow and
contribute to the greater good of the space through
their volunteer time. Ideally, in some community
gardens, a portion of the harvest is donated to a
local organization, which in turn provides freshpicked produce to families in need.
The Broad Rock Community Garden opened for its
first growing season in May of 2009, on a half-acre
space at Broad Rock Middle School, Peace Dale (a
village in South Kingstown). The idea for it came
about in 2007. David Floyd, an ER nurse at South
County Hospital in Wakefield, met with the Peace
Dale Neighborhood Revitalization Committee and
asked them to consider including a community
garden in the committees revitalization plan for
the village. Local artist and community activist
Nancy Dean was an early supporter of the idea, and
encouraged the meeting. The committee included
Susan Gustaitis, director of the Johnnycake Center
of Peace Dale.
We had them at hello, Floyd says. Everyone on
the committee loved the garden concept, but they
also wanted reassurance that they as a committee
would not be saddled with the work of design and
development. Susan Gustaitis recognized early
on that a community garden dovetailed perfectly
with the mission of the Johnnycake Center (and its
affiliated Hunger Task Force) to eliminate hunger
in southern Rhode Island. This began a relationship
culminating with the Center serving as the gardens
fiscal agent, and the Centers Development Officer
Lisa Wright playing a pivotal role (and eventually
becoming chair of the gardens governing board).
The core group of garden supporters began to
seek additional supporters from the community,
and began a dialogue with South Kingstown town
officials about the possible use of town land.
Director of Parks and Recreation, Andy Nota,
and Town Planner, Ray Nickerson, approved the
idea. The next challenge was to procure the right
plot of land. After scouting out many sites on a
list of town-owned properties, the team found the
perfect place to call home. At Broad Rock Middle
School, a largely unused grassy field was begging
for its greater potential to be tapped. It just felt
right at first glance, says Floyd. Flat, sunny
and surrounded by trees, easily accessible but
protected.
The group drafted a proposal for the town, and met
with the town planner, Ray Nickerson, who felt
that the utilization of the Broad Rock site in this
way was quite feasible. A proposal was presented
to South Kingstown school superintendent, Robert
Hicks, Broad Rock Middle School principal, Sheila
Sullivan, and the towns School Committee, which
voted to approve the use of the land for the garden
in May 2008.

Ribbon Cutting on June 4th launched the Community Garden

Members of the community rallied behind the
project, and provided ample assistance to kick start
the physical labor. In June 2008, Bob Aube from
Morningstar Nurseries provided rolls of plastic
to solarize the grass, which would make future
plowing and tilling far easier. The following month,
local farmer, Bob Knowles, arrived on tractor, and
plowed and harrowed the site. In August, John
OMalley, a local schoolteacher and garden board
member, sowed buckwheat as a green manure cover
crop.
Liberty Rentals, a local power tool rental supply
shop, donated a power auger to facilitate the digging
of 27 post holes to support the planned deer fence.
Fence materials were paid for by a grant secured
from New England Grassroots Environment Fund.
A design committee met and brainstormed about
layout and orientation of plots and common areas.
Brian Maynard, Chair of the Plant Science Dept.
at URI and Community Garden board member,
designed and laid out the drip irrigation system. In
spring of 2009, David Gregg helped to clear many
large boulders from the site with his front loader,
and also used a rotary tiller to finish the initial prep.
At this time, soil testing was done, and the soil
was found to have good organic matter content,
and had sufficient amounts of micronutrients (and
no contaminants!). Some soil amendments, were
suggested, but not required. It was incredibly
fortunate to be able to begin with good soil.
In April, the governing board was formed, which
meets monthly. April also saw the beginning of the
leasing process as people in the community learned
of the availability of garden plots. Lessees were and
are expected to prepare their own beds, digging out
surrounding paths, and adding topsoil from paths
to their own beds or low areas at the site. Donated
wood chips from Nickerson Tree Service over
newspaper provide good weed control and a finished
look. Lessees of garden plots have provided many
hours of their time working on common jobs, like
installing deer fencing, digging trenches, clearing
boulders, and mulching pathways.
The gardens by-laws, which were drafted primarily
by board members Lisa Wright, Marisa Mazzotta,
and Betsy Rosengarden, require members to abide
by organic methods of pest and weed control and
fertilization. Cover crops will continue to be used
to sequester carbon, retain nutrients, and prevent
erosion in the off-season. A space inside the garden
boundaries has been established for composting all
garden waste. Additionally, a 4x8worm bed has
been created at the site, stocked with red wriggler
composting worms, which make short work of
transforming waste into rich soil. In dry periods,
all gardeners receive their water through a clever

photo courtesy David Binkley

and efficient drip irrigation system, which greatly

reduces water demand. The irrigation system was
paid for with grant money from the local Rotary
Club. Their grant also provided funds for the
construction of a tool shed, now in progress.
All members are required to donate a portion of
their harvest to the Johnnycake Center of Peace
Dales Emergency Food Pantry. The Johnnycake
Center is a Rhode Island organization committed to
providing comprehensive assistance in the form of
food, clothing, and household items, to families in
need. While the Broad Rock Community Garden
waives the membership fee for any Johnnycake
Center client who desires a garden plot (several
clients are active gardening members), the reality
is that many struggling families and individuals
are working several jobs, and do not have the
time to effectively manage their own garden. The
design team recognized this, so, in addition to
member donations, there are currently a half dozen
10x20 plots that are being farmed exclusively
for the benefit of the Johnnycake Center Food
Pantry. Several generous garden members provide
additional volunteer hours to ensure these plots stay
healthy and productive. There is also area set aside
for a school garden, which will be developed in the
fall of 2009.
Currently mid-summer, in its first growing season,
the garden is bursting forth with rich vegetation.
Most plots are meticulously weeded, and the
greenery is so rich and full, even master gardeners
would be envious. Many members choose to grow
unique and rare varieties of crops, ones that never
would be found in a grocery store. Lacinato kale,
Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck squash, Colorado
Rose potatoes, and Paul Robeson tomatoes are a
few of the unique vegetable varieties found here.
There is also an area at the west end of the space
where fruit trees (heirloom apple, plum, cherry) and
berry bushes (blueberry, aronia, Cornelian cherry,
currants) are planted.
We are extremely gratified to see this project
manifest so quickly into something that is
aesthetically pleasing, productive, and appreciated
by the community, says Floyd. Local food is so
important right now, in terms of environmental
impact and energy use, and will become even more
important. At our ribbon cutting, Town Planner
Ray Nickerson gave the ultimate compliment,
that the garden could serve as a model for other
projects. Rhode Island is already blessed with
visionary organizations like Southside Community
Land Trust, and many excellent CSAs. We are just
happy to be a part of what needs to be a continually
growing movement.

Feeding Manhattan Locally:

Fall, 2009

23

The Natural Farmer

Mark Dunau and Mountain Dell Farm

by Jack Kittredge

In the high ground of New Yorks Delaware County

sits Mountain Dell Farm -- owned, operated and
occupied by Mark Dunau, Lisa Wujnovich and, until
recently, their two children. The entire farm consists
of fifty acres, five of which are farmed.
The farm is at an elevation of 1,400 feet, and the
cultivated land is on a gradual slope (the flats dont
drain well enough to profitably grow vegetables).
The soil can be described as well-drained clay and
modestly rocky. The temperature rarely goes over 80
degrees. Greens are what thrive in this cool climate,
and seventy percent of farm vegetables sales are
salad or cooking greens. Using wide floating row
covers from mid April through mid November, the
farm has developed a six month selling season.
Mountain Dell Farm was NOFA-NY certified
organic from 1990 to 2001. They signed the NOFANY Farmers Pledge in 2003, and plan to continue
the Farmers Pledge into the foreseeable future.
As Mark describes them: We are self-employed
subsistence farmers; all our wealth is in our land
and cobbled home/barn, and nearly all our income
is derived from the vegetables we sell. Farming is
gambling. When it comes to farming doubts, our
most important piece of advice is that youve got to
be in it to win it.
Mark was born in Washington, D.C. in 1952, and
grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. Both his parents
were labor lawyers. Lisa grew up in southern
Florida. They met at Antioch College in 1971,
courting for a long time, off and on, and finally
getting married in 1986. Mark graduated in 1974
with a B.A. in theater and as a young man wrote a
number of plays. Eight were produced and his most
popular, Glass, toured nationally for three years.
In 1986, while living in Manhattan, they decided
to buy the farm. As Mark puts it: By then my
playwriting career was dead and Id been paint
contracting for ten years. Lisa was an actress
and worked as a caterer. So we were ready for a
change. We bought the farm in 1986 because we
wanted some place that wasnt New York City. We
thought we could handle the four hundred and thirty
odd dollar mortgage it cost us. So we bought this
property and decided we wanted to make a farm
of it. Farming seemed like it would be easy, and at
least Id be outside.
They went up for the summer at first and had
gardens. The first one was 500 square feet, the next
was 1000 feet, and the next 1500 feet. Then, in
1988, the couple had their first child. They realized
they couldnt stand being parents in New York City
at all, and moved to the farm permanently in 1990.
My wife convinced me, recalls Mark, that we
should buy a tractor and be farmers. Really well
thought out idea. NOT! Our first tractor was a 1934
John Deere crankstart tractor we got for $500 at an
auction. Fortunately for me, that tractor actually ran,
and had an amazing plow system. But I grew very
fond of the idea of getting a battery starter. When it
didnt want to go, by the hundredth crank you are
totally unhappy!
Mountain Dell Farm is generally laid out in fields
that are from 15 to 25 feet wide and are from
100 to 200 yards long. The preferred width is 25
feet. Every other field has a path for the tractor to
minimize compression. Mark and Lisa grow about
50 different types of vegetables. Most of the greens
require multiple plantings to keep up with supply
due to short harvest windows. Consequently, when
the acreage is filled up the farm has the look of a
patchwork quilt.
Transplanted Vegetables
They put in approximately 40,000 transplants by

Mark Dunau shows some of the beautiful teenage lettuce he is

delivering to restaurants in New York.

hand each year. The heart of the transplant operation

is lettuce, radicchio, and fennel, started together
every three weeks and transplanted on a three-week
schedule. They transplant by hand along the width
of a field in rows of four, plants a little less than one
foot apart, then leave about a fifteen-inch foot path.
If a field is 10 feet wide, this creates a series of beds

photo by Jack Kittredge

about three feet wide, each with approximately forty

plants. An advantage of this pattern is that they can
transplant in all soil conditions, except for mud, and
it is easy to keep cultivated by hand; much the same
as if they were raised beds. They thin by following a
zigzag pattern in a bed, and yields are high.

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24

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Chinese Cabbage Seeded in flats in mid July.

Planted in mid August with a handful of compost.
Covered with row cover for vigorous growth and
flea beetle protection for first month, then removed
to prevent rot. Row covers used again when danger
of frost damage. Will take 18, if double covered.
Area to be transplanted first fertilized with Fertrell
Super-N (4-2-4).
Basil Seeded in flats the end of March. Planted in
the fields with a handful of compost the last week in
May. Covered for entire season with a light floating
row cover. Area to be transplanted first fertilized
with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4).
Celeriac Started in flats in the home at the end of
February. Transplanted to flats in the greenhouse in
mid-April. Transplanted to fields at the end of May
with a handful of compost per transplant. Area to be
transplanted first fertilized with Fertrell Feed-N-Gro
(2-4-2).

photo by Jack Kittredge

Mark unloads produce from a cooler atop his suburban for delivery to the Candle Caf.

A high percentage of Mountain Dells crops are

transplanted. Among Marks favorite are:

Radicchio First seeded in flats March 25. New

transplants started every three weeks until June
26, then triple planted (planted at three times the
Lettuce His favorite varieties are Red Salad Bowl, normal quantity) for the long fall harvest. First
Green Salad Bowl, Galactic, Cocarde, Magenta, and planting towards the end of April with a handful of
Winter Density. First seeded in flats March 25, new
compost per transplant, last planting in mid-August.
transplants are started every three weeks until July 16, Row covers used to prevent frost damage. Will take
then three large plantings in successive weeks for the 14, if double covered. Area to be transplanted first
long fall harvest, when lettuce is slow to go to seed. fertilized with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4).
Last seeded August 1 for teenage lettuce or a warm
fall. First transplanted towards the end of April with a Fennel First seeded in flats March 25. New
handful of compost per transplant. Last transplanting transplants started every three weeks until the first
is September 1. The area to be transplanted is first
week in June, when triple planted for the long fall
fertilized with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4). Row covers harvest. First planted in fields the first week in May
are used to prevent frost damage. With the exception with a handful of compost. Last planting around the
of Winter Density, the varieties mentioned here will first week in July. Row covers used to prevent frost
take 18 without frost damage, if double covered with damage. Will take 20, if double covered. Area to
Agribon 19. Red Salad Bowl will take 14, if double be transplanted first fertilized with Fertrell Super N
covered.
(4-2-4).

Tomatoes Seeded in flats first week in April.

Transplanted 3 1/2 feet apart the last week in May
with compost and Fertrell Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2).
Covered with row cover until flowers appear for fast
and vigorous growth.
Summer Squash Seeded in flats May 5.
Transplanted last week in May fifteen inches apart
into trenches five feet apart enriched with compost
and Fertrell Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2). Covered with row
cover until flowers appear for fast and vigorous
growth, and to control cucumber beetles.
Winter Squash Seeded in flats May 5.
Transplanted in hills three feet apart enriched with
compost and Fertrell Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2). Covered
with row cover until flowers appear for fast and
vigorous growth and to control cucumber beetles.
Direct Seeded Vegetables
Mark and LIsa direct seed brassicas every week
from mid April until September 1. The heart of their
brassica plantings are arugula, broccoli raab, tatsoi,
bok choy, kyona mizuna, and Hakurei turnips.
They plant these crops together every two weeks

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Fall, 2009

in beds about 25 feet wide and 90 feet long, using

an Earthway seeder and customizing heavy seed
brassica plates by closing three out of four holes for
arugula, tatsoi, red mustard, bok choy, and mizuna.
They close two out of three holes for broccoli raab,
and one out of two holes for the Hakurei turnips
(dense planting makes for the desired small turnips).
Rows are seeded along the 25-foot width of the field
a little more than a foot apart. A typical planting of
these crops has 88 rows; 12 arugula, 12 broccoli
raab, 16 tatsoi, 12 red mustard, 12 bok choy, 12
mizuna, 12 Hakurei turnips. Until September, tatsoi,
bok choy, red mustard, and kyona mizuna have only
about a two week harvest window before they go
to seed. Arugula and broccoli raab only have about
a one week harvest window before they go to seed,
which is why they have a separate weekly planting.
Except for the fall, row covers stay on these greens
from seeding until a week before harvest.
Fall is the easiest time to grow these greens. Plants
grow well but are slow to bolt. As temperatures
cool through the fall, the fields act almost as a giant
living refrigerator. Consequently, in mid-August
they triple plant, and August they we triple plant
again. On September 1, they triple plant arugula and
broccoli raab yet again. These mid-August and late
August plantings are crucial for a successful season,
because these planting will last through November,
if properly maintained. When these fall planting
near maturity, however, it is critical to remove the
row covers; otherwise the plants grow too quickly,
and are more likely to rot. If there is danger of
heavy frost, they put the row covers back on. By
November, the row covers are permanently back
in place. As reported earlier in this article, double
covered arugula and tatsoi will take 14 degrees;
the rest of these brassicas will take 18 degrees.
The heavy dew that precedes frosts saturates the
row covers so that they freeze like igloos. When
the sun hits the frozen row covers, the plants are
gently warmed through the diffusion of light. The
dampness of the row covers themselves also helps
prevent burning. Plants must not be harvested,
however, until they thaw.
Arugula, Broccoli Raab Directed seeded as
soon as soil can be worked in mid April. Planted

The biodynamic methods

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Thoughtless, mechanical
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should be the guiding
and observing factor. . .

25

The Natural Farmer

photo by Jack Kittredge

Mark unloads coolers into his delivery box.

weekly in soil enriched with Fertrell Super-N (4-24). Triple planted three times in successive weekly
plantings beginning in mid August for a long fall
harvest. Planted with row cover. Row cover stays on
until a week before harvest (except in fall). Plants
cultivated after two weeks, dusted then with 1%
rotenone for flea beetles, if necessary.
Tatsoi, Red Mustard, Bok Choy, Kyona Mizuna,
Hakurei Turnips Direct seeded as soon as
soil can be worked in mid April in soil enriched
with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4). Planted every two
weeks. Triple planted in mid-August twice in two
successive weekly plantings for a long fall harvest.
Planted with row cover. Row cover stays on until

week before harvest (except during part of fall).

Plants cultivated after two weeks, dusted then with
1% rotenone for flea beetles, if necessary.
Frissee Direct seeded as soon as soil can be
worked in mid-April under row cover in soil
enriched with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4). Row cover
removed soon after seeds germinate. Replanted
every three weeks until the end of July, when triple
planted for long fall harvest. Will take 14, if double
covered.
Leeks Directed seeded as soon as soil can be
worked in mid-April. Planted with row cover. Row
covers removed soon after germination in soil

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26

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

N-Gro (2-4-2). Row covers removed soon after

thinning. Row covers placed back on when severe
cold is forecast; particularly days that do not exceed
32.
Farm Systems
The greenhouse that Mark and Lisa open the last
week of March looks like a Rube Goldberg cartoon.
The only thing positive about it is that it works.

photo by Jack Kittredge

Ryan Tate is Chef d cuisine at the Savoy

enriched with Fertrell Super-N (4-2-4). Row covers

placed back on when hard freezes return with the
fall.
Daikons Directed seeded for fall harvest last
week in July under row cover in soil fertilized with
Fertrell Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2). Row covers removed
soon after Daikons are thinned. Row covers placed
back on with the hard freezes of the fall. Daikons,
unlike most roots, are very susceptible to frost
damage because of their height over the ground.
This is the only root to double cover.
Beets Direct seeded first week in May and last
week in June under row cover in soil fertilized with
Fertrell Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2). Row covers removed
soon after germination. Row covers placed back on
when severe cold is forecast; particularly days that
do not exceed 32.
Rutabagas Direct seeded under row covers last
week in June in soil fertilized with Fertrell Feed-

The greenhouse is six feet wide, 12 feet long, eight

feet high and is built into the eastern wall of the
bottom of the barn. It has five bench type levels
and holds about 120 flats. It is lit by the eastern
exposure and about 40 four-foot fluorescent fixtures
using 80 regular fluorescent bulbs. It is vented by a
small fan, and air is circulated inside with two small
overhead fans. An electric heater easily regulates
the temperature, so germination and growth is easy
to control despite the weather. Vermont Compost
Company potting soil is used. Most starts are seeded
in flats that hold sixty plants. There has never been
any disease and only one minor insect problem over
the nineteen year use of this structure. The cost of
electricity for this greenhouse in March, April and
the beginning of May is less than $200.
In mid-April, they open two small greenhouses
that receive southern exposures; these greenhouses
are lean-to structures built against the barn, and
are made of wood and plastic. One is heated with
electricity (holding seventy flats), and the other is
heated with an unvented propane heater (holding
110 flats). These greenhouses are well ventilated,
and have never had any disease or insect problems.
Plants are hardened off on the northeast and eastern
side of the barn. The greenhouses are closed by the
middle of May, and all transplants are thereafter
started on the eastern side of the barn.
Mark says he cannot overemphasize the importance
to their operation of wide floating row covers.
Mountain Dell Farm is in business because of them.
They are used for the following purposes:
1. Direct seeding follows a weekly schedule for four

ompost werks!

and a half months, mid-April though September 1.

To maintain that schedule they cant wait for rain.
Consequently, they seed an area, cover it with a
row cover, and water it once. Germination follows
because row covers maintain the moisture in the
soil.
2. Arugula, broccoli raab, red mustard, tatsoi, kyona
mizuna, and Hakurei turnips love row covers,
which are kept on these crops until a week before
harvest. They grow about 50% faster under row
covers with little flea beetle problems. Given a good
watering when seeded, these brassica crops need no
more water through harvest because the row cover
maintains the moisture in the soil.
3. Row covers protect crops from frost damage.
Double covered fields (two row covers) of brassicas
have no frost damage down to 18 degrees. Tatsoi,
and arugula will take 14 degrees. Many lettuces
double covered will take 18 degrees without
burning. Red Salad Bowl, radicchio, and frissee will
take 14 degrees (sometimes colder). Fennel will take
20 degrees. On a mid November pick day, it is not
unusual for Mountain Dell Farm to harvest over 700
pounds of greens.
4. Insect protection.
Row covers have two significant problems when
you build a farm around them:
1. The grower does not actually see whats
happening unless he lifts the cover. Sometimes the
apparently gorgeous crop is a field of weeds.
2. Some crops, particularly lettuce, rot under row
covers when it is warm. To use them effectively for
cold nights with warm days, they must be pulled on
and off. When dealing with an acre of lettuce, the
farmer may feel more like a chambermaid.
Row covers are repaired by tying square knots
wherever they are ripped.
Sod is killed at Mountain Dell Farm by plowing,
discing and dragging with a Belarus 250 tractor.
But Mark only breaks up the soil with tractors. All
weeding is done with hand tools. As mentioned,
the fields lie on quite a sloped terrain. Most farmers
wouldnt farm it. Its not conducive to rows and
straight lines. Once the sod is killed, Mark uses a 9
foot spring tooth drag that keeps the soil weed free
before planting it.
Its on a 3-point hitch, says Mark, and life is
unthinkable without that tool. It plops down, theres
nothing too small that I cant hit. My rotovator is
down to 10% of what I do.

L.L.C.

About half the fields are planted twice in the same

year. The furst planting is turned under with a fivefoot harrow with duck foot shaped shanks on S
tines; this implement goes deeper than the spring
tooth harrow. The area to be replanted is then
rotovated with a 5-foot rotovator.

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weeds are quickly killed in the sun, thereby keeping
an area weed free before planting.

LET US HELP YOU TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

w w w. c o m p o s t w e r k s . c o m
Tel: 914-914-273-9294

E-MAIL: info@compostwerks.com

For direct seeded greens, some hands and knees

work is usually required once per planting for
weeding and/or thinning when the plants are small.
Hand hoes are excellent for this work. Direct seeded
leeks require at least two weedings on hands and
knees.
For irrigation, Mark and Lisa pump water out of
their spring fed pond with a gasoline powered high
pressure pump. The pump is attached directly to
two 5/8-inch garden hoses, and has no problem
delivering good water pressure to two sprinklers at
the highest part of the farm, elevated about 70 feet
over the pump and pond. Hundreds of feet of 5/8inch garden hose takes water anywhere in the fields.
They can easily start all planting on schedule with

Fall, 2009

this water supply. Because of row covers holding

in water moisture, they have been able to maintain
all the crops by moving two oscillating sprinklers
through the fieldscovering about three acres in
a week. They can pump 24 hours a day without
worrying about running out of water (advantage
of being at the bottom of a dell). This form of
irrigation is drudgery during a drought, but requires
little investment.

27

The Natural Farmer

During a year, for fertility, Mountain Dell Farm

buys in about 40 yards of locally produced compost,
3 tons of Fertrell Super N (4-2-4), 1 ton of Fertrell
Feed-N-Gro (2-4-2), and 2 tons of Vermont
Compost Co. potting soil
For insect pests, Mark swears by wide floating row
covers.
The truth of the matter, he feels, is that organic
farming in the northeast is easy, compared to the
south. We just dont have that many bugs! I used
to use rotenone every two weeks on my baby
brassicas, but I dont need it anymore. I just used a
pound of 1% rotenone on my potatoes. Thats the
last Ill see of those beetles. Im thrilled that my
greens require nothing! And that may be the last and
only time I use a pesticide all year on any crop.
Deer, however, are a little more troublesome. To
control them, around the perimeter of the farm Mark
and Lisa have a low impedance plastic wire fence
with two strands at a height of about 18 inches and
36 inches, powered by a Parmak Charger. Three
feet behind that fence they have a single strand of
low impedance wire at a height of about two feet.
All crops that are highly loved by the deer (lettuce,
radicchio, frissee...) have a single strand of low
impedance wire fence running around them that
is powered by the exterior fence. Once weeded,
another strand will be run down the middle of a
highly valued crop. These interior fences go up in
about twenty minutes with fiber glass poles and
are the key to the fencing success. When feasting,
the deer quickly run into them and get 10,000 volts
to the nose. They use low impedance plastic wire
fence for the perimeter and interior because deer
are virtually blind to them at night; they dont jump
over what they cant see. Mountain Dell Farm is
a series of unpleasant encounters to deer and they
usually move on. Its been six years since they lost
more than $200 to deer and had to shoot an intruder.
Weekly harvests range from 700 to 1500 pounds.
Almost all harvesting is done with a lettuce knife.
Mark is against picking baby anything. The
youngest produce he strikes down is teenage lettuce
and young Hakurei turnips. Produce is carried to a
12-by-16 wash room in milk crates or large plastic
buckets. Water for the washroom comes from the
homes well water. Roots are washed in tubs with a
nozzle sprayer from a hose and turned with a broom
stick, and greens are dunked and cleaned in large
sinks.
September through Thanksgiving are the months of
largest weekly harvests. Here is what three people
typically pick and pack on the first Monday in
November:
Teenage Lettuce - 100 lbs.
Lettuce - 140 lbs.
Radicchio - 70 lbs.
Frissee - 30 lbs.
Arugula - 30 lbs.
Broccoli Raab - 80 lbs.
Tatsoi - 60 lbs.
Red Mustard - 50 lbs.
Bok Choy - 60 lbs.
Kyona Mizuna - 50 lbs.
Chinese Cabbage - 60 lbs.
With the exception of winter squash, no vegetables
are stored until the end of October, when the root
cellar is sufficiently cool. Stored roots and greens
are kept in the root cellar; built in the barn by
insulating a section which has its western wall and
foundation abutting the earth, and is very damp.
Radicchio harvested at the end of November will
store until Christmas (it often lasts through January).
Mark and Lisa spend late October and November
harvesting roots for storage in the root cellar for
easy packing on pick days, and harvest greens
for root cellar storage only when a killing frost is

Melissa Chmelar, owner of the Spoon and Table Spoon.

coming, or pick day will not exceed 32 degrees.

Roots will easily store through April in the root
cellar (although late storage is for family use only).
For sub-zero days there is a small electric heater.
Winter squash is kept in a warmer part of the barn
with a much lower humidity.

Squash and tomatoes plantings are under-sown

with red clover after the final weeding. For areas
not to be planted until the fall, they try to cover
crop with buckwheat. For areas that have been
harvested, but not to be replanted, they cover crop
with oats through the third week in September.
These oats hold the soil for the winter, but are killed
by winters cold for easy cultivation in the spring.
They dont use winter rye, hating to fight it the
following spring when they quickly want to replant,
particularly when the spring is very wet.
Weather occasionally trips up Mountain Dell Farm,
however. Mark says he had never lost a dime in hail
until last year, in August. Five acres of lettuce were
wiped out. It was a $25,000 hit.
The whole fall planting was devastated, he
recalls. I was at a party where it was beautiful
all day. When I came back I saw we had been hit.
But I learned! You dont want a half-assed hail.
You want an utterly devastating hail. Because if
it is devastating, stuff will grow back. The leaves
die and dry up. But the roots are alive and it grows
back. That ended up being some of the best lettuce
we produced. We lost the mature brassicas, the
mustards, but the lettuce came back.
Out of his experience at Mountain Dell, Mark has
developed six rules for sustainable agriculture:
1. Dont drive the tractor onto wet fields.
2. Dont use synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or
fertilizers.
3. Rotate the crops as much as possible.
4. Try to put into the soil what you take out.
5. With rare exceptions, take at least one day off a
week.
6. Like the soil, rest in the winter.
Mark sells vegetables from the first week in June
up to (and sometimes past) Christmas. His primary
customers consist of restaurants in Manhattan, to
which he delivers once a week. He also delivers to
health food stores, sells locally to restaurants and
individuals, and has a small CSA in which people
pay up front for a share of vegetables for twenty
weeks. The CSA runs from mid-June until midOctober, and the upfront money serves to keep the
farm out of credit card debt in the spring.
For Manhattan we call Friday and pick Monday,
Mark explains. Then I deliver Tuesday. Lisa
will call the local restaurants Tuesday, while Im
gone, and well pick for them and the local CSA

photo by Jack Kittredge

on Thursday, delivering the same day. Nothing is

picked that hasnt already been sold. Half the CSA
members pick up at the farm, and on my way to the
restaurants I leave the rest off where someone has
a porch and the other members pick up there. Since
Im going there anyway, there is no reason for them
to drive to the farm. My CSA has no clue that they
have the Cadillac of CSAs! None! We have only 13
shareholders. We make a lot less money per pound
on the CSA than we do on the restaurants. But the
whole purpose of it is to keep me from going into
credit card debt in the month of May. That $6000 in
May is very helpful!
The Manhattan restaurants were a part of Mark and
Lisas farm marketing plan from the beginning.
Because my wife was in the catering business,
he explains, we werent afraid of restaurants. The
first thing we did was get clients by taking a seed
catalog to the restaurants and said: Whatever you
want we will grow! Well, theyd never even seen a
seed catalog. That was a good introduction. But we
would never do that again! We would wait for them
to come to us. The great thing about being young is
you think you know everything. So you are willing
to take risks you wouldnt later. The bad thing about
being young is that you dont know everything. So
you do things that are just plain stupid!
The business has changed a lot, he continues,
based on the local food movement. For one, you
used to get more money from the restaurants than
the farmers market. That has utterly reversed, and
the big money per pound is now at the farmers
market! I dont go to farmers markets myself, but
I see what is being charged. I dont begrudge any
farmer what they can get. If you can get it, do it.
But it used to be that the premium dollar was in the
restaurant trade. Now its from the farmers market
customer. On the other hand, when I call Candle
Caf in 5 minutes I get a 200 pound order. It takes
a lot longer than 5 minutes to sell 200 pounds at a
farmers market. But I cant charge $2 a pound for a
potato at a restaurant, and thats what theyre getting
at farmers markets for Yukon Golds! $1.50 is
cheap for a potato now at a market. It amazes me!
On the Tuesday of my visit with Mark making his
deliveries, he had forgotten to call the restaurants
on the previous Friday because of his mothers 90th
birthday. So he is bringing what the restaurants
ordered last week. He has 8 stops, all old accounts.
The newest account is 8 years old, and half of them
are 20 years old.
Mark is particular about the relationship of trust
between the chef and the farm. No one checks me
in, he says proudly. Anytime someone checks me
in, thats the last time I deliver there. I just leave off
the produce and an invoice.
Transporting the orders from the farm to Manhattan

28
is not a trivial job, of course. If things are perfect it
takes Mark three hours to reach the city. Hes tired
on the way home, so sometimes it takes him longer
to get back. On the day I visited he left shortly after
7 am and didnt expect to get home until 9 or 10.
He makes the trip in a 1982 Suburban. Most
vegetables are packed in heavy duty double bagged
grocery bags (1/6 sacks) which hold 10 pounds of
greens or 20 pounds of roots and those are packed
into 96-quart coolers. Ice is added by filling one
gallon containers, freezing them, and placing them
in with the produce.
Using the roof, Mark calculates, the Suburban
holds up to twenty-five 96 quart coolers, and smaller
coolers and boxes. Capacity is about 1400 pounds,
800 pounds of which can be greens. Knock on
wood, weve never had a mechanical breakdown.
Its an inexpensive, organized and cooled transport
system that has worked for us for over 300,000
miles (the truck has received a full body transplant,
but retains its original engine, which in 2009 will
pass half a million miles).
Its all sorted and packed by restaurant. On the day
I went, the first two coolers were for Candle 79,
Marks first stop. The next 8 were Candle Caf, his
second stop.
We run three fail-safe tests in the washroom, he
says, to make sure we get it right and pack it right.
Every customer gets their own cooler or coolers,
depending on the size of the order. We make 400
pounds of ice a week in two freezers at a cost of
about $40 a month. Ice is in the form of 14 pound
frozen trays, or two one-gallon rectangular frozen
water jugs per cooler.
The actual delivery is always an event! First,
parking in Manhattan is a real problem. Mark often
can find a spot, but sometimes has to double park. If
he is lucky enough to find a spot to park, there are
further complications.
Most of the areas dont have parking meters
anymore, he explains. Instead they have these
ticket machines. You buy a ticket to put under your
windshield wiper. The advantages are you can use
bills, coins or even a credit card to buy the ticket,
and you get more vehicles per block because you
dont have artificial spaces set out. The only thing I
dont like is that in certain parts of the city you have
to have commercial plates to use a loading zone.
If you dont, like me, and even if you have bought
your $2 parking ticket, there are vicious parking
attendants who will give you a $115 ticket for using
the loading zone to do your job of unloading.
For the first deliveries, unloading also requires that
Mark climb on top of the Suburban to find the right
coolers.
He is now 57 years old and realizes that climbing
on top of the van and getting coolers down cant last
forever!
Mark has built much of his restaurant business on
what he calls teen lettuce. Teen lettuce is basically
anything from 1/4 pound to 1/3 pound per head,
but never more than a half a pound. If Mark has to
include a few big heads hell cut off the outer leaves
and leave the inner part, which grew recently.
Some restaurants order 40 pounds of teen lettuce,
he says. They want more and more and cant get
enough! They dont need much labor to create
a salad, my quality is just way better than what
they can get elsewhere, no one else picks it the
day before. Its not big heads. They are small and
delicious. The baby stuff doesnt have a very long
shelf life, but these restaurants have discovered that
my teen stuff will hold for a week.
The business plan of Mountain Dell Farm is to
increase teenage lettuce sales. Thats what they
make the most profit on. Mark recently told a big
account he could no longer afford to bring him four
coolers of regular lettuce at thirty pounds per cooler.
He had to switch to teenage lettuce instead, at twice
the price per pound. The buyer agreed to buy the
teenage lettuce instead.
I put six varieties in that bag, Mark explains.
One is red salad bowl, then there is green salad

The Natural Farmer

bowl, magenta, cocarde, winter density, and galactic
(which is great the deepest darkest red Ive ever
seen on a lettuce. It never rots, doesnt go to seed
very easily, it lasts like crazy, there is no browning
to it, it has great tolerance its just a great lettuce
that doesnt get huge).
Usually my lettuce takes a month to grow, he
continues. But Im on a slope. My best stuff is
at the bottom of the slope. The upper stuff takes
a little longer, so it is naturally staggered. Being
at 1400 feet it rarely goes above 80 degrees. This
year it hasnt gone above 70 degrees much! This
year slugs have been a big problem on lettuce. We
just hand pick them out when we harvest and in
the washroom. We had no summer this year. Thats
fantastic for greens. I harvested 6000 heads of
lettuce so far this year. I havent had one go to seed,
and here it is the middle of July.
The lettuce is replanted every three weeks. Moody
Hill Potting Soil is pretty consistent, and Lisa is an
excellent starter. They do sixty flats of lettuce every
three weeks until mid-summer, when they start
doubling and tripling it for the long, cool fall, using
the most well drained and best soil.
Like many farmers, Mark is pretty tight-lipped
about the economics of his farming operation. I can
tell you what I get for teenage lettuce, he says, but
you cant publish it. Im very open on how I farm
and what I do, but I never publish what my prices
are. Thats what I figure is up to me and I dont want
anyone doing the math about how much money Im
making, except the government! I dont think it is
anyones business how much I make in terms of
money. I do well farming. But doing well farming is
like doing well as a wildlife biologist. If you make
a living you are doing well. But you dont get rich.
Ive raised two children our son Bera is going to
Hampshire, our saughter Shane is going to Cornell
off a 5-acre vegetable farm. That is successful in
so far as I am a farmer. But Im always broke in the
spring.
But things constantly change, and one change at
Mountain Dell is that Lisa (who, like most people,
is getting older) has decided that she wants to get an
MFA in poetry. She still works on the farm, but not
as much as before. To replace her labor they had to
hire more help, and make more money to pay for it.
That is one of the reasons the new business model
had to forgo all sales of regular lettuce. Before, if
the teen got bigger, they sold it as regular lettuce -but at only half the price per pound. No longer.
Normally Mark quits farming about the 2nd Tuesday
in December. The fields are empty by Thanksgiving,
but they still sell a lot of raddichio, celeriac and
beets that we store in their root cellar. This year,
however, to cover the extra expenses, they have
planted extra beets and celeriac.
These restaurants wont quit buying from me,
Mark says, until I quit having anything. So if I
have a successful harvest of beets, celeriac, and
turnips, those three items are worth me coming
down. Im not going to put my nose up at $1000
bucks. So Ill sell from the root cellar until the
middle of January, when I think it will be empty.
We have 4500 celeriac out there, which seem to be
thriving in this wet! The restaurants love it. We have
a reputation as having the best beets of anyone by a
mile. The most upscale restaurants really want my
beets. Savoy, coming up, is one of my most upscale
restaurants. He must see 20 farmers beets a week.
But he only wants mine! Why mine would taste
better than anyone elses I have no clue. But they
seem to feel that way.
Dunau says that fall is when he starts making
money. All summer he is still paying bills, then in
the fall he can start accumulating. But this winter,
there are no kids living at home anymore, Lisa is
doing her MFA, and Mark is going back to India!
There is a village in Rajasthan he visited when he
was young where he still has friends. There has been
a drought for 15 years and the common people are
dirt poor. The monsoons rains havent been coming
and they blame it on climate change. The middle
class are comfortable and the rich have several
homes. But the poor are agricultural and are very
hard up.

Fall, 2009

On the day I visited, Mark sold the following variety

of produce to Manhattan resturants: teenage lettuce,
frisee, arugula, radicchio, broccoli raab, kyona
mizuna, red mustard, totsoi, young pak choi, hakurei
turnips, mixed beets, spring onions, summer squash,
fennel, basil, cilantro, thyme, chives, lemon balm,
and mint.
Ive had so much more demand than Ive had
product this year, he says. So I pick and choose
what I grow. I dont grow chard. I cant get the
money for it that I want. Ill grow it for the CSA,
and Ill grow Red Russian kale in the fall for the
restaurants, but generally it is too competitive and
I dont make what I need. For chard Id have to
charge $3 per pound. But Im not going to get it.
On the other hand, he continues, Black Forest
pak choi is fantastic. It tastes great, grows great,
doesnt bolt, the restaurants are wild for it. It is
really superior. It does well tightly grown. I sell it at
anywhere from a quarter to half a pound. It sells like
wildfire! Check it out sometime. It is very tolerant
of not being well treated.
Mark, as one of the major movers behind the
Farmers Pledge, has not been certified organic since
2001.
I dont need it, he says, being in direct sales. The
restaurants know Im organic. Kitchen Club says
Im organic. The Farmers Pledge is run by NOFANY, even though the pledge itself doesnt use the
word organic. The standards are different. Some
of the Pledge standards are much stricter. Potable
water is not a USDA organic standard. We deal with
worker treatment and support collective bargaining.
We encourage farmers to do something for the
environment. Crop rotations are written in. But we
dont require that you use organic seed, or force
livestock owners to use 100% organic feed.
I buy my seed potatoes from a conventional
farmer, he continues, but I think they are more
organic than many organic farms. Theyve been
in the same place for over 100 years, they have
200 acres and do a 5 crop rotation so they only do
potatoes on 40 acres. But Im glad to support him,
and 20 a pound for great potatoes is cheap! Also,
it has become important for NOFA-NY policy
that half of that $50 (from the Farmers Pledge
application fee) sits in a fund to pay for policy work.
We didnt spend it for awhile, but now over $12,000
is there to support Steve Gilman on the food safety
work.
The restaurants to which Mark made deliveries are
all over Manhattan. Candle 79, on Lexington and
79th St, is a typical upscale restaurant. Its totally
vegan, however, the only upscale vegan restaurant
in Manhattan. Bart Potenza, the owner, has been
actively supporting local growers, and he buys
organic whenever he can. Hes a big supporter of
NOFA-NY and along with his wife, Joy Pierson,
received the organizations Lifetime Achievement
Award.
According to Mark: A lot of Manhattan restaurant
are based on Latinos doing all the dirty work and
whites making all the money. But Bart runs a really
integrated outfit. All the chefs are Latino. His
bookkeeper is black, his partner is a woman. Bart
also owns The Candle Caf, which is a downscale
restaurant not far from here. George Cineda is the
chef at both the Candle 79 and the Candle Caf.
Hes very low key. The Candle Cafe only exists
because Bart won a $60,000 lottery. He and Joy had
a little juice bar, got this windfall, and invested it.
He is aware that there for the grace of God go I! The
only problem with Bart is that he buys too much
stuff. I dont like getting dependent on any one
buyer. (laughs)
On buying organic and local, Bart says, I
committed to doing a vegan, organic restaurant, so
it was logical to get as much as possible of the food
locally. Of course in the winter we dont get local.
We get it from California. I figure local and organic
costs about 40% more than conventional food from
distributors. And the food costs for a restaurant bill
are perhaps 30% of the total. You cant be afraid of
the numbers. I have 90 people working for me. Our
electric bill is a half a million dollars a year. But,
as I tell farmers, if you are doing the right thing,

Fall, 2009

you will be taken care of. Dont worry about the

numbers!
Marks newest account, now 8 years old, is owned
by women who do both a catering business at
Spoon and a restaurant next door at Table
Spoon. Besides the normal produce, Spoon orders
a spicy red mustard for salads. It is harder to grow
than teen lettuce, Mark sighs.
Melissa Chmelar is the owner of Spoon. She says
Local is hugely important to us. I try to source
everything locally. I work with Mark, other growers,
and Farm to Chef. It does cost more to buy local, in
some cases a lot more. Thats one of the things Farm
to Chef is working on. They say the problem is in
distribution. It is unfortunate. There are costs issues,
and seasonal issues which make it hard to source
locally, but I try as often as I can. Its the way I
want to live and the way I want to run my business.
Some of the customers really care, and the others
dont. For those who care, they are getting a better
product. For those who dont, well, theyre lucking
out! How can you not want a lettuce that was picked
yesterday compared to one that was picked a week
ago and has been sitting in a truck and a cooler for
a week? I try to market myself as local and organic.
Some people care, and some dont.
It is more and more popular to source locally, she
continues. Its a real trend. Its amazing how people
now want to know more about their food. And the
rest of the people will get it. My catering tanked out
with the downturn in the economy. But fortunately
I had the restaurant next door, which is reasonably
priced. That has actually increased in business a
little. You have to be careful with some customers
not to push the local and organic too much. They
dont want you in their face. But others think it is
awesome and support it 100%.
Next Mark delivers to Home, a small restaurant
on a side street in lower Manhattan. They have a
famous cookbook, called Home, based on home
cooking recipes, and feature a garden in the back
of the restaurant. According to the Sous chef all the
restaurants purveyors are within a 5 block radius,
except for the farms. It was originally owned by
people with a vineyard on Long Island and the new
owner just kept up with the sustainable and local
approach, which is attracting customers.
Normally Mark delivers to Angelica Kitchen, a
well-known vegan restaurant on the lower East Side.
On the day I visit, however, the place is closed for
an annual cleaning. When we stop by, all the tables
have been moved and the floor is being scrubbed.
Amy and Rene are the executive chefs at Angelica
Kitchen. According to Amy, who has been there 6
years, Rene does all the ordering, so he is more in
touch with the farmers than I am. We really try to
plan around what is available. But it is hard because
suddenly a hail storm can change what is available!
We are not just buying local, we are trying to buy
from local organic farms. Our customers have come
to trust us as finding the foods that are healthy and
environmentally sustainable. We have sort of taken
the guess work out of it, so they can come here and
order a meal and know it is a responsible way to eat.
A lot of our customers eat here every day. A lot eat
here twice a day. I think for a lot of our customers
the local angle is important. It is hard to advertise
that fact, however, because things change so much.
We never mention the farm things are from, for
instance. We are totally vegan. A lot of our protein
food is from soy tofu, tempeh. But it is made
locally, usually in the city.
The Kitchen Club, in Soho, is the next stop.
According to Mark they will be ordering 45 pounds
a week of teen lettuce from him until October
because they know it will last a week in the cooler.
They wont get any other lettuce.
The Kitchen Club has been open for 19 years.
According to Vanessa, a manager, they put on their
menus that they use fresh, local, organic ingredients.
Most of our customers have something to say about
the greens. They are really fresh. They ask about the
farms and we talk about Mark. We prefer to order
organic meat and chicken. The customers ask for
that. They request it. They seem concerned about it
being more healthy. I read an article recently saying

The Natural Farmer

that New Yorkers are going more to green markets
to get local food. Eggs, too, we try to get local and
fresh. The owner is from Holland and married a
Japanese guy. So we specialize in Japanese-French
cuisine!
The last restaurant I visited with Mark was the
Savoy. Peter Hoffman is the owner-chef. He started
the Chefs Collaborative and has been at the
forefront of the buy local restaurant movement. He
practices what he preaches, according to Mark, and
patronizes a number of local farmers as well as the
farmers markets.
The sous chef drives me crazy, Mark sighs,
because he changes his orders a lot. He buys from
me and other farmers, and even the farmers market.
Thats okay. But they buy 6 pounds of teenage
lettuce. What does a big restaurant do with 6 pounds
of lettuce? Theyre much bigger than Kitchen Club,
which buys 45. But, then, they buy 35 pounds of
little turnips.
Ryan Tate is Chef d cuisine at the Savoy. According
to him, Peter is the chef owner, but he doesnt work
much in the kitchen anymore. Im employed to keep
his ideals alive. Ive only been in the restaurant
business for 15 years.
I grew up in Michigan, he continues, and the
professional kitchen I started working in was very
localized. We bought at the farmers market, had
farmers coming to the restaurant. Then I moved to

29
Chicago and New York, into the world of larger
restaurants. There I experienced less relationships
between chefs and farmers. Not until my later years
in Chicago did I see some relationships developing.
Then I moved here. I was working in fine dining
restaurants that had zero relationships to farmers,
and always in the back of my mind was the idea
that we should be relating to farmers. Eventually I
found another restaurant in New York that was in
that vein. It has been easy to relate to farmers in
New York, I think. There is Union Square market.
The restaurants there find it very easy to use the
market as a tool. I believe the main reason for this
trend is that the chefs desire freshness and quality.
I dont think that customer demand drove us to
where we are now, but I think well see an increase
in customer demand for this going forward. Peter
showed me some stat that frozen food sales at major
supermarkets are down 8%. As chefs, are we trying
to do something new, or are we just doing what we
should be doing?
You have to wonder, he muses, if Manhattan
were to become 100% local, could New York state
farmers support it? Could the tri-state area do it?
Interested in learning more about Mark Dunau,
his farm and his outspoken views on many topics?
Check out www.Markforpresident.dontsubmit.org. It
was the website he used when running for president
of the New York Farm Bureau. But it also has a
lot of information on the farm and how he grows
veggies!

Culintro - New Yorks Culinary Trade Organization

by Jack Kittredge

Culintro was started by 2 young women, one of

whom (Alina Munoz) used to work for Gourmet
Magazine and the other (Stephanie Kornblum)
for a public relations firm serving the restaurant
trade. They felt that New York lacked a community
of chefs, restauranteurs, farmers, architects, and
designers, and wanted to create a platform that
brought professionals in all of these trades together.
We started Culintro back in February, Stephanie
recalls. We met Mark at a panel discussion of
organic versus local agriculture. We were inspired
by the Farmers Pledge and how he grows his
crops. We invited him to be on our board as a
representative of NOFA and the local organic
farming community.
Asked about what is driving the interest in local
and organic food, Stephanie says: I think people
are more aware now of what they are putting into
their bodies. I think chefs are aware of this and
understand they have to know more about where the
food comes from and let the customer know. There
are so many articles now on how food is raised, plus
all the movies out there scare you into not eating
anything but organic! Plus a lot of food conscious
people here are vegans. Its great to see Michelle
Obama bring her young kids into a vegan, organic
restaurant. Thats getting to them young!
Stephanie and Alina asked farmers what they
wanted out of the New York restaurant community.
Most said they were happy with their customers
and didnt want to create more. But they would
love to educate New Yorkers about how beautiful
their farms are. So each month Culintro features a
different farm on their website (www.culintro.com),
with photos. They list all the products the farm
produces so buyers can contact them, as well as
coordinate farmer tours. They take chefs from farm
to farm in the fall, because they are really interested
in the labor that goes into the farm.
The more relationships we can facilitate,
Stephanie asserts, the better we will be able to
help each other. On the website we list a variety of
different resources. For the architects, we have a
big panel on the future of restaurant design. We had
four of New Yorks biggest architects speak, talking
about their projects and what they are looking to do
in the future. Starting in September we will run a
column on our website on what various architects
are doing and what they hope to do in the future.
The core of the website is our membership database.
You can search by profession. So if you are a chef
and you want to go beyond the five accounts you

photo by Melissa Horn

Alina Munoz and Stephanie Kornblum,

co-founders of Culintro.

order from, you can use Culintro in that regard. One

owner was looking for an architect recently and
found one on our database. We also have a stage, or
intern, program. (Chefs use the French term stage
for intern). There is not any filtering intern program
right now, so we do that. Rather than answering all
the Emails they get from students, chefs are turning
to us. We get the schools to send the intern data to
us, we know the chefs personalities and needs, so
we facilitate the introduction.
We have events each month, she continues, to
which we sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. We have a
job board. Right now everything is free at Culintro.
com, but there will be a membership fee soon.
We have a roommate finder. A lot of people in the
restaurant community have crazy hours, a definite
lifestyle, and they pair well with others in that field.
We work with local PR firms to promote their client
restaurants on the website. We are also bringing in
a new chef from Barcelona who is very well known
globally. He had his own farm in Barcelona and is
coming to the US without contacts, but is opening
a restaurant in February where he wants to serve
only local organic food. Were facilitating a lot of
introductions for him with the culinary community
in New York. So far it is going well and we have
over 1500 members. Lawyers who like to represent
restaurants have joined, and they appreciate the
network. There is a firm that wants to offer health
care insurance to our members. Oftentimes people
who work in restaurants dont have regular health
insurance.
Stephanie thinks the number of restaurants that cater
to local and organic food in New York is still small,
partly because its a lot more expensive. But, she
says, the number is increasing. They meet more and
more chefs at the Greenmarket who are relying of
local farms for top quality ingredients. Plus, its fun
to visit the farmers in their stalls.

Canterbury
Winter
Markets

30

by Barbara Sullivan

September 2008 was a good month at the
Canterbury Community Farmers Market. Crops
were abundant, attendance was good, and spirits
were high. As the end of the market season
approached, customers began to voice concerns
about where they would shop the rest of the year.
Growers with plentiful fall crops and other vendors
wondered where they would sell their remaining
products. It seemed too good an opportunity to pass
up, and so the idea for Winter Markets was born.

After some hurried and rather informal surveys of
both vendors and shoppers, we decided to plan two
Winter Markets one shortly before Thanksgiving
and another before Christmas. The intention for
these markets was of course to increase sales and
production of local and organic products; but also
to help maintain the ties between vendors and
shoppers. We also thought this would be a good
trial run to determine the feasibility of possible
future year-round markets in Canterbury. Luckily,
the practical details needed to bring these Winter
Markets to fruition seemed to fall into place with
relatively little effort.

Obviously, November and December weather
would require an indoor venue, but the idea of
setting up a market-as-usual indoors was daunting.
Vendors were understandably tired after a long
season and not looking forward to jumping back
into the setting-up and breaking-down routine. Our
community online farmers market, Local & Organic
Foods Canterbury, had been operating successfully
all summer, and proved to be the perfect tool to
facilitate the off-season markets. We decided that

The Natural Farmer

Fall, 2009

photo courtesy of Barbara Sullivan

Bob Wilcox picks up his last regular season online order from Barbara Sullivan
at the Local and Organic Food Canterbury tent.
the Winter Markets would be fully pre-ordered
and pre-paid. That way, vendors would only need
to pack and deliver what was already sold, and
distribution would be quick and easy. At the last
two farmers markets we collected as many email
addresses as possible so that we could stay in touch
with market participants and notify them when the
website was ready for off-season shopping. Email,
community newsletter notices and word-of-mouth
are pretty successful for getting the word out to
Canterbury and nearby residents.

We arranged for the use of the Town Hall, and what
we originally envisioned as a quick distribution
of products grew into Winter Market events. It
seemed logical to hold our farmers market board
meetings just before the markets, making it more
likely that customers, vendors and the public would
attend. It also made sense to incorporate our hoped-

for End of Market Celebration a time where

vendors and shoppers could relax and socialize
together. Potluck suppers were held at both markets
and in December we finished the night off with
music and dancing.

Despite a snowstorm in December, and little
advance planning on the part of growers, the
Winter Markets were quite successful and a lot
of fun. Not surprisingly, many people shopped
online for the first time, and stocked up for their
holiday celebrations. The vendors enjoyed the break
from the regular, rigorous market routing; and we
all enjoyed our time together without the usual
demands of buying and selling. The 2008 Winter
Markets should provide a good model for any future
development of a year-round farmers market in
Canterbury.

CONTINUING THE TRADITION OF

FAMILY FARMING IN VERMONT
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1-888-212-6898

www.neighborlyfarms.com

Fall, 2009

31

The Natural Farmer

Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market &

Comeback Farm: Three Years Old & Thriving
by Catherine Suttle
Hunterdon Land Trust

While the inspiration may be different, there

are many parallels between the establishment
of a farmers market and the start-up of a farm.
Similarities that you would not expect, like the need
for talented help, both paid and volunteer, creative
approaches to financing, overcoming regulatory
hurdles, turning challenges into a competitive
advantage, and building a reputation and, once
established, maintaining focus.
The Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market opened
its first season on Fathers Day, 2007. Mark
Canright from Comeback Farm was the first farmer
to sign on. At the time, Comeback was in its first
year of commercial operation and had just obtained
organic certification. Without Mark, there would
not have been any produce at the market that day.
In exchange, the market provided Marks start-up
operation with an immediate outlet for his produce,
which he sold out.
Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market
In 1999, the Hunterdon Land Trust, then an all
volunteer land trust, acquired title to the 40-acre
historic Dvoor Farm, an important landmark
bordering the Township of Raritan and the county
seat of Flemington, New Jersey. In 2008, through
a master planning process, the trust created a vision
for the farm that encompasses making it a living
example of an economically and ecologically
sustainable enterprise for a farmer, a place that
reconnects people with local food production, and
a center of learning and community gathering. The
focus on local food is a natural extension of the land
trusts mission of protecting and supporting local
agriculture in Hunterdon County.
The first step toward accomplishing this vision was
to engage the surrounding communities including

photo courtesy Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market

2009 at the market: Mark Canright with local chef, Ed Coss & customer

local farmers. The idea of a producers-only farmers

market seemed like a good fit. Very quickly, several
regulatory hurdles were encountered. The farms
zoning did not allow public events. In addition, the
town and county health departments did not have
regulations or fee schedules that applied to a multievent activity like a seasonal farmers market. With
the support of Raritan Township and Hunterdon
County, new rules governing farmers markets were
created that made opening the market feasible.
Another challenge was the recruitment of
enough farmers to make a wide selection of local
food available at the market. Establishing a
professionally run market was key to recruiting and
keeping farmers. Sponsors were needed to provide
funding to pay for a market manager, administrative
support, advertising, promotion and live music.
These components support farmers and attract

consumers that make the market successful. They

also provide a competitive advantage to the market
by helping to maintain and expand the pool of
farmers and to grow market attendance.
In addition, a group of about five dedicated
volunteers has been essential in making the market
a success. These volunteers help with everything
from set-up to take-down and everything in between
including directing traffic. Their positive attitudes
and professionalism have been the source of many
compliments about the market.
As the success of the market has developed, there
has been growing pressure to expand the offerings
beyond the scope of the original producers-only
concept. Farmers are always looking for ways to
expand their income and new farmers and other
entrepreneurs seek new outlets for their products.

32

While this pressure is a sign of success, it presents

challenges to the original focus of the market. The
most difficult aspect of this challenge is in limiting
existing vendors from adding new items that are
already sold at the market by others. In addition,
farmers, especially those with commercial kitchens,
push to expand their offerings beyond what they
grow. The land trust is continuing to maintain the
market as a producers-only marketplace where
competition exists, but is not excessive so that a
farmer can make a fair profit. It is important to
maintain a market where each farmers offerings
are significant and not diluted by too many similar
offerings.
Comeback Farm
Mark Canrights purchase of Comeback Farm in
Bethlehem Township, New Jersey was motivated by
a need for more acreage and a desire to move away
from the urban area he was living in. He had worked
with his father on the family farm of about 7 acres off
and on from the time he was 15 years old. He found
that vegetable farming was a natural obsession for
him, one he learned from his father, John Canright.
Their farm in Somerset County, New Jersey was one
of the early outlets for organic produce beginning in
the mid-1970s.
The purchase of Comeback was made possible in
part by Hunterdon Countys farmland preservation
program, and the local townships support for
preservation of his farm. The proceeds from the
sale of his development rights allowed him to install
farming infrastructure like greenhouses and irrigation,
and to make the farm livable for him and his family.
He also took advantage of a federal program that
provided some financial relief during the three year
conversion of the farm to organic allowing him to
focus on cover cropping and composting.
Besides the ability to finance the farm, the need for
labor proved to be essential to the success of his
organic vegetable farming operation. Most recently,
Mark has found the use of experienced apprentices
to be the best option for him. He has also found that
passionate volunteers can be a source of labor. He
also welcomes school programs that bring children to
the farm.

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

Mark is building the reputation of his farming

operation by being willing to talk to people about
his work. His passion for vegetable farming
is evident. His belief is that the quality of his
vegetables will bring success. He is very exacting
in the timing and methods of harvesting and
cleaning produce. He aims to pick so that his fruit
and vegetables will maintain their freshness in
the refrigerator for a week. This, he says, is what
brings customers back.
He has maintained his focus partly because of
his obsession for growing vegetables. He says
Growing vegetables profoundly draws your
focus. Keys to his success are his flexibility and
his ability to keep a positive attitude. He firmly
believes that there is always a way through any
problem and even a silver lining if you can stay
open to the possibility.
Three Years Old and Thriving
Comeback Farm and the Hunterdon Land Trust
Farmers Market are continuing to grow, learn
and expand together. Today, Comeback is one
of two certified organic produce farmers at the
market. Its much sought after offerings have
expanded in variety and quantity every year with
beautiful produce now available in May, earlier
in the season than ever before. Mark Canright, in
his signature straw hat, has become an icon at the
market.
The market has grown from a handful of
farmers to over twenty providing locally grown
conventional and organic produce, pork and beef,
bison, local wine, free range chicken, eggs, artisan
breads, and llama and alpaca products. Attendance
has grown from 350 people per week to over
1,200. There is live music every market day and
a Land and Food Film Festival that is associated
with several special event market days throughout
the season. Comeback is an example of how the
establishment of the farmers market is making
farming a viable livelihood in Hunterdon County,
an important part of preserving farmland. The
land trusts emphasis on local food is changing
peoples eating habits. Farmers like Mark
Canright change the way people think about food.

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Fall, 2009

33

The Natural Farmer

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34

Fall, 2009

We Want You To Sell Your Organic Produce!

The Natural Farmer

Providing Another Market for Small New England

Farmers Through Home Delivery
by Jessica Harwood

A new trend in selling produce is catching on

nationally: home delivery. It is not an entirely new
trend, as the older generation still remembers getting
produce delivery at home. The recent resurgence
began in the United Kingdom, where it is called
Veg Boxes, offering customers an assortment
of seasonal vegetables from one or several farms.
There are currently similar schemes throughout the
United States, and more and more in New England.
Similar to the Community Supported Agriculture
model, most of these businesses offer the consumer
a variety of produce based on what is in season and
what the farmer has each week. The home delivery
businesses often work with several different farms,
rather than relying on the harvest of just one farm.
They often also offer other products, which range
from local cheese to baked goods to nuts and other
bulk items.
Generally, a customer places an order for their
delivery online or by phone. Many of these
businesses operate on a subscription basis where
customers sign up for weekly or bi-weekly
deliveries and continue with it until they cancel.
Customers can opt out of certain items to which
they have an allergy or strong aversion. This
provides some more flexibility than a CSA. Many
of the businesses also operate year round, opting for
produce from elsewhere when the local season is
more meager.
I knew nothing about this business model when I
first embarked on starting Valley Green Feast, a
home delivery program based in the Pioneer Valley
of Massachusetts. It started with an idea: making
local food easier to get. As a consumer, I was
frustrated with how difficult it was to take advantage
of the myriad incredible local farm products. As
an environmentalist, I didnt want to drive all over
the place to pick up my CSA, get local flour, and
procure local cheese. It made sense that someone
should do that, but not everyone. Having worked
on farms, I know how hard farmers work and it just
didnt make sense to me that they would then have
to market their products. I hoped that my business
would offer a viable way to help farmers to sell their
products.
The idea was originally to open a store offering
only locally grown and produced items, but the
concept of home delivery seemed to offer an added
convenience for the consumer. In researching the
business plan, I discovered myriad home delivery
businesses across the country. This model is familiar
on the West Coast where it has been around for
awhile and there are several large businesses doing
it, offering a mix of local and organic produce as
well as other groceries. Boston Organics, which
has been around for 5 years, focuses on choosing

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Current issues ($5) :

Microbes and Human Health
Building Organic Soil
Organic Mulches
Online Marketing of Organics
Collectors Copies ($8) :
Manure & Organic Farming
Labor on Organic Farms
Climate Change & Org. Ag.
Organic Minor Fruit
Water and Agriculture
Globalization & Agriculture
Organic Potatoes
Is Organic Better?
Who Owns Organic?
Organic Fine Dining
Renewable Energy on Farm
Organic Cucurbits
Youth & Agriculture
Organic Meat
The Organic Consumer

Jessica Harwood, Founder of Valley Green Feast

organic produce, regardless of how far it has

traveled to get to the customer. Others focus more
on supporting local farmers and cutting down on
food miles. Farm Direct in Marblehead is actually a
non-profit cooperative that uses volunteers to pick
up and distribute produce at central locations, using
only produce from farms across Massachusetts (as
such, they only operate during the summer months).
Valley Green Feast started in May, 2008, with the
intention of helping residents of the Pioneer Valley
in Massachusetts to eat more locally, even seeking
out local produce during the winter. A goal would
be to use as much organic produce as possible,
based on availability. In the Pioneer Valley, there

Back Issues!

A limited number of back issues of

are available for sale.
The current issue and the last four issues cost $5.00 postpaid. Earlier issues
(collectors copies) cost $8.00 and are subject to availability.

Yes, I would like a back issue of
. Please send me the
issue(s) circled to the left. I have included the total as a check made out to
The Natural Farmer. (Add $2 per issue if foreign address).

Name ____________________________________________
Address __________________________________________
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Phone (_____)_________________ Total enclosed $_______

Send to: The Natural Farmer, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005

photo by Janna Chapdelaine

are a lot of small, diversified organic farms that sell

wholesale. It has therefore been relatively easy to
include mostly organic produce in the boxes.
This business model affords various advantages for
both the customer and the farmer. It makes it easier
for the consumer to support local farms. Rather than
doing research on where one might need to go to get
local beef or strawberries, customers can find these
items waiting on the doorstep someone else does
the research for them, the consumer need only order
and enjoy! Customers are pleased that they have
such an easy way to support their local farms, which
they wanted to do, but may not have had the time
or knowledge to do. Valley Green Feast also has
customers that prefer to get their meat from certain
farms in particular but do not want to drive an hour
to get to the farm.
Consumers also appreciate the ease of getting
healthy produce that is much fresher than they
would ever get at the grocery store. Often the
produce is picked the morning of delivery. Valley
Green Feast customers are amazed at how long
the produce keeps. They see a marked difference
as compared to store bought items. Farmers are
pleased that their produce gets to the consumer so
quickly too. One Western Mass farmer had tracked
his produce down to New Jersey before it arrived
at a grocery store just 20 miles away. They know
that the consumer will get their product in good
condition and it will not be left to age. Farmers
are pleased to have another avenue for selling
their produce and to have a more direct link to the
consumer, allowing for their produce to get to them
as quickly as possible from when it is picked.

Fall, 2009

35

The Natural Farmer

Additionally, produce delivery cuts down on

peoples carbon footprints. A study published in
Science Daily (2/5/09) found that food delivery had
significantly less energy impacts than trips to the
store or farm because having one truck pick up and
deliver food to many houses is much less travel than
having each individual travel an average of 5 miles
roundtrip. Additionally, home delivery uses much
less energy than the lighting and refrigeration found
in grocery stores and has less waste because most of
the product is bought based on orders. Valley Green
Feast also uses much less packaging, plastic, and
paper products than grocery stores do.
After a year and several months of business, it is
pretty awesome to think about how much food we
have bought and distributed around the Pioneer
Valley, how many fresh, local meals have been
eaten, and how many food miles have been saved
by getting local food delivered as opposed to getting
produce from much farther afield or even by having
everyone drive 15 miles to a farm. We are certainly
still a very small business, but even so, we have
played a part in supporting the local farms and other
businesses.
We started off very small and had some trouble
gaining customers at first. Some of this may just
be a lesson learned in marketing we started out
doing some minor flyering campaigns. People were
slow to warm up to the idea too. Home delivery
is perceived as an expensive, luxury service that
only the very rich can afford. In fact, our prices
are comparable to the grocery store and often
cheaper than smaller specialty stores, even with the
delivery fee factored in. Households can choose
from different sized boxes, mini ($18), small ($25),
medium ($35), and large ($45) based on how many

Medium Boxes Packed for Delivery

people live there and how much produce they eat.

We aim to provide veggies for 3 dinners, as well
as salad, snacks, and fruit. One customer has said
that they have saved a lot of money from getting
the deliveries because it keeps them out of the more
expensive specialty stores. Many people were
reluctant to change how they get their food and
adapt their patterns. Getting a box of produce that
varies from week to week can be difficult for some
people to deal with and we have tried to make it
easier by allowing people the opportunity to opt out
of certain items and to order more of other items.
CSAs deal with the same problem and we have
the luxury of being a bit more adaptable. Many
appreciate the opportunity to use produce that they

photo by Jessica Harwood

might not otherwise choose, but that they have been

able to learn about through their deliveries. We
include a newsletter each week with recipes for the
items that they are getting and we have received
a lot of positive feedback on that aspect. At this
point, people are becoming more familiar with this
concept and word of mouth has helped to spread
its popularity, although in the Pioneer Valley, we
compete with CSAs, Farmers Markets and Farm
Stands. In the Berkshires, where these venues are
more rare, the concept has caught on more quickly.
From the start, we have tried to be a sustainable
business and to play a part in reducing the carbon
footprint in the Pioneer Valley by cutting down on

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36

The Natural Farmer

Fall, 2009

We have tried to get as much organic produce as possible. However, there are
certain crops that are difficult to find wholesale and organic, such as berries,
apples, corn, broccoli, beans, peas, and a few others. Often, the produce that
requires more labor to harvest is harder to find organic. There have been
noticeable quality differences between conventional and organic options.
For example, conventional corn is generally regularly sized and bug-free.
Organic corn often contains worms and other bugs and the ears tended to be
smaller. Customers even remarked that they were not as sweet. Unfortunately,
organic strawberries rotted early in all of the rain of this season, whereas the
conventional variety persevered (this may be due to different varieties, rather
than pest control). It is not necessarily due to organic practices that have made
certain crops less desirable, but it may also be that there are less available so it
is more difficult to shop around for alternatives if a crop of organic strawberries
has gone by. In general, it seems that organic produce is available for a shorter
period of time than conventional.
The idea behind the business is to aim for a 50% profit margin, which is
common in the grocery business. That is to say, if I spend $1 for a bunch of
carrots, its retail cost would be $2. I would make a $1 profit and the profit
divided by the revenue (1/2) would be 50%. Aiming for this profit margin can
be difficult when wholesale organic prices are very similar to retail prices that
you might find on Cal-O or Earthbound products at the store or even at the
Farmers Market. For example, if a bunch of organic carrots costs $2.50 at a
wholesale price, it is hard to consider it as having a $5 retail value, as I doubt
that my customers would choose to pay that much for carrots. Because they are
getting an assortment of seasonal produce, I must make sure that the assortment
is cost effective overall. The cost is occasionally comparable when buying
local, organic produce wholesale, but it is generally quite a bit more expensive
and customers do not always realize that when they receive their box and try to
calculate their costs. Organic, heirloom tomatoes are at least twice as expensive
as conventional ones and their season of availability is generally shorter. Some
of the smaller organic farms only wholesale in small quantities and therefore
their prices are higher than you would find at a larger conventional farm that is
primarily making money off their wholesale sales.
Surprisingly, there was quite a bit of produce to be found throughout the winter,
including roots, greens, onions, and apples. Several organic growers offered
greenhouse greens during the winter. Yet, few had storage crops. Many that
A Produce Box with Mid Summer Produce
had facilities for storage only had enough to save for CSA members. Hopefully
food miles and supporting organic farms. Our original intention was to have our this will continue to grow and we will be able to source more local, organic
produce throughout the winter as we do provide deliveries year round. In fact,
delivery vehicles run on biodiesel and then convert to run on waste vegetable
we have seen a rise in customers in the winter as Farmers Markets and CSAs
oil. This is still an aim of the business, but we have had quite a bit of trouble
end. Organic farmers have been happy to work with the delivery businesses
with our diesel vehicle, which sometimes feels like more trouble than it is
worth. We have been very glad to partner with the Pedal People which is a bike and to accommodate requests. As it is a growing market, it could certainly be
an advantageous way to sell to customers and to provide crops that other farms
delivery service in Northampton. They do the majority of our Northampton
might not. Valley Green Feast looks forward to continuing to provide a direct
deliveries by bike. We are now beginning to think of how we could do bike
link between farmers and consumers.
deliveries in other concentrated population centers to which we deliver.
photo by Jessica Harwood

Fall, 2009
Conference - continued from page 1
and vegetables, and how to eat for optimum health.

37

The Natural Farmer

With practical advice and a wide knowledge base,

she answered all of our (many!) questions.

The amount of knowledge floating around at

the conference would almost be intimidating, if
it werent for the down to earth, modest people
sharing the information. I came away from the
workshops with the tools to begin a whole new way
of life for my family.
From herbs to goats, music to tie-dyeing, teens
could choose from a number of workshops. They
were a diverse group in a workshop on raising
chickens, one talked about the fifty chickens at
home in his familys barn while another spoke
of the six she helped care for in her suburban
backyard. But no matter where they were from,
there was bonding. It was obvious watching them

photo by Lori Schafer

The yoked oxen calves were gentle and easy to lead

talk and laugh in a workshop on making nature

journals. Teens also got to express themselves at the
evening deejay and dance. Music pumped from the
room and they were all in motion I had fun just
watching them dance all over the room with smiles
of obvious joy on their faces.

photo by Clare Caldwell

Kids couldnt get enough of the calves

The fair was festive and vibrant. People gathered

to relax and rest, and be entertained. Farmers and
crafters displayed plants, herbs, alpaca wool, and
pottery. Exhibitors offered books, farm tools, seed
catalogs, and also information on things from rain
barrels to humanure.

Creativity was bursting from the kids workshops.

I watched one where puppeteer Tom Stock let the
kids get behind the screen and express themselves in
their own improv shows. There were sing-alongs,
snacks, and general silliness. And the fun wasnt
limited to the inside. Outside, kids led calves on
a path around the lawn, watched border collies
chase ducks and paraded with music and costume at
Saturdays fair.

Games were played, and songs were sung.

Watermelon seeds from the spitting contest reached
almost all the way over to the kids searching for
peanuts in bales of hay.
Kids churned butter to the rhythm of the music
coming from the fair stage. Adults laughed along to

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The Natural Farmer

Fall, 2009

Fall, 2009
Conference - continued from page 37

The Natural Farmer

39

a song about an attempt to get homemade vegetable

stew through the security gates at the airport. Shouts
and cheering could be heard from the corn eating
contest to the pie eating stall. Horses pranced,
children danced, and the sun shone down upon it all.
On Friday, farmers and advocates from seven
Northeast states gathered to discuss raw milk
issues. Organized by the Massachusetts Raw Milk
Network, the roundtable was an opportunity for
attendees to learn about regulations and advocacy
in each state and consider how they might all work
together to strengthen their position in the face of
ongoing crackdowns against the sale of raw milk.
Author David Gumpert, whose book The Raw
Milk Revolution is due out in October, spoke of
concerns that the FDA may be positioning itself to
ban raw milk outright across the entire U.S. Pete
Kennedy, President of the Farm to Consumer Legal

photo courtesy Kathy Litchfield

The NOFA Organic Lawn & Turf Course attracted 44 students to UMass Amherst on Friday,
Aug. 7th for a full day of organic lawn and turfgrass education. Chip Osborne, above, introduces students to a systems approach for natural lawns. The NOFA Organic Lawn & Turf
Course was also held Aug. 18 in Hillsborough, NJ and Aug. 20 in Manchester, CT.
For more info: www.organiclandcare.net

Defense Fund, urged participants to become active

in national campaigns around raw milk issues, while
at the same time pressing individual states for laws
and regulations that support raw milk farmers.

photo by Jack Kittredge

Dale Perkins shows how one handles sheep.

We were lucky to have two amazing innovators

speak to us at the conference. Both men are
continuously working toward their goals but its
obvious in listening to them that these change, and
grow every day. To both, it seems that limits just do

not apply. Both of these men make amazing things

happen using the power of two things: their own
minds, and nature.
Mushrooms. Even if you thought you knew a
lot about them before you entered the ballroom
for Friday nights keynote speech, Paul Stamets
probably proved you wrong. Paul showed us how
we can use fungi to clean our soil, restore our
ecosystems, and regenerate our health. Wearing

40

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

a hat made from mushrooms, he awed with his

knowledge and vision. He calls the mycelium,
the branching, threadlike vegetative part of the
mushroom, Earths natural internet, transferring
nutrients and moving water hundreds of feet. As
we try to figure out ways to rescue ourselves
from human and environmental destruction, Paul
believes that the way for us to follow is the path of
mycelium. Nature speaks, and we need to listen to
nature.

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to sustain adverse circumstances. He showed us
various examples of mushrooms cleaning extremely
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fungi soil magicians that interface between life and
death.
Paul discussed how he searches for mushrooms,
feeling like he is on a vision quest when he enters
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41

The Natural Farmer

Will expressed that he was happy to see so many

people gathering together in the middle of the
growing season, and especially so many young
people. He sees making sure that everyone has
access to the same healthy, good food not as a good
deed, but as a responsibility.
Will was excited to see such a diverse group of
people, multi-generational and multi-cultural,
gathered together, much like at Growing Power. He
no longer considers what he and organizations like
NOFA are doing as being a food movement, but as
a Good Food Revolution. Will implored us all to
talk about it and to grow it in all the ways that we
can.
Will advises that to really create change in an area,
its important to make sure the community around
you sees you as an asset. Its all the community,
and the soil. Allen believes that creating piles and
piles of soil, feeding that soil and planting wherever
possible will get us where we need to be.
Allen said, Nothing is off limits to me. I am trying
to come up with new stuff all the time. Like
greenhouses organized in a vertical process, worm
composting, converting waste from area businesses,
delivering food to schools, working with children,
blind and autistic people, planting gardens between
buildings in cities, his projects are endless. Will said
he has an interest in mushrooms but is not growing

photo by Jack Kittredge

Sundays emergency panel on late blight drew a large crowd. Panelists were Abby Seaman,
Ruth Hazzard, Mike Glos, Paul Stamets and Dan Kittredge.

for three years. Check out these job positions on

the NOFA/Mass website at www.nofamass.org. We
hope to have these jobs filled by our first meeting
of October 18 (noon to 5) at Tricia Coopers in
Newton.

We will be looking for a logo design for next year. If
you would like to submit either a logo or a logo with
theme to us, please do so by Wednesday, October
14. You can email it to me at julie@nofamass.
org. The logo designer wins either $150 or an all
expenses paid (reg, housing and food) trip to the
conference for 2010.
Ideas for keynoters? Send them along. We already
have Sally Fallon confirmed for one of our slots
but are seeking another. Want to do a workshop in
2010? Contact Ben Grosscup at ben.grosscup@
nofamass.org or 413-549-1568. Workshop
presenters receive free registration and a $50
stipend.

Subscribe to:

Send $15 for U.S. address,

$20 for foreign address to:
An Herbal Tour of the campus was a popular attraction.

photo by Jack Kittredge

411 Sheldon Rd.

Barre, MA 01005

them. Yet. Probably next year. Based on his

speech on Saturday, I believe it.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time

with Will, and while walking with him, he began
pointing out possible garden sites: in an open field,
next to a building, right on top of asphalt. He
said that he would even plant a garden on a barge
ON the water. I didnt truly understand how this
was possible until I saw his speech. Now I get it.
Nothing will stop Will Allen in his quest to GROW.
Ive been proud to be a small part of the Good
Food Revolution, and you can bet I will be taking
my family to the summer conference for many years
to come... Ill see you there.
From the coordinator, Julie Rawson: We are happy
to announce that the conference attendance was
right around 1600 folks this year this beats our
record by 200! Next years dates are August 1315. We are looking to hire a couple of roles on the
committee. Both our registration coordinator of 5
years, Deb Pouech, and our assistant registration
coordinator of 2 years, Christine Rainville, are
leaving their posts. They leave very large shoes to
fill. We need someone to put together a live auction
for next years conference, and finally, we need
to replace Dorothy Siudut as our helping hands
coordinator. Dorothy served us patiently and kindly

photo by Clare Caldwell

The Childrens Conference led the parade with their hand painted banner.

42

Book Reviews

The Natural Farmer

finished cut weight, beef cuts by primal and pork
cuts by primal.
One of the most useful sections of the pamphlet
addresses the often-confusing topic of animal
weight. The authors explain how live weight (the
weight before the animal is slaughtered) turns into
carcass weight (also known as hanging weight)
after slaughter. Carcass weight then turns into
finished cut weight when the carcass is cut into
useable pieces. They list average yields for all these
transitions with detailed examples given and list
factors that affect yield.
The sections of the pamphlet that address beef
and pork cuts by primal are also useful for
readers unfamiliar with butchering. It explains,
for example, how the beef short loin contains
tenderloin, Porterhouse, T-bone and New York strip
steaks, but you cant have all these cuts from one
short loin because many of them come from the
same part of the meat cut various ways. Similarly, it
explains how the pork loin includes the tenderloin,
baby back ribs and chops. The information in this
section is general but informative.

Beef and Pork Whole Animal Meat Buying Guide

by Arion Thiboumery and Kristine Jepsen
published by the Small Meat Processors Working
Group, Iowa State University
April 2009, 40 page pamphlet
$6.50 in print (color), $1.00 in print (black and
white) or free PDF download at www.extension.
iastate.edu/store
review by Anne Obelnicki
The Beef and Pork Whole Animal Meat Buying
Guide sets out to do exactly what its title implies:
demystify the process of purchasing whole meat
animals for the common consumer. The authors
cover livestock and meat marketing terms, storage
and shelf life recommendations, safe meat handling
and cooking, beef aging, understanding meat
inspection, live weight vs. carcass weight vs.

The pamphlet is a bit vague on specifics of what

youll get when buying a whole (or half) beef or pig.
There is a list of approximate cuts yielded, but some
cuts are listed by weight (such as 4 - 3 lb arm roasts)
and others by quantity (14 T-bone steaks),
making the list a bit confusing. An example or
two of a detailed cut sheet would have been a nice
addition to the content, clarifying more precisely
what cuts are available and how much of each to
expect. However, if your butcher provides you with
a detailed cut sheet you probably wont miss it here.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction to a wide
range of information extremely useful for the
general consumer considering buying whole or half
beef or pigs. It would also be very useful to the
farmer new to raising livestock for meat both to
inform himself of what to expect when his animals
are butchered, and as a resource to share with
customers who will need this information to make
fully informed purchasing decisions. Packed with
other useful tidbits of information such as how to
render your own lard and how many pounds of meat

Fall, 2009
you can expect to fit in your freezer - and a purchase
price of free for the downloaded PDF, everyone
should be utilizing this tiny, information-packed
guide.
Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the
Age of Agribusiness,
by Lisa M. Hamilton,
published by Counterpoint Press, 313pp.

review by Larry Siegel
I like to read about them-thats-doing (especially
if what they are doing are things agricultural), so
was immediately drawn to Deeply Rooted when
offered a choice of books to review for The Natural
Farmer. We NOFA types may be unconventional
but (with apologies for the stereotyping) seem to
be cut from the same mold: suburban-bred, overeducated, and urban-lived. Not so the three folks
profiled by Hamilton, they might best be described
as unconventionally unconventional.
Harry Lewis is a black dairyman in east Texas,
farming in a county which at one time was the dairy
capital of the state. The decline has been dramatic:
less than 150 farms remain from the 500 or so in
1977. The author traces their relocation: Clovis,
New Mexico and West-Texas and describes the
industrial-style farms which have emerged. It is not
a pretty sight. Harry is an organic farmer, a member
of the Organic Valley network. The industrial
model on one hand, the cooperative organic model
on the other, it is almost inconceivable they are
generating the same product.
Virgil Trujillo is a rancher in northern New Mexico.
His roots are native American as well as Spanish.
It is a challenging place to farm; weve received
more rain the past two months than Abiquiu, New
Mexico may receive in the next three years. Few
remain up to the challenge. There is an interesting
history to the town: a land grant which has evolved
into a cooperative, membership inherited and passed
onto only one person. The community has been
enduring; the farming has not. Virgil Trujillo may
represent the wave of the future; more likely he
represents the ghost of the past.
The Podoll family farm is in La Moure, North
Dakota. The Podolls are as different from their
farming neighbors as one might imagine. It goes
beyond their organic status; there is a moral and
ethical purpose to their undertakings. They grow
triticale and not wheat. Their first priority is to feed
the five people living on the farm. The author notes
that for this corner of North Dakota that is radical.
(It is radical even in New England.) Theyve
branched off into vegetable seed production and this
adjunct to their farm activities is described in some
detail.
Lisa Hamilton has a keen eye and an attentive ear
and a facility for communicating what she has seen
and heard. The people she interviewed had plenty
to say; more importantly what they were saying was
worth listening to and I appreciate the opportunity to
have heard them. I do not, however, share the view
expressed by Alice Walters on the back cover of the
book, which suggests that these farmers embody the
future of American agriculture. But it is gratifying
to know that there are some out there who have
inherited the farming life from their parents and are
passing it on to their children. (And how many of
us NOFA-types can make a similar claim?)

The Organic Summit

Fall, 2009

43

The Natural Farmer

by Julie Rawson

I had the fortunate opportunity to be invited to

attend the Organic Summit on behalf of NOFA/
Mass, The Natural Farmer and the NOFA Summer
Conference. This event is the second or third
annual, put on by The Organic Farming Research
Foundation and New Hope Media. Its purpose is to
bring together organic industry folks with the nonprofits in the field, the researchers and consultants,
and lastly, the organic farmers.

This years summit took place in Oregon and
Washington, based at the Skamania Lodge in
Stevenson, WA right on the Columbia River. An
amazing sight it was, in the midst of the Northwest
Rainforest. I hadnt been to Washington state since
1962 when my folks took us to the Worlds Fair in
Seattle.

As I was on scholarship, the folks at OFRF
namely Bob Scowcroft and Mark Lipson and Fred
Linder from New Hope, took very good care of me,
checking in regularly to make sure I was making
connections, feeling comfortable and generally
getting the most out of the experience. I have seen
Bob Scowcrofts name around for as long as I have
been at NOFA and still had him under CCOF in my
rolo-dex although he had left there 19 years ago to
form OFRF. Mark Lipson has been on the national
policy front for almost as long. I was heartened to
hear from Bob that The Natural Farmer is required
reading for OFRF staff, as Bob feels it is one of the
best organic ag publications out there.

The scale of agriculture in the Northwest is a tad
different than ours. I ran into a very affable farmer
at the Summit who does medicinal herbs. I asked
him how many acres. He replied, oh, just 600. It
is kind of mind blowing to one who does 3 acres of
intensive vegetable production.

I will never forget the bus trip from Stevenson that
we took to an organic pear ranch up in the valley

of Mount Hood. On all sides of us as we climbed

higher and higher were acres and acres of pear
orchards. It reminded me a bit of India and Mexico,
with farms perched on the sides and tops of rather
rough and amazingly beautiful terrain. For a girl
who grew up in the heart of the flat Midwest where
there are miles of arable land on even terrain it is
still amazing to me to note human-kinds desire to
grow food and ingenuity with respect to pulling it
off.

The Organic Summit held many quite interesting
and mind expanding workshops. The theme was
Warrior, Builder, Weaver which I did not key into
particularly, but the workshop list went as follows:
Whats So Radical About Organic Agriculture
Now? The Obama Administration after the first
100 Days; Protecting Organic Integrity Enforcing
Organic Standards; Synthetic Biology, GMO and
Nanotechnology; Multiple Benefits of Organic
People, Water and Waste; Peer-reviewed Organic
Research, and Pricing, Access, and the Untapped
Consumer.

I particularly enjoyed two of the workshops. The
presenters on the nanotechnology workshop made
a convincing case that nanotechnology is right now
where GMOs were in the 90s being used, but
no one has a clue as to their potential widespread
impact on life as we know it. As with pretty much
all new technologies it seems, we as humans
jump to use them and then realize afterward their
sometimes disastrous effects. There were three very
energetic and successful presenters on the untapped
consumer workshop. These folks talked about the
inner city and the food dessert and several models of
how to get food to this audience. Notably were the
non-profit the Food Trust in the mid-Atlantic region
and New Seasons Market in Oregon state.

As part of the Obama workshop, Kathleen Merrigan
came to us via video-link to thank us all for our
many years in the movement and to delineate her
goals as Deputy Secretary of Ag for the USDA.
free

Early in the conference there was a film trailer
contest that was led in part by Kurt Ellis, the
producer of the popular King Corn. His
fascinating tale of how King Corn came to be was
a good backdrop for the 6 shorts that saw of new
movies by young producers.

Above all, the Summit was a time for networking.
There were a lot of major players there, a lot of
folks with national prominence. I questioned my
parochial approach to life and organizing a bit as
I found myself consistently out of my league. For
instance I didnt have any cards and found myself
giving people my contact information on little
scraps of paper. Despite my lack of experience in
this bigger world of organic, I did make some very
good connections with folks, many of which I am
still trying to find the time to develop.

I had the really fun opportunity to spend almost
8 hours before and on the plane with Faye Jones
from MOSES. We delved deeply into issues such as
keynoters for conferences, the trials and tribulations
of executive directors, office space, organizational
growth, etc.

I am very grateful to Bob and Mark and Fred and
all the folks who made it possible for me to attend
this conference for free. As a conference organizer
myself, I got to be on the receiving end which
is a helpful pair of shoes to wear as I endeavor to
better serve those who attend the NOFA Summer
Conference. I hope to build on these wonderful
national connections I made with others in the
organic movement for the good of all of us.

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44

The Natural Farmer

Fall, 2009

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New from the 2009 NOFA Summer Conference:

NOFA Videos
Now in DVD!

0901 Organic Pastured Poultry Raising

Jack Kittredge
0902 Starting a CSA

Carolyn Llewellyn
0903 Keynote: The Power of Mushrooms Paul Stamets
0904 Luscious Landscape Growing
Lee Reich
0905 Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms Paul Stamets
0906 Veggie Farm Machinery (Tour)
Ryan Voiland
0907 Keynote: On Growing Power
Will Allen
0908 Making Cultured Dairy Products
Becca Buell
0909 Panel on Late Blight

Michael Glos,
Ruth Hazzard, Dan Kittredge, Abby Seaman, Paul Stamets,
0910 Potatoes, Not Just Round & White Abby Seaman

for a full list of the 146 videos available, visit

$20 each

www.nofa.org/conference/video/index.php

Send me the circled videos in VHS DVD format. Im

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NOFA Video Project, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005

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Fall, 2009

Organic with a French Accent

The Natural Farmer

Back to the Land in Bessieres, France with Berengere Cambianica

by Jonah Raskin

Bring a hat for the sun, she said on the phone.

Its going to be hot. But when I arrived it was
overcast with storm clouds on the horizon. By the
end of the day it would rain. This was in the South
of France on the Fourth of July, on a small organic
farm a ferme biologique, as the French would
say but I knew the drill, having written about
and worked on farms in California. I had come
to this farm to see how the French were farming
organically, and I saw that some of the ways were
identical to California ways. In July, farmers dont
have the luxury to sit and talk, not in France or
California or most anywhere in the United States.

Berengere Cambiancia works six days a week in

July, which is the height of the growing season here.
In winter it freezes and though she has a greenhouse
to start tomato plants, the work is much lighter and
slower. From February to October, Cambianica
grows vegetables on a small, absolutely flat plot of
land outside the village of Bessieres, once a thriving
farming community that is fast becoming a suburb
of Toulouse, Frances fourth largest city. On the day
I visited, she was wearing short pants, an orange
work shirt, sturdy boots, and a straw hat to protect
her from the sun. I work 12-hours a day this time
of year, she said. I dont have a problem sleeping
at night.
Cambiancia belongs to a small, and slowly growing,
group of young farmers fermers not paysannes
- who rent land and cultivate vegetables without
chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides
in France. Paysannes own their own land; their
families have probably been farming in the same
place for generations, and theyre part of the land
itself and help to make up the terroir.
France is still far behind Italy and Spain as far as
small, local organic farms go. Only about 2% of
French farms are organic. Most of the farmers in
the South of France grow corn, wheat, soy beans,
sunflowers, and of course, grapes, and though their
fields are not immense by U.S, standards, they often
extended farther than the eye can see. On these large
farms, chemical sprays are applied day and night,
as Jean Pierre Huc, a French landowner in the
village of Fiac told me, much to his dismay. But he
was delighted to say that he would soon be renting
to a farmer who wouldnt use chemicals or a tractor
and who would do everything by hand. I like the
old farming ways, he said. I want them to return.

Cambianica owns a tractor; her father who worked

in an airplane factory in Toulouse for decades and
who is now retired helps her plough the fields that
she rents for 1,500 Euros a year - about $2,000 - and
that she has rented for nine years in all, as French
law requires, so she cant be evicted at the whim of
a landlord. Her father also helps with the automatic
irrigation system, but otherwise Cambiancia does
all the work herself from sunrise to nearly sunset
and sometimes, as on the day I visited, she waters
by hand, with a tin watering can. Her cabbage plants
received a lot of individual attention.
Her husband, who is employed by an NGO, plays
a large part in the raising of their son. They often
come to visit. The farm has no name, not yet, and
on the road to Bessieres only a red plastic box
turned downside and hanging from a fencepost
marks its location. It is not profitable, not yet, either.
You dont get rich doing this, Cambianica said.
Though I do know a man who has been growing
organically for about 25 years and he is making a
very nice living.
On her three hectares about seven acres Cambianica grows organic cabbage, basil, tomatoes,
cucumbers, zucchini, and eggplant. The soil is not
the best its a mix of sand, and clay but there is
plenty of water and she is gradually improving
the soil with cover crops. Like many of the young
farmers I know in California, Cambianica learned
about farming not by growing up on a farm, but
by going to school. I studied for a year, she said.
Part of the time was in the classroom, and part of
the time was in the field, learning hands-on, from
a veteran farmer. Of course, I am still learning new
things everyday.
For the insects that had started to eat her cabbage,
she had imported lady bugs; they were doing their

job nicely, feeding on the aphids and helping

to protect the beautiful heads of cabbage.
Cambianica has also received financial help
from the French government to buy farming
tools. She spent 10,000 Euros for implements
she can attach to her tractor; the government
furnished another 10,000 Euros. She wishes the
government would help more small farmers and
not be so quick to give financial assistance to
the largest cultivators of commercial crops.
Her own community has rallied around her,
and every week she prepares a basket of the
vegetables that are in season for about 15
families in Bessieries. Its the French equivalent
of the CSA the Community Supported
Agriculture. She has also just started to sell
vegetables directly to small stores in Toulouse,
but I noticed that most of the produce in the
large supermarkets were conventionally grown
and much of it, also, from distant countries like
Kenya and the Ivory Coast.
At the end of my visit with Cambianica, I
bought six pounds of her heirloom tomatoes for
nine Euros, or about $8.40. She weighed them
on a small scale in the field and put them in a
paper bag for me to carry away. It was the only
time she slowed down for a moment, and just
barely.
Ive got work to do, she said. Theres
watering before sunset, and there are tomatoes
to pick. Im sorry I cant sit down and have a
glass of red wine with you.

Jonah Raskin is the author of Field Days: A

Year of Farming, Eating and Drinking Wine in
California.

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45

46

NOFA Contact People

Connecticut

CT NOFA Office: P O Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491,

phone (203) 888-5146, FAX (203) 888-9280, Email:
ctnofa@ctnofa.org, website: www.ctnofa.org
Executive Director: Bill Duesing, Box 164, Stevenson,
CT 06491, 203-888-5146, 203 888-9280 (fax), bill@
ctnofa.org
Office Manager/Webmaster: Deb Legge, PO Box 164,
Stevenson, CT 06491, deb@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146
President: James Roby, P.O Box 191, 1667 Orchard
Road, Berlin, CT 06037, 860-828-5548, 860-881-8031
(C), robysorganic@yahoo.com
Vice President: Elizabeth Fleming, 54 Four Mile
Road, West Hartford, CT 06107-2709, 860-561-4907,
elstrfleming@yahoo.com
Treasurer: Michelle Hartel, 41 Angeli Court, Berlin, CT
06037, 860-829-0749, michelleahartel@comcast.net
Secretary: Chris Killheffer, 112 Bishop Street, New
Haven, CT 06511-7307, 203-787-0072, Christopher.
killheffer@yale.edu
Farmers Pledge Program: Contact the office.
Organic Land Care Program Manager: Ashley Kremser,
PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, akremser@ctnofa.
org, 203-888-5146
Organic Land Care Accreditation Manager: Carol
Hannon, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, carol@
organiclandcare.net, 203-888-5146
Bookkeeper: Marion Griswold, PO Box 164, Stevenson,
CT 06491, marion@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146

Massachusetts

President: Lynda Simkins, Natick Community Organic

Farm, 117 Eliot Street, South Natick, MA 01760, (508)
655-2204, lsimkins.ncorganic@verizon.net
Vice President, Fred Newcombe, 252 Dodge Road,
Rowley, MA 01969, (978) 432-1019, frednewcombe@
pjcecological.com
Secretary: Elizabeth Coe, 13 Hickory Hill Road, Great
Barrington, MA 01230, (413) 528-6567, treecoe@gis.net
Treasurer: Danielle Andrews, 85 Day Street, Jamaica
Plain, MA 02130, (617) 524-1320, dandrews@
thefoodproject.org
Executive Director and NOFA Summer Conference
Coordinator: Julie Rawson, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre,
MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046, julie@
nofamass.org
Administrative Coordinator: Kathleen Geary, 411
Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005, 978-355-2853
(Mondays & Thursdays, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm), email
anytime to: info@nofamass.org
Webmaster: David Pontius, 26 School Street, Northfield,
MA 01360, (413) 498-2721, webmaster@nofamass.org
Press and Winter Conference Coordinator: Jassy Bratko,
28 High Street, Hubbardston, MA 01452, (978) 9285646, jassy.bratko@nofamass.org
Newsletter Editor: Winton Pitcoff, winton@nofamass.
org, (413) 634-5728
Website: www.nofamass.org
Baystate Organic Certifiers Administrator: Don Franczyk,
1220 Cedarwood Circle, Dighton, MA 02764, (774) 8725544, baystateorganic@earthlink.net, website: www.
baystateorganic.org

New Hampshire

President: Jack Mastrianni, 277 Holden Hill Road,

Langdon, NH 03602, (603) 835-6488, jamastrianni@
yahoo.com
Vice President: Joan OConnor, PO Box 387, Henniker,
NH 03242, (603) 428-3530, joconnornh@yahoo.com
Treasurer: Paul Mercier, Jr., 39 Cambridge Drive,
Canterbury, NH 03224, (603) 783-0036, pjm@merciergroup.com
Program & Membership Coordinator: Elizabeth
Obelenus, NOFA/NH Office, 4 Park St., Suite 208,
Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, info@nofanh.org
Business Manager and Local and Organic Foods Project
Coordinator: Barbara Sullivan, 72 Gilford Ave, Laconia,
NH 03246, (603) 524-1285
borksullivan@earthlink.net
Newsletter Editor: Karen Booker, 44 Prospect St.,
Contoocook, NH 03229, (603) 746-3656, pottedplant@
juno.com
Winter Conference Coordinator: Anne Nason, 119 Dustin
Rd., Webster, NH 03303, (603) 493-1919, anason@tds.
net, (603) 228-6492 (fax)
Bulk Order Coordinator Jennifer Quinlivan, P.O. Box
92, Strafford, NH 03884
(603) 269-0063, (603) 731-1182 jenq@worldpath.net
Website: www.nofanh.org,
Organic Certification: Vickie Smith, NH Department of
Agriculture, Markets & Food, Division of Regulatory
Services, Caller Box 2042, Concord, NH 03301 (603)
271-3685, vsmith@agr.state.nh.us, www.agriculture.
nh.gov

Fall, 2009

The Natural Farmer

New Jersey

Executive Director:
President: Donna Drewes, Municipal Land Use Center,
TCNJ, PO Box 7718 McCauley House, Ewing, NJ
08628, (609) 771-2833, Email: drewes@tcnj.edu
Vice President: Stephanie Harris, 163 HopewellWertsville Rd., Hopewell, NJ 08525, (609) 466-0194,
Email: r.harris58@verizon.net
Treasurer: William D. Bridgers, c/o Zon Partners, 5
Vaughn Dr., Suite 104, Princeton, NJ 08540, (609) 4521653, Email: billbridgers@zoncapital.com
Secretary: Emily Brown Rosen, Organic Research
Associates, 25 Independence Way, Titusville, NJ 08560,
609-737-8630 Email: ebrownrosen@gmail.com
Supervisor, Organic Certification Program: Erich V.
Bremer, NJ Dept. of Agriculture, 369 S. Warren St.,
Trenton, NJ 08625-0330, (609) 984-2225, fax: (609) 3413212 Email: erich.bremer@ag.state.nj.us
Administrative Coordinator: Connie Deetz, 334 River
Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, (908) 371-1111 x101,
Fax (908) 371-1441 General Request Emails: nofainfo@
nofanj.org Email: cdeetz@nofanj.org,
Website: www.nofanj.org

New York

Executive Director: Kate Mendenhall, (585) 271-1979,

fax: (585) 271-7166, director@nofany.org
Business Manager: Mayra Richter, (607) 652-NOFA,
fax: (607) 652-2290, office@nofany.org

Farmer Education and Research Coordinator: Elizabeth

Dyck, (607) 895-6913, organicseed@nofany.org
Member Services: Elizabeth McPhail, (607) 652-NOFA,
fax: (607) 652-2290, membership@nofany.org
Organic Dairy Manager & Field Days Coordinator:
Bethany Wallis, (315) 806-1180, fielddays@nofany.org

Organic Dairy Technician: Robert Perry, (607) 749-3884,

robert.organicdairy@nofany.org
NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC, Director: Carol King,
840 Front St, Binghamton, NY 13905, (607) 724-9851,
fax: (607) 724-9853, certifiedorganic@nofany.org
NOFA New York Office: PO Box 880, Cobleskill, NY
12043, Phone: (607) 652-NOFA, Fax: (607) 652-2290,
Email: office@nofany.org, Website: www.nofany.org,

President: Scott Chaskey, Quail Hill Community Farm,

PO Box 1268, Amagansett, NY 11930-1268, (631) 2678942, schaskey@peconiclandtrust.org
Vice President: Gunther Fishgold, Tierra Farms, 2424
State Rte 203, Valatie, NY 12184, (888) 674-6887,
gfishgold@tierrafarm.com
Vice President of Marketing: Rex Farr, The Farrm, 156
Youngs Ave, Calverton, NY 11933-1428, (631) 369-8237,
rfarr@optonline.net
Treasurer: Karen Livingston, 2569 Rolling Hills Rd,
Camillus, NY 13031, (315) 672-5244, delv11@yahoo.
com
Secretary: Jamie Edelstein, 3745 Allen Road, Cato, NY
13214, (315) 427-8266, wylliefox@earthlink.net

Rhode Island

President: Erik Eacker, Ledge Ends Produce, 830 South

Road, East Greenwich, RI 02818 (401) 884-5118,
ledgeends@cox.net
Vice-President: Dave Binkley 53 Hilltop Drive West
Kingston, RI 02892 (401) 667-0585
Secretary: Nicole Vitello, Manic Organic, PO Box
425, Portsmouth, RI 02871 (401) 480-1403, nicole@
manicorganic.biz
Treasurer/Membership: Dan Lawton, 247 Evans Road
Chepachet, RI 02814, (401) 523-2653 dlawton33@
hotmail.com
NOFA/RI, 247 Evans Road Chepachet, RI 02814, (401)
523-2653, nofari@nofari.org
website: www.nofari.org

Vermont

NOFA-VT Office, PO Box 697, 39 Bridge St., Richmond,

VT 05477 (802) 434-4122 NOFA, (802) 434-3821 VOF,
Fax: (802) 434-4154, website: www.nofavt.org, info@
nofavt.org
Executive Director: Enid Wonnacott, enid@nofavt.org
Financial Manager: Kirsten Novak Bower, kirsten@
nofavt.org
Ag Education Coordinator: Abbie Nelson, abbie@nofavt.
org
Bulk Order Coordinator & VOF Staff: Erin Clark, erin@
nofavt.org
Dairy & Livestock Administrator: Sam Fuller, sam@
nofavt.org
Dairy & Livestock Advisor: David Rogers, dave@nofavt.
org

Dairy & Livestock Advisor: Willie Gibson, willie@

nofavt.org
Direct Marketing & Consumer Access Coordinator: Jean
Hamilton, jean@nofavt.org
Office Assistant and Share the Harvest Fundraiser
Coordinator: Becca Weiss, becca@nofavt.org
Office Manager: Cara Couch, info@nofavt.org
Outreach Coordinator: Meg Klepack, meg@nofavt.org
Vegetable & Fruit TA Coordinator: Wendy Sue Harper,
wendysue@nofavt.org
Winter Conference Coordinator: Olga Boshart Moriarty,
olga@madriver.com
VOF Administrator: Nicole Dehne, nicole@nofavt.org
VOF Certification Specialist: Cheryl Bruce, cheryl@
nofavt.org
VOF Certification Specialist: Brenda Hedges, brenda@
nofavt.org

NOFA
Interstate
Council

* indicates voting representative

* Bill Duesing, President, Staff, Box 135, Stevenson, CT,

06491, (203) 888-5146, fax, (203) 888- 9280, bduesing@
cs.com
Kimberly A. Stoner, 498 Oak Ave. #27, Cheshire, CT
06410-3021, (203) 271-1732 (home), Email: kastoner@
juno.com
* Leslie Cox, Hampshire College Farm, Amherst, MA
01002, 413-530-2029, kcix@hampshire.edu
Elizabeth Obelenus, 22 Keyser Road, Meredith. NH
03253, (603) 279-6146, elizabeth@nofanh.org
* Jack Mastrianni, Treasurer, 277 Holden Hill Road,
Langdon, NH 03602, (603) 835-6488, jamastrianni@
yahoo.com
* Steve Gilman, Ruckytucks Farm, 130 Ruckytucks
Road, Stillwater, NY 12170 (518) 583-4613, sgilman@
netheaven.com
* Vince Cirasole, Sunshine Farm, 745 Great Neck
Rd, Copiague, NY 11726, (631) 789-8231, vince@
sunshinefarm.biz
Elizabeth Henderson, 2218 Welcher Rd., Newark, NY
14513 (315) 331-9029 ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com
* Dan Lawton, 247 Evans Road Chepachet, RI 02814
(401) 949-1596 dlawton33@hotmail.com
* Nicole Vitello, Manic Organic, PO Box 425,
Portsmouth, RI 02871 (401) 480-1403, Nicole@
manicorganic.biz
* Enid Wonnacott, 478 Salvas Rd., Huntington, VT
05462 (802) 434-4435, enid@nofavt.org
Kirsten Novak Bower, 65 Wortheim Ln., Richmond, VT
05477 (802) 434-5420, kirsten@nofavt.org
Kay Magilavy, Virtual Rep, 212 18th St., Union City, NJ
07087, (201) 927-7116
David Pontius, Webmaster, 26 School Street, Northfield,
MA 01360, (413) 498-2721, Email: webmaster@
nofamass.org
Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson (Secretary), The Natural
Farmer, NOFA Summer Conference, 411 Sheldon Rd.,
Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, Jack, tnf@nofa.org,
Julie@nofamass.org
Marion Griswold, Bookkeeper, 30 Hollow Rd.,
Woodbury, CT 06798, (203) 263-2221, marion@ctnofa.
org

Interstate
Certification
Contacts

Nicole Dehne, nicole@nofavt.org, PO Box 697,

Richmond, VT 05477, 802-434-3821, 802-434-4154
(fax)
Carol King, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905,
(607) 724-9851, fax: (607)724-9853, certifiedorganic@
nofany.org
Erich V. Bremer, c/o NJ Dept. of Agriculture, PO Box
330, Trenton, NJ 08625, (609) 984-2225 erich.bremer@
ag.state.nj.us

Fall, 2009

Calendar

Tuesday, Sept. 8: Put Some Poultry in Your

Pasture, Stony Creek Farm, Walton, NY, for
more info: fielddays@nofany.org or 315-8061180
Thursday, Sept. 10: Help Work the Farm at
Historic Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, NY,
for more info: fielddays@nofany.org or 315806-1180
Saturday, Sept. 12: Food Preservation
Workshop, Barre, MA, for more info: www.
mhof.net, 978-355-2853, farm@mhof.net
Saturday, Sept. 12: NOFA-NH conference
on Growing Organic Garlic, Concord, NH, for
more info: (603) 2245022, info@nofanh.org,
www.nofanh.org
Saturday, Sept. 12: Sustainable Garden and
Landscape Design, Middlebury. VT, for more
info: www.nofavt.org, 802-434-4122 or info@
nofavt.org
Sunday Sept. 13: 2nd Annual Raw Milk Open
Farm Day, Vermont, for more info, contact
Shelby at shelby@ruralvermont.org or (802)
223-7222.
Thursday, Sept. 17: Making Natural Soaps,
Richmond, VT, for more info: www.nofavt.org,
802-434-4122 or info@nofavt.org

47

The Natural Farmer

Thursday, Sept. 17: Livestock Mortality
Composting Workshop, Hardwick, VT, for more
info: www.nofavt.org, 802-434-4122 or info@
nofavt.org
Friday, Sept. 18: Growing No-till Brassicas!
Heuvelton, NY, for more info: fielddays@
nofany.org or 315-806-1180
Saturday, Sept. 19: Wine Making Workshop,
Barre, MA, for more info: www.mhof.net, 978355-2853, farm@mhof.net
Monday, Sept. 21: Growing Grains on an
Organic Dairy, Shoreham, VT, for more info:
www.nofavt.org, 802-434-4122 or info@nofavt.
org

Tuesday, Sept. 22: Multi-Species Grazing of

Organic Livestock! Ancramdale, NY, for more
info: fielddays@nofany.org or 315-806-1180
Saturday, Sept. 26: Managing a Maple
Orchard and its Organic Practices, Bristol, VT,
for more info: www.nofavt.org, 802-434-4122
or info@nofavt.org

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009: Organic Beekeeping-Preparing Hives for Winter, Chestnut Ridge,
NY. for more info: 845-352-5020 x20, info@
pfeiffercenter.org, www.pfeiffercenter.org.
Friday, November 13: Biochar & BioFuels
- Carbon, Climate & Soil Sympiosium,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, for more
info: 413-323-4531 or amandak@polsci.umass.
edu
Thursday, Jan. 14 Monday, Jan. 18, 2010:
The Agriculture Course -- an intensive study
(for practitioners and students of biodynamics).
Chestnut Ridge, NY. for more info: 845-3525020 x20, info@pfeiffercenter.org, www.
pfeiffercenter.org.
Friday, January 22 Sunday, 24, 2010:
Circles of Caring NOFA-NYs 28th Annual
Organic Farming and Gardening Conference
in Saratoga Springs, NY.for more info: Greg
Swartz (570) 224-8515, conference@nofany.
org or www.nofany.org.

Subscribe to:

Saturday, Sept. 26 & Sunday, Sept. 27: Sixth

Annual Long Island Garlic Festival! Riverhead,
NY, for more info: fielddays@nofany.org or
315-806-1180
September 2009 - June 2010: Year-long Parttime Training in Biodynamics, Chestnut Ridge,
NY. for more info: 845-352-5020 x20, info@
pfeiffercenter.org, www.pfeiffercenter.org.
Wednesday, Oct. 7: Season Extension, Winter
Growing and Storage! Lodi, NY, for more info:
fielddays@nofany.org or 315-806-1180

Send $15 for U.S. address,

$20 for foreign address to:

411 Sheldon Rd.

Barre, MA 01005

Food As Medicine

NOFA Membership

You may join NOFA by joining one of the seven

state chapters. Contact the person listed below for
your state. Dues, which help pay for the important
work of the organization, vary from chapter to
chapter. Unless noted, membership includes a
subscription to The Natural Farmer.

Give a NOFA Membership! Send dues for a friend

or relative to his or her state chapter and give a
membership in one of the most active grassroots
organizations in the state.
Connecticut: Individual $35, Family $50, Business/
Institution $100, Supporting $150, Student/Senior
$25, Working $20
Contact: CT NOFA, Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491,
(203)-888-5146, or email: ctnofa@ctnofa.org or join
on the web at www.ctnofa.org
Massachusetts: Low-Income $20, Individual $35,
Family/Farm/Organization $45, Business $75,
Supporting $150
Contact: NOFA/Mass, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre,
MA 01005, (978) 355-2853, or membership@
nofamass.org or join on the web at www.nofamass.
org
New Hampshire: Individual: $30, Student: $23,
Family: $40, Sponsor: $100, Basic $20*
Contact: Elizabeth Obelenus, 4 Park St., Suite 208,
Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, info@nofanh.
org
New Jersey: Individual $40*, Family/
Organizational $70*, Business/Organization $150*,
$10 additional per year for subscription to The
Natural Farmer
Contact: 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844,
(908) 371-1111 or join at www.nofanj.org

New York: Student/Senior/Limited Income

$20, Individual $40, Family/Farm/Nonprofit
Organization $50, Business $115, Patron $125.
Contact: Mayra Richter, NOFA-NY, PO Box 880,
Cobleskill, NY 12043, Voice (607) 652-NOFA, Fax:
(607) 652-2290, email: office@nofany.org, www.
nofany.org

Create Restorative Foods

for Optimal Health

Rhode Island: Student/Senior: $20, Individual: $25,

Family $35, Business $50
Contact: Membership, NOFA RI, c/o Abbie Barber
POB 86 Shannock, RI 02875 (401) 364-7557,
shannockorganicfarm@hotmail.com

Sharon A. Kane,
Instructor

Vermont: Individual $30, Farm/Family $40,

Business $50, Sponsor $100, Sustainer $250, Basic
$15-25*
Contact: NOFA-VT, PO Box 697, Richmond, VT
05477, (802) 434-4122, info@nofavt.org
*does not include a subscription to The Natural
Farmer

508.881.5678
GPath2003@yahoo.com
www.Sanctuary-Healing.com

Thank you for joining us and helping to support organic agriculture today!

Choose Your Chapter and Membership Level:

Name:

I would like to become a membership of the:

_________________________________ State Chapter

Address:

Sign me up as a:

City:

State:

Phone:

County:

Fax:

Zip:

_________________________________ Member
My annual membership dues are: $___________

Email:

Please check the category that best describes you:

Farmer
Gardener
Conscientious Eater

(enclose check made payable to the appropriate chapter)

Food/Ag. Business

Other

Please send this completed form to the appropriate state chapter address.

Do NOT share my address with other organizations.

Non-Profit Organization
U. S. Postage Paid
Barre, MA 01005
Permit No. 28

NOFA Education Fund

411 Sheldon Rd.
Barre, MA 01005

Localization and Organic Farms

photo by Jack Kittredge

$5.00

Mark Dunau carries produce to the Candle 79 restaurant from his well-packed suburban van. Mark
has been delivering local food from his New York farm to Manhattans restaurants for 20 years.
This issue contains news, features, and articles about organic growing in the Northeast,
plus a special supplement on

Fall 2009