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Often we landless farmers are comforted by the notion that we'll be able, someday, to afford some degraded land somewhere-- a clear cut or an abandoned brownfield, a farm thats fallen down on its knees and has to be lovingly rebuilt, or had its topsoil mined for selling to suburban gardeners-- the following article brings that […]

Finding a Future in Agriculture: An Apprentice's Journey By Amber Reed Before the Quivira Conference in Albuquerque last fall, I had read only a little by Aldo Leopold. At the beginning of A Sand County Almanac I read: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that […]

A Stale Food Fight By Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser November 28, 2010 THE best opportunity in a generation to improve the safety of the American food supply will come as early as Monday night, when the Senate is scheduled to vote on the F.D.A. Food Safety Modernization bill. This legislation is by no means […]

Far From the Madding Crowd, By Thomas Hardy About young farmer Gabriel Oak, and young farmerette Bathsheba Everdene-- and their neighbor, middle aged farmer named Boldwood. Unfortunately, Gabriel was leasing land-- and staked it all on his sheep herd, then his young dog chased the sheep off a cliff. They all died.  In his despondancy […]

By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH Indiana Correspondent: FarmWorldOnline.com KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The growth in college agriculture programs across the country has come from women, according to Bill Richardson, project manager of the USDA’s Food, Agriculture and Education Information System. He said the major growth in female enrollment has come from two disciplines: food science and animal […]

from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Let's get some young farmer voices in there! The Essential Principles of Small- and Mid-Scale Food Value Chain Development Manuscripts due February 15, 2011 For details about JAFSCD and author guidelines, visit www.AgDevJournal.com/submissions. JAFSCD invites researchers, ag/food system development professionals, and others to submit applied […]

some commentary the aging farmer population in AgWeek. Graying on the prairie By Jonathan Knutson NIAGARA, N.D. — By Nelson County, N.D., standards, Niagara farmer Mike Kelly is still a young buck. By regional and national standards, he’s neither young nor old. He’s 56. “Yeah, there are a lot of farmers my age and older,” […]

a wonderful essay by charles waldheim which can be read in its entirety here.  An excerpt is below. The categories of agrarian and urban are usually understood as distinct. Across many disciplines, and for centuries, the country and the city have been defined in opposition to one another. But today, in striking contrast, design culture […]

Regenerative Agriculture can Mitigate Climate Change By Eliav Bitan. We greenhorns are the first generation to farm in a climate that has been radically changed by hundreds of years of burning carbon based fossil fuels. This week at the Quivera Coalition conference in Alburqurque, New Mexico we learned more about how the way we farm […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 10, 2010 Prop 84 Funding for City Slicker Farms Brings Land Security to West Oakland’s Urban Agriculture Movement. City Slicker Farms is awarded $4,000,000 to purchase land in West Oakland to create a Community Market Farm and park.Oakland, CA (November 10, 2010)—On Monday, November 8, 2010 City Slicker Farms was awarded […]

GROWING THE NEXT SEASON OF FARMERS Young people looking for satisfying environmental work By Whitney Pipkins for the Skagit Valley Herald Customers of Hedlin Farms’ community supported agriculture program get a special treat in their boxes of produce each week: Kai Ottesen’s odes to farming. With an English degree in his back pocket, Ottesen can […]

Here's a piece about the brilliant folks at Farmstead Meatsmith, and posted on the website of an equally brilliant project called Farmrun. Nauseatingly Predictable The conditions are nauseatingly predictable. It’s a miracle I’vnt vomited on my keyboard just thinking about using myself sitting next to Lauren in a car to grab your attention. She is […]

Most of you have heard walmart's annoucement to sell over $1 billion of goods purchased from small and mid-sized farms and to train 1 million farmers in sustainable farming practices around the world. Will Wal-Mart lead to a loss of the soul of the local food movement? THIS article raises awareness about food sovereignty in the face of local […]

Hundreds of young farmers expected at 'Greenhorns' screening tonight By Jennifer Pittman PESCADERO - Hundreds of young farmers are expected to leave their wet fields early today to gather for some local food, music, workshops and a preview screening of "The Greenhorns," a documentary about a burgeoning new generation of American farmers. The Greenhorns is […]

les says: 'do it with parsley'

that they have set up the rhetoric for ' shock doctrine agronomy' with these patents. frustrated by Monsanto? become a farmer, take back that territory! Surge in Corporate Patents on “Climate-Ready” Crops  Threatens Biodiversity and Signals Grab on Land and Biomass Nagoya, Japan -- Under the guise of developing “climate-ready” crops, the world’s largest seed […]

only thing she forgot was that WE DO WANT TO FARM and there are a lot of us. Where Are All the Young, Hot Farmers? by Sarah Parsons It seems like scientists, non-profits, and even students consistently receive government grant money. Small farmers, however, rarely see Uncle Sam reach into his wallet and hand them […]

From the Rodale Institute: The Greenhorns: Next generation agriculturalists Severine von Tscharner Fleming and The Greenhorns are promoting, recruiting and supporting young farmers--and having a whole lot of fun along the way. By Amanda Kimble-Evans Severine von Tscharner Fleming is a Pied Piper of sorts--joyfully leading young people into farming--and her goals are lofty. She wants to throw […]

from our friends at Little City Gardens. report back from the border This summer I took a month off of this urban farming pursuit and went down to the Arizona/Mexico border to work with a humanitarian aid organization called No More Deaths who’s mission is to end the deaths and suffering of folks migrating to […]

Here's a nice little piece from a greenhorn in Georgia, posted on Civil Eats. Young Farmers Sprouting Up Across the Nation In an attempt to explain what seems to be the seed of a cosmic shift in how farming is practiced and portrayed in America, I offer you my story: I’m 26 years old, and […]

Great news as a result of our Washington Young Farmer mixer...here's a note from an attendee. Nine of us carpooled to the WA Greenhorns mixer last week, and were amazed to see about 250 people at the Vashon Grange for the pig roast, potluck, and square dancing. I'd guess that about 200 of those were […]

a story by Roseanne Pereira in Heavy Table. When I first see Laura Frerichs at her 40-acre farm in Hutchinson, MN, there’s a blue cloudless sky and the sun is shining. As I drive up, I can see the fields to the left, a greenhouse, and Frerichs in jeans, glasses, and a wide hat. She […]

We just heard from the National Farmers Union in Canada, who are helping coordinate young farmers up north.  They are also members of La Via Campesina. Pamphlet: http://www.nfu.ca/convention/2010-pamphlet.pdf and blog: http://nfuyouth.wordpress.com/ Here's what they have to say on their website about their campaign for new farmers: The current dominant model of agriculture has pushed out […]

Enviropig: the next transgenic food? "Snort! Snort!" The plump, pink beast comes rumbling towards me as I approach, then attaches its snout to my leg, sniffing intensely, apparently trying to determine if I bring food. It looks like a Yorkshire pig, behaves, sounds and smells like one. But genetically the pigs at Canada's University of […]

These researchers battle it out over the question of what is sustainable agriculture.Every once in a while I zoom back out and realize that greenhorn efforts in the U.S. are woven into a whole cosmos of agriculture. Having a handle on the great big evolving discussions of global food security and sustainability, with hunger always […]

NYTIMES.com. By CHRISTINE MUHLKE - September 8, 2010 Some of the most sought-after internships this summer weren’t on Capitol Hill or in the Vogue fashion closet. They were on farms. If you hadn’t applied by the end of the spring, you could forget about it. Ag-department graduates, career-changers and cooks looking to deepen their knowledge of […]

blog reader Sarah Parker sent us this note about a recent story on NPR: I remember when you guys posted this past Spring on the USDA 1.25M settlement with 13,000 black farmers. The news made me so happy, but this news has made me equally sad: The Root: No Aid for Black Farmers I thought […]

Thanks to Eric Hoffner for this one: In the categories of both fun and bomber ideas for your blog: Clever Arizona family grows veggies, chickens, fish in former swimming pool. Read the story  HERE.

http://www.planet-diversity.org/storiesandvideos.html In case the " young farmers are popping up all over the country" story has whetted your appetite. Here are a bunch more testimonials from all corners of the planet about the upsurge in sustainable, small scale agriculture.

An Unconventional Food Festival: You'll Have a 'Ball' When you grow up in a Polish household in Chicago, food--God, sometimes a lot of it--just naturally becomes a vital part of your upbringing. Stuffed cabbage, peirogis, Polish sausage, sauerkraut, beet soup and special, fat, fluffy donuts you can't find anywhere else but in your mother's hot, […]

Here's a note and some analysis from Kevin Skvorak of Regeneration CSA.  Thanks, Kevin! hey greenhorns folks, if you are thinking about slow money in the HV, here are some links to what has been going on, and some of my analysis. http://www.meetup.om/The-Greater-Hudson-Valley-Slow-Money-Alliance Towards a Regenerative Economy - Thoughts about Slow Money from a radical […]

The latest from the US EPA on public health dangers from hydrofracking for methane. http://www.propublica.org/article/feds-warn-residents-near-wyoming-gas-drilling-sites-not-to-drink-their-wate From this article “The federal government is warning residents in a small Wyoming town with extensive natural gas development not to drink their water, and to use fans and ventilation when showering or washing clothes in order to avoid the […]

Have you been experiencing the prescense of this nasty chemical herbicide in your compost? In Washington, it is popping up in composted manure in Whatcom County, and other parts of the state, as reported in the Bellingham Herald. It is found in Milestone, made by Dow, and was approved for use in the U.S. in […]

Young couple finds vigorous venture in vegetable farming Now in their second year of operation, couple makes plans to expand acreage Shooting Star CSA By WES SANDER FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- Lily Schneider and Matthew McCue believe in farming. They believe it brings people together, and they believe that although it's tough, it's a viable business […]

A few weeks ago, Rob Cushman led a  seaweed workshop on the coast of Maine during our  3-day Chautauqua.  It was a magical morning, and many people in attendance wanted to know more - more about Rob's background, more about seaweed, more about the harvest.  Rob has written an amazing piece answering all of our […]

It is not my operating system! Opponents threaten to push for biotech labels Three farmers say biotech wheat will destroy Japanese market By DAN WHEAT WATERVILLE, Wash. -- Feeling their 1,012 petition signatures to stop genetically modified wheat have been ignored, three Waterville wheat growers may start a new petition drive this winter seeking labeling […]

any young farmers want to weigh in on this? Broadband Trumps Farmer Payments in Rural Aid. By Alan Bjerga - Aug 26, 2010 "Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack knows that Farm Belt protocol requires paying respect to the Butter Cow. During a visit to the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 17, he made the pilgrimage to […]

meatpaper is calling for submissions for their upcoming issue - do you have a meat story to share? or a story about a sandwich? the deadline is September 3!  For Issue Thirteen, the theme for Meat Up (our short essay section) is “The Worst Meat I Ever Ate.” Do you have a sweet, funny, terrifying, […]

with iconic hats. what more can we ask for , really. oh yes, their cause: noble ‘The Bulldozers Are Coming’: Garden Crusaders Hop on Their Bikes By COLIN MOYNIHAN Published: August 1, 2010 The bikes departed Tompkins Square, pedaled by men and women dressed in 21st-century thrift-store versions of 18th-century garb. There were tricorn hats, […]

Any other wildcrafters & foragers out there? There's a group from Seattle area - Foraged and Found Edibles Their website has a great listing of what's available & when. Foraging has been in the news a bunch lately, too: From the Los Angeles Times - For the self-reliant, the wild is a free buffet From […]