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Scroll through this month's E-news, or click on the headlines below
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 Winter Conference Registration is OPEN!
Join us for our 17th annual
Winter Conference
on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at Merrimack Valley High School in Concord, NH! Enjoy all-day workshops on a variety of topics, delicious meals, book signings, the Green Market Fair, and an evening presentation by Keynote Speaker, Ben Hartman, farmer and author of The Lean Farm.
Register Online
before
February 1, 2019
, and receive 20% off regular ticket prices!
- Full-Day Conference: Includes meals & Evening Keynote with Ben Hartman: $76 ($95 after Friday, February 1, 2019)
- KEYNOTE ONLY: Evening Keynote event with Ben Hartman: $30 ($35 after Friday, February 1, 2019)
Online registration closes March 15, 2019.
Ticket prices increase $15 each for registrations after March 15, 2019, and walk-ins.
NOFA Members Save 20% on Tickets!
Presentation topics include:
- Advanced Growers
- Agricultural Business
- Beginning Farmers
- Carbon/Soils
- Gardening/Homesteading
- Health/Nutrition
- Livestock/Animals
- Policy/Advocacy
- School Gardens
- Social Justice
Don't miss out on your chance to attend this spectacular event!
Click Here
to learn more about sponsor, exhibitor & advertiser benefits.
Questions about the conference?
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Support Organic Agriculture This Giving Season
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Your support has a big impact on our shared commitment to healthy agriculture, food, and food systems!
NOFA-NH is an
important source of education, promotion, and healthy food for so many.
Here are just a few of our achievements this year:
- Collected over 38,000 pounds of food from Seacoast area farms and farmers markets, and distributed that food to low-income residents in need through our Gleaning Program, in partnership with NH Gleans.
- Enabled low-income New Hampshire residents to receive Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares through our Farm Share Program.
- Educated over 400 people at our vibrant Winter Conference.
- Offered discounted prices on farming and gardening supplies via our Bulk Order program.
- Worked to fight climate change by improving the health of our soils through outreach, education, communications, policy & advocacy.
- And we're developing a searchable, interactive Farm and Food Map featuring NH's organic farmers and producers.
Your year-end gift will help us continue to provide important programs that improve our foods, our health, our communities, and our climate!
Please donate today to make your contribution
. You can increase the value of your gift by making it a recurring donation.
We thank you for your continued support! Happy Holidays!
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We are pleased to introduce our newest Board Members,
Edith Pucci Couchman and Karl Johnson!
Edith Pucci Couchman
has been teaching youngsters about both the visual arts and environmental science for over thirty years. She has participated in the Cooperative and Organic Food Movements since the '70's because she believes that these are both key for creating beautiful, just, and ecologically-sound human lifeways. She was named NOFA-NH's Volunteer of the Year for 2012, Hillsborough County Conservation District's Conservation Teacher of the Year in 2014, and received the 2017 NH Excellence in S.T.E.M. Teaching Award (elementary school level) from the New Hampshire Society of Professional Engineers. Edith is active in the Greater Nashua Food Council and the NH School and Youth Gardening Network. Her articles have been published in the Canadian environmental magazine GreenTeacher.com and she edits the teaching website evolvingbeauty.org.
Karl Johnson
grew up in a southern New Hampshire farming community and went on to a 50-year career in marketing and advertising. He recently retired as Marketing Director for Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs but is still active in helping the company keep in touch with it's contract farmers and consumers. Karl is passionate about keeping small family-owned farms alive and thriving in New Hampshire.
Learn more about our Board Members and Staff
here
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Shop with NOFA-NH for the Holidays!
We welcome you to peruse our
online store
for holiday gifts like NOFA-NH bumper stickers, metal membership signs, and books on organic farming. An annual membership to NOFA-NH makes a great gift, too, any time of year!
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Thank you to everyone who came out to support NOFA-NH and learn more about GMOs at our screening of the award-winning documentary film
Modified at Red River Theatres! We were thrilled to show this powerful film to a nearly sold-out audience, to enjoy some delicious treats from our sponsors, and to continue the discussion with our knowledgeable panelists after the show.
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Photo Credit: Jemi Broussard, Red River Theatres
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Moderator and Panelists from L: Steve Forde, Sarah Laeng-Gilliatt, Matthew Schwartz, and Erik Drake.
Photo Credit: Chadley Kolb
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Photo Credit: Jemi Broussard, Red River Theatres
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Photo Credit: Monica Rico
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Our Farmer Mixer, Fair Labor and Apprenticeships Panel Was a Success!
NOFA-NH was pleased to collaborate with Vital Communities to host a farmer mixer, dinner and panel discussion on CRAFT apprenticeship models and fair labor at Three Tomatoes Trattoria in Lebanon earlier this month. Our panelists addressed a wide range of topics dealing with fair labor, farm labor, apprenticeships, the CRAFT model, the need for skilled workers, and more, answering the many thoughtful questions of our attendees. Thank you to all who came out to this educational evening! Learn more about the event here.
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Moderator and Panelists from L: Nikki Kolb, Nancy LaRowe, Tim Sanford, Suzanne Long, Louis Battalen, and Shawn Jasper.
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NOFA-NH Board Member Sarah Laeng-Gilliatt reading a letter from Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster's office.
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NH Commissioner of Agriculture Shawn Jasper.
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Panelists Tim Sanford, Suzanne Long and Louis Battalen.
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Photo Credit: Steve Forde
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Celebrating the Holidays & Organics with Our Members
Thank You NOFA-NH Members, Board Members and Staff for a delicious and joyous Member Appreciation Holiday Potluck! On Tuesday, December 11
th
, we gathered to celebrate the holiday season, organic food and the NOFA-NH community.
Click Here to become a new member or renew your membership to enjoy festive member benefits like this throughout the year!
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Newly Forming NOFA-NH Outreach/Education Team
Seeks Volunteers!
NOFA-NH was formed to bring the benefits of organic agriculture to ever more people in the Granite State. The more people we have growing, buying, and cooking organically, the healthier we'll all be... And as you well know, organic growing methods improve not just human well-being, but also biodiversity (the well-being of other living creatures including the soil microbiome) and the quality of our water and air. NOFA-NH is committed to increasing the resilience and self-reliance of local food systems and the creative vitality of our local economies.
Would you like to help more with this ongoing work? There's so much to do, but little by little, working together, we can accomplish a lot!
In the new year, we hope to begin increasing NOFA-NH's outreach and program offerings. We'd like to sponsor more workshops on organic gardening in various communities, (including berry, fruit, and nut production), added farm tours, and more.
Are any of these roles/activities of potential interest to you? We need more members who might be willing to join our newly forming Outreach/Education Team. We will be meeting on a regular basis (by phone and/or computer and/or in person), and working together through email. Team member work could include helping to arrange farm tours, presentations, and other programming; and work to share our message, including "tabling" at conferences, posting flyers, using social media, and more.
If you'd like to lend a hand or have suggestions, please email us at
[email protected].
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Implementing Fair Practices On Our Farms
By Louis Battalen
Working together,
the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) and NOFA - one of AJP's four founding members -
are launching a project to
the organic farming community
in addressing our shared social justice values
while striving for dignified living careers
for farmers, our families, & the workers on our farms.
Support our mutual efforts toward achieving a fair and equitable food system by completing this brief checklist of your own current practices.
An introduction with details on our Project is included with our Farmer Benchmark Checklist - we expect the Checklist should take only 15 minutes to complete. We based it on AJP's high bar Food Justice Certification Standards. As you can read in our introduction, technical assistance in support of the various topics is available. Both AJP & NOFA are committed to providing the technical assistance farmers request either through the AJP tool-kit resources and/or through workshops & presentations on specific issues requested by farmers who want to improve labor policies and practices and who want fair, equitable, transparent agreements & pricing. Specific areas covered include achieving a living wage for farmers and farm workers alike, health and safety, conflict resolution, apprentices, and developing a premium in the marketplace.
This support will be gratis, with no obligation to engage in AJP's Food Justice Certification.
Thanks for participating - Louis Battalen & Elizabeth Henderson, NOFA Domestic Fair Trade Committee & the AJP
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Poultry House Management Publication Details Importance of Indoor Environment for Poultry Health
The ATTRA publication
Poultry House Management for Alternative Production
details how the indoor environment in free-range poultry production is just as important as the outdoor space. This recently updated publication discusses optimal ventilation, temperature, lighting, and litter conditions for pastured-poultry housing. The publication also addresses rodent control with minimal toxic materials.
Download the publication for free here.
Click here for a complete list of ATTRA publications about poultry.
Personalized advice and assistance about a host of sustainable agriculture issues is available at the NCAT ATTRA hotline, 800-346-9140, or by email [email protected].
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Watch the "Agricultural Food Policy in NH" Webinar
The NH Food Alliance hosted a webinar earlier this month focused on understanding the agricultural food policy landscape in NH. The discussion detailed existing state and federal policies that support NH farmers and food producers, as well as priorities for policy changes that could help to grow our local food economy, strengthen our support of food producers, and sustain our natural resources. Presenters also shared the ways individuals and groups can shape and influence agricultural policy and engage others in their efforts.
Presenters Included:
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| Webinar: Food and Agricultural Policy in NH |
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Finally, A Farm Bill!
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Congress released the text of the 2018 Farm Bill late Monday evening. The Senate voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday afternoon (87 yeas, 13 nays), followed by the House vote to pass the bill on Wednesday afternoon (369 yeas, 47 nays).
THANK YOU to all of you for calling, texting, and emailing your Members of Congress! Your advocacy matters, and we're proud to help raise the farmer voice in the Farm Bill process.
Here's what we like about the bill:
- A win for our local communities! The provision preempting local pesticide regulations did NOT make it into the Farm Bill. This provision would have prohibited local and regional governments from adopting pesticide laws that are more protective than federal rules.
- Guaranteed funding for organic research: the bill gradually increases funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) from the current level of $20 million annually to $50 million annually by fiscal year 2023. By hitting $50 million, the program achieves permanent baseline funding status, meaning it's less likely to get cut in future farm bills.
- Organic Certification Cost Share: the bill provides $24 million for the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP), which helps defray the cost of organic transition for farmers.
- The bill saves the Conservation Stewardship Program, and creates new programs that support family farmers: the Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) program, and the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). More from NSAC here..
- Protects and expands programs that support beginning farmers - National Young Farmers Coalition outlines these wins here!
Here's what we don't like: the bill contains unnecessary and confusing language about the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). NOSB's structure and authority is codified in the Organic Foods Production Act - altering NOSB through the Farm Bill threatens its independence and integrity. Furthermore, Congress has neglected to take up the difficult work of planning for environmental health and justice in our food and farm system. Read Liana Hoodes' analysis on NOFA - NY's blog
here.
This article was originally published by
NOFA-NY.
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NH House to Consider Bill Protecting Pollinators
NH State Representative and member of the Committee on Environment and Agriculture,
Catherine Sofikitis, proposed a bill to help protect pollinators in our state. The proposed bill is based on a Maryland pollinator bill entitled, "Neonicotinoid Pesticides - Labeling, Signage, and Restrictions on Sales and Use (Pollinator Protection Act of 2016)."
NOFA-NH will continue to track the progress of the proposed bill, which is currently in development.
Read a copy of the Maryland bill
here
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Shift Your Shopping This Holiday Season:
Shop Local!
As many of us look to share gifts and celebrate the season with friends, family and colleagues, we also have the opportunity to give a gift to our community. When making holiday purchases, we ask you to "
Shift Your Shopping
" and choose locally owned and independent businesses.
The Shift Your Shopping NH Holiday Campaign is co-led by Seacoast Local and Monadnock Buy Local.
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Description: Over a decade ago, John Ubaldo, a Wall Street banker, traded in his high finance career for 185 acres of land to live a quiet life as a small farmer. John wanted to farm the way it was done 100 years ago. His only goal was to raise delicious and nutritious food. But John's dream of living a traditional agrarian life gets complicated when he comes up against Big Agriculture. John becomes a passionate and outspoken activist lobbying for GMO labeling, animal rights, the preservation of crop diversity and the reduction of chemical fertilizers to help preserve small farms and rural America.
The evening will begin with the film, followed by a potluck & discussion.
COST: Donations are welcome to cover costs for the event.
Seacoast Permaculture's Film & Food nights offer a chance to come together for both learning and getting to know each other better. NOFA-NH is a co-host of this event.
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Remembering Dot Perkins
It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of Dorothy (Dot) Perkins, a member of the UNH Extension family. Dot was a dedicated educator and a genuine, honest and kind person. Dot brought two key elements to her work as a Field Specialist with the Food and Agriculture team: practical knowledge from her generational farming background and a formal education in plant biology and animal sciences. Her foundational knowledge, unforgettable personality and earnest passion for agriculture made her an invaluable asset to New Hampshire's farming community. She was a trusted, valued and well-loved colleague, mentor and friend. We will miss her deeply.
A Celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, December 16th from 12:00pm-3:00pm at the Still Oaks Funeral and Memorial Home, 1217 Suncook Valley Highway, Epsom. Friends and family are welcome to begin gathering at 11:30am, a brief service will be held at 12 Noon.
Dot's obituary is published in the Concord Monitor.
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Meet Our Members!
Introducing Mountain Heartbeet
NOFA-NH's knowledgeable and passionate members make our organization great. Each month, we'll make our community a little closer by introducing you to one of our invaluable members.
Name and Occupation:
Joanne Ducas, Owner and Operator of Mountain Heartbeet
How long have you been a member of NOFA-NH? I've been a member on and off for probably 8 years.
Why did you become a member of NOFA-NH?
As an organic farmer, I feel it's really important to be a part of the organic movement in New Hampshire, and being a member of NOFA-NH is a great way to do that!
How has NOFA-NH impacted your business?
Most recently I participated in the the Fall Farm Share Program. This NOFA-NH program allowed me to give out two subsidized fall farm shares to folks in need in my community. I've also participated as a participant and presenter at several of the NOFA-NH Winter Conferences. NOFA-NH has helped me make connections in the greater community of eaters and organic growers in New Hampshire.
What's your number one priority for NOFA-NH this year? There are at least two! There's a lot of policy stuff going on right now in terms of organics getting watered down. So, I'd like to really encourage education on what local organic means vs what big business organic means. My first priority, though, is growing the organic movement in New Hampshire and helping it become more visible: letting people know we're here, we're vibrant and we can do a lot for our state if we work together. This also means working on cultivating the next generation of farmers. If we want to keep feeding our community we need to grow more farmers and increase awareness about the benefits of eating local.
What advice do you have for anyone thinking about becoming a NOFA-NH member? That they should absolutely do it! It's a great resource for people interested in the organic movement in New Hampshire.
Does your business have any upcoming activities or events you would like to share with the NOFA-NH community? I'd encourage people to get out to the winter farmers markets. I go to the Wolfboro and Tamworth markets, but there are plenty of great markets all over the state. It's important that we let people know that they can get delicious organic food all year round at the farmers markets, and that local farmers really benefit from that support. So, come on out and show your support!
About this column: NOFA-NH members with farms and farm related businesses are eligible to be featured in this column. Featured members are chosen by random lottery. Click here to become a member or renew your membership.
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Welcome New & Returning Members!
Thank you to our NOFA-NH Members who became new members and renewed their membership in November and December 2018.
Renewing Members: John & Diana Carroll, Thomas Clement, Debra & David Huffman, and
Stout Oak Farm
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Renew Your Membership, Join Today, or Give the Gift of NOFA-NH Membership!
We've streamlined to just two membership levels:
- Student/Senior Membership: $30 (Available to full-time students currently enrolled in school and persons over 65 years old)
- Standard Membership: $45 (Available to everyone)
Check out a list of member benefits on the membership page of our website. A NOFA-NH Membership makes a great gift all year round! Call our office to purchase the gift of organic for your loved ones: 603-224-5022.
Current memberships
will continue for one year from the date you joined.
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Classifieds
Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm Seeks Farmer
Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm in Peterborough, NH, is seeking a partner to grow crops on our land using regenerative practices to supply a diversified 3-season CSA. Five acres in active production, including three high tunnels, and shared use of infrastructure and equipment. For more information,
click here; contact
[email protected]
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Kroka is Hiring a Farmer-Educator
Kroka Expeditions is seeking a Farm Manager to join our dynamic team. Our diversified farm is comprised of 30 acres of pasture, hay fields and gardens amidst a beautiful 100-acre campus. Livestock includes dairy cows, laying hens, and a draft horse. Our gardens produce a variety of greens, root crops, fruit and berries to feed 1,000 students who join Kroka's programs annually. The farm is managed by two full-time farmers and aided by apprentices, staff and students. Working in a close-knit team our farmers plan and execute food production and farm education while caring for the land and the animals.
Click here
for more information and to apply.
Wanted To Buy:
1-3 Acres 20 Miles of Antrim // Bear Tree Zendo, a local Zen group, needs a small piece of land (one to three acres) within twenty miles of Antrim to build a small local meditation hall (zendo). Woods, field, old pasture, going back to trees, etc. Quiet essential. Continued use arrangement, hay or sugaring possible. Call 603-748-5006 and leave a message.
About This Section:
NOFA-NH Members may post 1 free Classified per month on our
Classifieds page
and in this newsletter. Not yet members may post a Classified in the e-news and on our website for $45 per Classified per month. To inquire about this program and to share your Classified with our community, please contact [email protected].
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