Goings on… and lots of them

1. ACORN held its first Webinar (this one on value-added farming) – 2nd part on topic coming up. It’s free & full of valuable information. Consider signing up. Easy, free, my advice: just do it!

2. More organic farmers in Labrador! We’ll wait to hear from the horse’s mouth. Fantastic!

3. ACORN’s 10th annual conference – have you registered? No? really, you’ve got to go. Check out the offerings. Email Jane White – our fab organic specialist about possible funding for producers interested in attending.

4. For Consumers and Marketplace pages are updated!! Send us your info to further update.

5. Mark Wilson & friends – Emily Doyle, Geoff Schinkle, Krista Koch – have obtained crown land near St. John’s and will be farming organically this coming summer, supplying local markets. All the best!

6. Alison Dyer is the ACORN NL representative on the ACORN Board of Directors. To contact Alison: acorn-nl@acornorganic.org

Conferences, workshops: get training now!

Two upcoming conferences you may want to take part in:

1. ACORN’s 10th Annual Conference & Trade Show! March 4-6, 2010. This year it also includes an Organic Berry Symposium.  Impressive line-up of speakers and workshop facilitators. Check out main ACORN website for details.

2. NL Horticulture Producers Council is holding a workshop  March 17 & 18, 2010, in Gander. Agenda and more details will soon be posted to the NLHPC website at hortnl.com.

Community Gardening Teleconference

Community Gardening: Building Communities & Growing Together

Thursday, February 4^th, 2010

12-1pm Island time; 11:30-12:30pm Labrador time

Keynote Speaker: Angela Loucks-Atkinson, Community Garden Alliance

With another growing season just around the corner, it is time to start planning for community gardens across the Province!

Join us for this exciting Teleconference on Community Gardening and discuss:

·         The Basics of Starting Up a Successful Community Garden

·         Different Types of Models for Community Gardens

·         Best Practices from Community Gardens across the Province

About the Community Garden Alliance (CGA): The Community Garden Alliance is a volunteer run not for profit organization that has a mandate to support sustainable, environmentally & community conscious urban food production in St. John’s.

TO REGISTER:
Contact Kristie Jameson via email info@foodsecuritynews.com or call 709.237.4126

Deadline for Registration is Friday, January 29th, 2010

need help for the farm? looking to gain organic experience?

Some of you are well acquainted with Wwoofing… but hopefully this list offers some new info for all.

WWOOF [World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms] is an exchange program, started in the U.K. and is now international in scope.- In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. Several organic farmers in NL are listed in this program: http://www.wwoof.org/

SOIL (Stewards Of Irreplaceable Land) is Canada’s Sustainable Farm Apprenticeship Program.  Since 1989, SOIL has been linking Canadian farmers willing to take on and train apprentices with folks wanting to work and learn on an organic farm using sustainable practices. Now, ACORN and SOIL have partnered to promote the exciting organic farm learning opportunities that exist in Atlantic Canada. New farms and interested apprentices can sign-up or learn more by visiting www.soilapprenticeships.org or www.acornorganic.org/training.html.

The Organic Agriculture Centre Canada lists  Job and Student Opportunities in Organic Agriculture here: http://www.organicagcentre.ca/Jobs/job_postings.asp

FarmStart is a program for new entrants. Of its many programs is the New Farms Incubator Program which supports new farm enterprises by offering access to land, equipment and infrastructure at reasonable rates, along with business planning support, technical training, mentorship and experience with ecological and emerging farming methods. http://www.farmstart.ca/

New Brunswick Organic Farm Apprenticeship Program is a collaboration between Falls Brook Centre (FBC), the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC), New Brunswick Department of Agriculture (NBDAFA), the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN) and New Brunswick organic farms in the design of a program to build the Atlantic Canadian organic sector. For application forms, farm descriptions and more information about the program, visit Falls Brook Centre’s website www.fallsbrookcentre.ca or contact Shannon Herbert, Organic Agriculture Program Coordinator at shannon@fallsbrookcentre.ca or (506) 375-4310.

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (US) offers a directory of on-the-job learning opportunities in sustainable and organic agriculture in the U.S. (and some in Canada) . Published since 1989, it’s a tool to help farmers and apprentices connect with each other. The listed farms are primarily seeking interns/apprentices from North America. http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships/

Newly minted program by gov’t of P.E.I. is a Farm Technician Apprenticeship Program. This is a combo of more traditional classroom instruction and on farm experience. check out: http://nsac.ca/cde/programs/PEI/apprentice.asp 

FEEDBACK: if you are a NL farmer who has experience with any of these programs, we’d like to here from you. Leave a comment. Or if you’re a student, aspiring farmer who’s had experience with apprenticeships – let us know! thanks.

FarmLINK matchmaker; new Canadian Organic Website and more

 

 

   

Check out these great ideas for building farming industry & rural economies: 

  

1. FarmLINK´s MatchMaker tool brings together new farmers who are looking for land or mentorship with farm owners who have land available or expertise to share. [FarmDATE NL anyone?] http://www.farmlinkontario.ca/ 

2. New Canadian Organic Website answer your questions:
WHAT does organic mean? 

HOW can I go organic? 

WHERE can I find organic goods?
WHY are so many choosing organic? 

http://www.organicbiologique.ca/en/index.html 

3. Where can I find….?? 

Farmers have asked about where to find organic packaging. Check it out (and So much more) on OTA’s The Organic Pages Online: 

http://www.theorganicpages.com/topo/commercialactivity.html?ca=packaging 

4. Catch up on reading: 

“If you want to be on the cutting edge of commercial-scale, soil-friendly farming technologies, techniques, markets, news, analysis and trends, look to Acres U.S.A.” http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm 

5. CONGRATULATIONS – The Organic Farm 

NL organic Farm Yields National Tourism Award 

by Kerri Breen, The Telegram 

Melba Rabinowitz of the Organic Farm in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s (Newfoundland & Labrador) got a standing ovation in Saint John, N.B., Tuesday (Nov. 3) when her family farm won at the National Awards for Tourism Excellence ceremony. …. 

Melba Rabinowitz says the recognition is not just an honour for the farm, but is significant for the organic movement in the province, which they have been leaders in.

 

“It brings attention to (the fact) that restaurants want good, local food and prefer organics,” she said. 

To see full article: http://www.atlanticfarmfocus.ca/index.cfm?sid=302488&sc=593

Coming soon to a small rural community near you…

A county in the U.S. [Iowa's Woodbury County] is taking a hard look at organic farming – with the hopes of declaring itself an Organic Capital. A story on Greenwire reports on this - and although it is in the U.S., the story setting could be in Newfoundland & Labrador. For example, from the article: “Most rural economic development projects focus on luring new industries or expanding infrastructure for water, electricity or broadband, but Woodbury County’s are aimed at creating a local food culture in an area that imports almost all of its food — despite its base of powerful agribusinesses.”

 

So what is the County’s unorthodox approach to economic development? Starting small rural businesses and repopulating schools by luring a new kind of farmer. In so doing, the county’s rural economic development director, Rob Marqusee, is trying to put Woodbury County into the vanguard of a U.S. organic-farming and local-foods movement.

Meanwhile in Newfoundland & Labrador:

  

i) on the west coast:  provincial government departments, community groups and others ( including the Department of Natural Resources, the City of Corner Brook, and the Environmental Policy Institute) are currently working together to start a Community Garden in order to provide members of the public with an area of land to grow their own produce.  Possible participants include people living in apartment buildings, senior citizen homes, college students, or other people who otherwise do not have the land and/or resources available to grow their own garden.

Corinne Hynes is your woman to speak to on this issue: contact her at info@wecnl.ca

ii) an invitation to participate in: Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture.

For details, contact: Denise Guignard, Events Planner & Special Project. (613) 773-2469 denise.guignard@agr.gc.ca

iii) Rosemary Murphy is ACORN’s Education and Outreach Coordinator and she is being very polite about asking people to join ACORN. Lots of reasons why you should, so shoot her a message at: rose@acornorganic.org

iv) how did your farm grow? Jason Bull of Eastport organics says he had lots and lots of salad greens this year. I happen to know it was a great first year for the Seed to Spoon Collective. But nothing says it like a word from the horse’s mouth. So come on farmers, tell us how this growing season was: your favourite crop [what surprised you most]? what customers are saying/wanting? what you’re going to delegate to the compost pile? what you’re going to keep growing next year? good news on growing? on new varieties tried & well-received by customers (okay, don’t give the house away, but give us a clue)? good news on retailing? we’re all ears.

new, newer, newest

in the news…

Organic regulations could limit supply, spike prices (story by Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News ServiceNovember 3, 2009)http://www.canada.com/life/Organic+regulations+could+limit+supply+spike+prices/2180044/story.html

 interesting websites:

http://www.organic-europe.net/

USA organic industry survey 2009:

U.S. organic sales grow by a whopping 17.1 percent in 2008

Greenfield, MASS. (May 4, 2009)—U.S. sales of organic products, both food and non-food, reached $24.6 billion by the end of 2008, growing an impressive 17.1 percent over 2007 sales despite tough economic times, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which today made available final results from its 2009 Organic Industry Survey.

http://en.greenplanet.net/food/research/494-usa-organic-industry-survey-2009.html

are you listed with the organic consumer association?

http://www.organicconsumers.org/canada/index.cfm

new atlantic canada certification body:

http://www.atlanticcertifiedorganic.ca/html/about.html

organic agriculture in atl.cda – web-based courses, and more

http://www.oacc.info/RegionsCanada/atlantic_welcome.asp

Fresh from Fogo… and Slow Food

Fogo Island held its first farmer’s market this summer. It was hosted by the Fogo/Change Islands Agricultural Co-op, also recently formed.  “There were about six or seven members of the co-op selling produce, and some from the community garden in Seldom,” reports organic farmer and ACORN member Winston Osmond. “We held the market at the arena parking lot from September 1st to October 10th, which we had inside at the Patridgeberry Fest and it was well received.” Winston says that they are hoping to start the farmers market in July in 2010. 

And what was for sale? “We had all the usual root veggies plus I grew almost everything possible: purple cauliflower, yellow, white and candycane beets, kohlrabi, all kinds of squash, greens, radicchio, tatsoi, beens, peas, corn, you name it,” says Winston. “And we gave out recipes with the unusual veggies. People loved that.”

What was for sale at your farmers’ market? What did you grow this year that you were particularly pleased with? We want to hear from our organic farmers across the province – from Deer Lake to Portugal Cove to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

SLOW Food event… coming to St. John’s.

A Slow Food chapter has been formed in St. John’s. Slow Food is an organization (now in 130 countries) committed to safeguarding foods, raw materials and traditional methods of cultivation and transformation.

This event will be held Sunday, Nov.8th at Cochrane St. United Church.

Chef Eric Wood of Yellowbelly Brewery and Public House and Nadya Kyutukchiev of Bianca’s Restuarant will share their experiences of preserving local foods.

For more info, contact:  harron.janet@gmail.com

  

more good news

Growing season. There’s a growing pool of young, educated, politically motivated workers in the local food movement. They have a sparking interest in sustainable agriculture, or small-scale farms that embrace humane and eco-friendly practices. see: Washington Post. 27 October 2009 at this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/16/AR2009101601714.html

[excerpt from story: "They're part of a growing pool of young, educated, politically motivated workers drawn to farming. Books such as bestseller "The Omnivore's Dilemma," in which Michael Pollan championed the local food movement, are sparking interest in sustainable agriculture, or small-scale farms that embrace humane and eco-friendly practices. Such operations are getting a boost from Community Supported Agriculture, a system that lets customers pay in advance for a weekly share of a nearby farm's crop; the number of members participating in CSAs grew 50 percent between 2007 and 2009. The number of farmers markets in the United States has jumped by almost 13 percent over the last year. Even the White House now has its own organic garden."]

Old seeds in young hands

thoughts on what can be done with a few seeds, a few acres, and a few young hands…..

Old seeds in young hands 29 Sep 09 – [story lifted from: Sloweb] School students in Canada are cultivating red fife wheat, a heritage cereal and Slow Food presidium, as part of a project taking place in Stratford, Ontario. ‘Mud to mouth’ is a scheme where elementary schools in the area use small plots of land to cultivate food in an effort to teach students the path from field to plate.

Red Fife Wheat was first grown in the Otonabee region of what is now central Ontario in the 1840s. Hardy and resistant to the diseases of the time, it also boasts exceptional flavor and baking properties but fell out of favour with farmers seeking new, high-yield varieties. In 2003 it was added to the Canadian ark of Taste and is Canada’s first presidium, created to ensure ongoing quality, promotion and the use of Red Fife across all of Canada.

Last year innovative Stratford teacher Paul Finkelstein was lent six acres of farmland so his students could cultivate the Canadian heritage wheat while bringing Canadian agricultural history to life. “Our hope is to get these kids more connected to where their food comes from, and to start from a younger age,” he explains.

The red fife project is the latest of Finkelstein’s projects, which have included a school garden and café for students to prepare meals. About 200 students are in his culinary class and wheat can also be harvested by volunteer farmers, facilitating urban-rural connections. Soon about 8,000 pounds of the flour will be dispersed into the community. “Plant, weed, harvest, cook – it’s a long process but you get a great sense of accomplishment,” Finkelstein said, “This is work toward financing the future.”

Source: The Star

http://thestar.com/living/food/article/699314

For more information about the Red Fife Wheat Presidium, visit the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity

http://www.slowfoodfoundation.org/eng/presidi/dettaglio.lasso?cod=267