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Will this Farm Bill do enough for young farmers? By Lindsey Lusher Shute By the time the next Farm Bill expires in five years, 125,000 American farmers will have retired. This fact may well be the biggest threat to national food security, but you wouldn’t know it if you’ve been following this year’s Farm Bill hearings.Instead, the […]

A new movie, with strong emphasis on biological integrity of the soil, carbon sequestration, humane beef and other areas that deserve more literacy. www.farmlandia.us Very nice film maker, we shared the session at the brooklyn food conference, a treat!

Where Are All The Young Farmers? Posted on 06 May 2012 by Gary Truitt Have you ever had the experience of watching a television commercial; and, when it is over, you have no idea what it was for, what the message was, or even what product or company it was for? This is not due […]

Rural places, extractive economies, the complicated realities that are beautifully here images, by Lucas Foglia. http://lucasfoglia.com/frontcountry/  

..consider the pastoralists of mongolia (images a la Eric Valli): http://www.ericvalli.com/index.php?/stories/caravans/

Check out Occupy the Farm's website for updates and read on for some news! University of California Berkeley Professor Miguel Altieri is planting Gill Tract research crops this morning! When: Wednesday, May 9th – 8:30 AM Where: The Gill Tract; Albany, CA Dr. Miguel Altieri, UC Berkeley researcher, to proceed with research at Gill Tract […]

The question becomes: How do these luxury estates, in being re-booted, and re-vamped by philanthropies ( such as Doris Duke Foundation) provide the incubated farmers with equity, not just a bunk bed. How do we ensure that the adaptive re-use of pre-income-tax estates of the gilded age don't become shiny summer camps for ' agrarian […]

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70AhpYCdJVI&feature=player_embedded]

Friday, May 18, 4-7pm: Opening Reception for the New Farmer Narrative Project’s Journey into Farming exhibit at the Chatham Real Food Market Co-op (15 Church Street, Chatham, NY). This traveling exhibit highlights the journeys, stories and experiences of 20 new farmers in Columbia County through a photo- and story-based display. The project is based on interviews and farm tours conducted by […]

Francis Thicke is on board as another speaker for this summer's Farm Hack IOWA.  More to come.  We're three steps ahead of you. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK77_BR8uZ4] Francis Thicke, candidate for secretary of Agriculture, discusses the advantages of using renewable energy on farms, and as an example he uses solar panels to heat water for his dairy farm.

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dPU_HCLo5Y] + a note from Jared Flesher, director, SOURLANDS: I’m excited to share with you today the official trailer for SOURLANDS, a documentary film starring food, energy, habitat, crazy weather, global climate change and — most important of all — the people these issues impact. For those of you not familiar with the Sourlands, […]

...among other things! Those of you who have not yet read any of her works have some good reading to look forward to  http://www.cookstr.com/users/naomi-duguid/profile + Naomi's blog !

Atina Diffley’s Memoir, Turn Here Sweet Corn

Screening of 'YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip', John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with Take One Action. 30 March 2012

Windsor High Chairs from Jericho Settlers Farm. These remind us of The Ox Cart Man.  

It is my great pleasure to announce to you that my new book, The Art of Fermentation, is now available. Books are available for purchase on my website for $30 for the hardcover edition, list price $39.95. Just click here. Or if you have a local bookstore where you shop, please request that they stock […]

the new documentary film about the Boston Tree Party, “Growing Civic Fruit,” is available to watch on youtube: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOBJy9VnNng]

Their Spring issue includes a special section devoted to food and food politics:   Introduction: Food and the Body Politic Sarah Leonard   Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill Marion Nestle

This delicious cider was donated for our Farmhack ESSEX event over the weekend.  Wonderful stuff!   Check out their facebook page.  

Wendell E. Berry, noted poet, essayist, novelist, farmer, and conservationist, delivered the 41st Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, entitled “It All Turns on Affection" -- this lecture is most prestigious honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. + read the lecture HERE + a video recording

The NYC Food Book Fair is the world’s first event aimed at bringing together food publications from around the globe.  In addition to cookbooks, the Food Book Fair will feature memoirs and magazines addressing diverse topics including science, food systems, agriculture, urban design, food art and culture. Curated panel discussions, a pop-up bookstore and dozens of book […]

By ANDREW POLLACK Published: April 25, 2012, NYtimes.com To Jody Herr, it was a telltale sign that one of his tomato fields had been poisoned by 2,4-D, the powerful herbicide that was an ingredient in Agent Orange, the Vietnam War defoliant. “The leaves had curled and the plants were kind of twisting rather than growing straight,” […]

GROWING CITIES is a feature-length documentary that examines the role of urban farming in America and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and change the way we eat.  The film follows two friends on their journey across the country as they meet the men and women who are challenging the way this country grows and […]

Orion's May/June issue is now on newsstands re: the new farming movement ! + read the full issue online HERE + this video on the "lexicon of sustainability"

http://foodbookfair.com

Should Young Farmers Be Exempt From a National Draft? by Jenna Woginrich for Huffington Post I remember hearing a friend complaining about the Amish once at a dinner party, saying in angry tones how "they don't pay taxes or fight for their country." I raised my eyebrow at this. The Amish do, of course, pay […]

Tales from the Sustainable Underground: A Wild Journey with People Who Care More about the Planet thanthe Law (New Society Publishers) Tuesday, April 24th, 8PM. Occupy Albany indoor space, 472 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY An evening presentation and book release with Stephen Hren, author. Activists striving for any type of social change often find themselves […]

27 april 2012 ESSEX JUNCTION, VERMONT @ phoenix books, 21 essex way book signing: join author and editor severine vt fleming for a discussion and book signing of "greenhorns: 50 dispatches from the new farmer movement". Sponsored by storey publishing. free and open to the public 6:30-7:30pm

News from greenhorn Kacie Lopato, now harvesting west coast seaweed! I am writing to you today offering a variety of locally gathered wild edible seaweeds. I have both Pacific (for a limited time)and Atlantic seaweed in stock. Below you can read a short description of each seaweed. Bull Whip Kelp- Bright green and flaky. Salty […]

Sugar Beet Industry's Opinion on Roundup Ready Sugar Beets and Frank Morton’s Response The pro-biotech web site “Truth About Trade & Technology” published an article written by a farmer named Noel Kjesbo, who is a sugar beet producer in the Red River Valley (North Dakota and Minnesota – he doesn’t say specifically which state he […]

Occupy the Farm Activists Reclaim Prime Urban Agricultural Land in SF Bay Area Albany, Calif., April 22, 2012 – Occupy the Farm, a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East […]

New Young Farmer Loan to help next generation of producers April 12, 2012 SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire - April 12, 2012) - Young and beginning farmers will find it easier to start and grow their farm businesses with the help of a new $500 million loan program. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Farm Credit Canada (FCC) President […]

"The farm bill, being debated in the Senate this month, is felt far beyond the cornfields of Iowa. It’s about what we grow, but it’s also about what we eat and how we live. On the potato chip aisle, Americans are seeing the farm bill’s market pressures. On the scale at the doctor’s office, we are […]

U.S. Senate Ag Committee on Fast Track with Farm Bill: Support for New Farmer Training & Assistance In Peril The U.S. Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill will be introduced by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow in the next few days, and immediately following its introduction it will be marked up and voted on by the Senate […]

26 april 2012 HARDWICK, VERMONT @ hardwick town house, 127 church street screening + book signing: join us for a greenhorns film screening followed by "greenhorns" book reading and q&a with severine vt fleming. Sponsored by storey publishing, the center for an agricultural economy, and galaxy bookshop. $5 suggested donation. RSVP and see who else is going on facebook here. 6:30pm

“High premium subsidies have hurt small and beginning farmers because the subsidies themselves have distorted the market,” Mr. Coburn said.  “For instance, high subsidies have artificially increased the value of land and have created other barriers to entry and expansion.” and But lawmakers on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are opposed to any adjustments […]

Food Justice from the Ground Up: Stories of Change A just and healthy food system isn’t going to manifest out of the halls of Congress. The food justice movement needs support up and down the food chain—farmers, grocers, farm workers, writers, activists, parents, children, eaters. Stories are some of the most powerful tools that we […]

more work by FERN. New Report Highlights Ubiquity of Controversial Chemicals in Food System Emerging Science Reveals Chemicals From Myriad Sources Show Up in Food and May Be Harmful at Lower Amounts New York, NY–On the heels of the decision last month by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to allow continued use of […]

our new distributor for screenings.  http://collectiveeye.org/ They also sell other food and farming films including: Queen of the Sun The Real Dirt on Farmer John Life and Debt They started a non-profit distribution company because they needed to distribute their film and didn't like what was available. We like their DIY spirit, and the rad […]

An important documentary-in-progress about farm workers.  Check out their kickstarter page FOOD CHAIN explores the state of labor within the agriculture sector in the US and the immoral practices that affect the lives of countless thousands of farm workers. WHY YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT: We have spent 8 months on the road, logging over 400 hours of footage […]