In today’s blog:
1. Upcoming Events
2. ACORN-NL Organic Workshops
3. Local Research
4. Other Ag. Blogs of interest
5. Free Resource
6. Provincial Updates/News
7. Know your Farmer
8. Your Turn
1. Upcoming Events
1. March 17 & 18th. Horticultural Conference: “Horticulture: Planning Today – Growing Tomorrow” Gander
2. Friday, March 19th at 12pm NST. FSN Teleconference series: “March is Nutrition Month: Celebrate Food…from Field to Table!” featuring keynote speakers Margie Coombes, RD, and local farmer Matt Atkinson who will speak about healthy eating and community supported agriculture. Deadline to register for the teleconference is Monday, March 15th. Please RSVP to fsn.project@gmail.com, or call 709-237-4126 if you would like to register.
3. March 24th. Avalon Agriculture Event Meeting.90 O’Leary Avenue, For info contact: Lindsey Hewitt: Development Officer, Northeast Avalon REDB, (709)753-5554 lindseyh@nearedb.ca
4. Sunday, March 28th. SlowFood St. John’s Chapter: A planning/brain storming session on Sunday March 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the cellar at Yellowbelly Brewery (corner of Water Street & Beck’s Cove/George Street). Questions, call Janet 749-1707 (cell).
5. Tues, March 30th to Weds. March 31st. NLFA annual conference. Gander
6. Sat. April 10th. ACORN-NL Capacity Building Workshop for organic farmers, St. John’s. Contact Jane White janewhite@gov.nl.ca or Alison Dyer ACORN-NL@acornorganic.org for information.
2. ACORN-NL Organic Workshops:
ACORN-NL has received funding from the Provincial Wellness Program to conduct a 2-day organics workshop/conference for producers and consumers. This will likely take place in October 2010 in St. John’s. We’ll be in touch soon about workshop preferences. For information, contact Alison ACORN-NL@acornorganic.org
3. Local Research:
Morteza Haghiri’s research on consumer willingness-to-pay a premium to purchase organic food in NL…. will be published in the July 2010 edition of the Journal of Food Distribution Research. Katie Temple is starting research for her thesis on the motivations of NL organic farmers to begin (and continue) farming organically, and how that relates to the challenges and opportunities that they see in the industry.
And not so local:
Researchers show soil microbes increase in organic fields – comments about the benefits of raw shellfish versus composted shellfish. http://www.organicagcentre.ca/ResearchDatabase/res_microbes_covercrop_of
4. Other Ag. Blogs of interest:
OFC – the current issue is about Parallel Production. http://ofcfbc.wordpress.com/.
5. Free Resources:
CGSB Organic Standards are now available on the CGSB website free of charge. English: http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/on_the_net/organic/index-e.html/
6. Provincial Updates/News:
The Codroy Valley Farmers’ Co-op is planning to re-establish the farmer’s market. The new president of the co-op, Tim MacNeil, says the group saw many older members leave in the past few years, so its goal is to find younger people to take up the torch. Mr. MacNeil says the co-op isn’t just for people who farm for a living. He has a couple acres where he grows potatoes, turnips and strawberries. Farming is not his day job, but selling crops at the farmers market did help him bring in extra cash.
7. Know your Farmer:
Rupert Jannasch, an organic farmer and organic transition specialist in the Maritimes says he looks forward to the day that people ask “Who’s your farmer” just as we now ask “Who’s your doctor”. In the U.S., the USDA has developed a “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” campaign employing existing federal programs to support local and regional food systems. The idea is to help farmers bypass what has been a daunting maze of regulations to do things like sell their products to local schools or get organic certification from a local processing plant.
8. Your Turn:
Did you attend the Agri-tourism workshop in St. John’s? ACORN’s 10th Annual Conference in PEI? Or another workshop or webinar? Would you care to share some insights with others? Please post your comments on the blog.
Info/contact:
Alison Dyer, volunteer co-ordinator
ACORN-NL
t. 709.576.1312
ACORN - NL 
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