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Hello: The natives—and immigrants—of many locales seem to be getting restless about the farming and food that’s being presented to us by Big Farming and Big Food. Late-summer travels of Rodale Institute staff have brought us in contact with an uplifting range of people, places and groups who are declaring their independence from farming and food as we have known it. They are celebrating, demanding and creating farming as it needs to be to produce food as fresh, as healthy, as local and as life-giving as it should be for a sustainable world.
The conventional food system—for all the economic benefits it has provided to non-farmers—is failing under the weight of the chemicals, fossil fuel, subsidies and propaganda needed to prop it up. Farmers who have started farming with more natural systems—from certified organic crops to grass-based livestock to heirloom fruits and vegetables—and eaters who have formed relationships with them and the food from their farms are forging powerful new alliances. Whatever economic disasters await us, you can be sure that the New Agriculture uprising is part of a lower-risk and higher social-benefit future.
If you’re dubious, you owe it to yourself to explore…
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MOFGA attendees
Farm Aid crowd
Energy barn at Teal Farm
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Russell Libby’s reflections on the growth of the Common Ground Fair, sponsored annually in Unity, Maine, by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), as a harvest celebration all things self-sufficient in Maine for everyone who comes. Read more>>
The Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture, a consensus call from a wide array of farm and food leaders that “a healthy food system is necessary to meet the urgent challenges of our time.” Learn how folks working with Roots of Change are gathering more input and building up support for a full-scale launch in 2009 on their way to gathering 1 million supporters for framing a new food and agriculture policy. Read more>>
How four popular musicians (and their farmer-support focused organization) pulled off another sold-out Farm Aid concert, serving up heaps of local/organic/family farmed food and a great day of rock, roll, roots and country music. The day featured the launch of the group’s Farm Resource Network, a free information service for farmers and their supporters. Read more>>
On-farm renewable energy generation already in place at Teal Farm in northern Vermont, a 1,300-area property being designed to model perennial crops, ecological biodiversity and carbon-friendly farming. Read more>>
How a collaborative spirit among small farmers, small business owners and local nonprofits in Hardwick, Vermont, has created new support networks and capital flow for new ventures that might otherwise struggle. Read more>>
There is no smooth road ahead, so we’re glad to report these resilient and energetic examples that are shaping what comes next.
You can join these entrepreneurs and food innovators by sponsoring and attending Ripe for Revolution: The Organic Solution, a celebration of organic food, information and inspiration set for November 11 at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City. The event will jointly benefit the Rodale Institute and The Organic Center.
Reaching out to cultivate the next generation of regenerative farmers, the Institute announced its first-ever FFA Essay contest this week at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, where more than 50,000 FFA high-school students are attending.
Finally, we’re delighted to note that Anthony Rodale, chairman emeritus of the Rodale Institute, has received a 2008 Spirit of Organic Award from New Hope Natural Media.
Read, take heart and make a difference wherever you can.
Greg Bowman and the
Rodale Institute editorial team
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