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Todays post is the text of an opinion piece written by William C Gehrke and published in The Kansas Union Farmer on April 16, 1936! Gehrke does an incredible job of articulating the benefits of organizing farmers, the challenges posed by hegemonic education, and the insufficiency of "rugged individualism and the gold standard." His remarks […]

Check out the text of Richard Heinberg's talk at the recent Techno-Utopianism conference in New York. -- How to Shrink the Economy without Crashing It: A Ten-Point Plan The human economy is currently too big to be sustainable. We know this because Global Footprint Network, which methodically tracks the relevant data, informs us that humanity is […]

Check out this video from The Rules, a non-profit dedicated to rethinking the consolidation of power in the global economy! Learn more about their vision HERE.

Michigan State University is ready to accept applications for their 2015 farmer training program! Looks like a really exciting opportunity. Here's what they have to say: "The Organic Farmer Training Program offers nine months of intensive instruction in year-round organic farming.  The program focuses on diversified production of vegetables, livestock, flowers, fruits and herbs for […]

via NPR Lisa Morehouse went to Corcoran state prison in California's Central Valley to report on inmates who work in the dairy there. "I really enjoy what I do," says Edward Wilson, who tests the milk for bacteria and is serving time for second-degree attempted murder. "I consume the milk, and I wouldn't want to send […]

via nesawg.org JIM HIGHTOWER America’s #1 Populist and Food System Reformer, to speak at NESAWG’s It Takes A Region Conference: Region-Sizing: Making It Work! November 11 – 12, 2014 National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and New York Times best-selling author Jim Hightower will be the keynote speaker at the 2014 It Takes a Region […]

via TechnologyWater.com UN Report Says Small-Scale Organic Farming Only Way to Feed the World by Nick Meyer of ALTHealthWorks Even as the United States government continues to push for the use of more chemically-intensive and corporate-dominated farming methods such as GMOs and monoculture-based crops, the United Nations is once against sounding the alarm about the […]

CIW LAUNCHES NEW FAIR FOOD LABEL The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Standards Council have officially released a label to help shoppers identify which tomatoes come from ethical farms. This is BIG news for farmworker justice in the fields and beyond. Starting this month, the label will be available to all grocery stores and […]

The Hidden Economies newspaper is published in conjunction with the seminar of the same name scheduled for 22-24. October, 2014 at the The Royal Academy of Fine Art, Copenhagen, DK. The paper includes the following articles: Economic Meltdown, or what an iceberg can tell us about the economy by J.K. Gibson-Graham Imagining Non-Work by Kathi Weeks Artist […]

Department of Agriculture cracks down on seed libraries by Naomi Creason via The Sentinel CARLISLE — It was a letter officials with the Cumberland County Library System were surprised to receive. The system had spent some time working in partnership with the Cumberland County Commission for Women and getting information from the local Penn State […]

Every year the Switzer Foundation provides funding for 20 scholars and innovators in terminal graduate programs in New England and California. The scholarship is $15,000 for the course of a year for people doing work on sustainability, agriculture, urban development, and related fields/issues. Their call of for applications says, "Candidates for the Fellowship should demonstrate […]

Occupy the Farm, an inspiring documentary about a community struggling to save public land for urban farming, is premiering in theaters November 7th!  The film highlights the power of direct action, and invites us to consider new strategies for activism.  Join the Facebook page for ticket information, to organize a screening, and to help get […]

The November 2014 issue of the e-magazine Green Money is out! It features a flagship article on Slow Money and the BEETcoin by the founder and chairman of Slow Money. Also included are articles on agroecology, solutions for Mexican food deserts, and coffee farmer co-ops, to name a few. You can read the full issue […]

Stefan Sobkowiak runs Miracle Farms, a five-acre orchard that he converted from organic monoculture to a permaculture orchard in 1993. Watch this video where he talks about abundance, biodiversity, and choosing to make a positive change. Learn more about Miracle Farms HERE. Follow them on Facebook HERE.

A very exciting part-time job opportunity in Connecticut! The Connecticut New Young Farmer Alliance is seeking a coordinator to help grow their network, manage events, and promote their organization. The ideal applicant will be passionate about farming and farmers, experienced with event coordination, an savvy with social media. Check out the posting HERE! To apply, […]

So much has been said about California's record-breaking draughts this year, but some experts have proposed that it's not so much a an absolute lack of water, but a problem of water management. A group of organizations in California have banded together to provide us with this INTERACTIVE MAP OF WATER RIGHTS in their state. It […]

On November 15th the Schumacher Center will be hosting lectures by Matt Stinchcomb, founder of Etsy, and Caroline Woolard, founder of OurGoods.org and TradeSchool.coop. The theme is Creative Enterprise in a New Economy. Farmers and cottage industry entrepreneurs get the student discount ($25 rather than $35)! We hope to see you there! Go HERE to […]

For almost three years a group of enthusiastic folks in Austin, TX have been growing food and building community in their neighborhoods. They're called Food is Free and they started by building a garden bed in their front yard and putting up a sign that the food growing there was free. Now they've built hundreds of […]

"It’s the greatest fight in human history, one whose outcome will reverberate for geologic time, and it has to happen right now." That's Bill McKibben, who will be in New York City this weekend to present at the Techno-Utopianism & the Fate of the Earth conference, quoted in an interview he gave to Guernica Magazine in 2012.

Rolling admission is now open on UVM's Farmer Training Program! This is a 6-month, hands-on program (May 4 - October 30, 2015) for aspiring farmers and food systems advocates that provides an experiential, skill-based education in sustainable farming. Students in this program get a unique and comprehensive education by running the 10-acre Catamount Educational Farm from seed […]

In May 2009 Dorothee Royal-Hedinger and Mark Boyer hit the roadto film people working on the cutting edge of sustainability. They traveled until September 2011 and now their website, OrganicNation.tv, is full of videos, photos, and blog posts about farmers, restauranteurs, academics, and filmmakers who are working on solving some of the threats to our planet. […]

For-profit farms that use volunteers are taking risks. The story is from California but much of the same legal basis exists in other states. Beware, farmers. Your interns or apprentices could cost you your farm... Castro Valley, California A small-time vintner's use of volunteer workers has put him out of business after the state squeezed […]

A state soil is a soil that has special significance to a particular state, and each state in the United States has one! According to the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), these “Official State Soils” share the same level of distinction as official state flowers and birds. The NRSC has handy fact sheets to download for each […]

Defend your public lands! Do not stand idly by while politicians try to auction off public lands to the highest bidder. Bus, food and door prizes are free...you can't afford not to come! Here are bus pick up times and locations: Great Falls: Scheels Parking Lot (pick up at 9:15 am) – 1200 10th Ave South, […]

Plucked from Civileats Maritime museums are nostalgic places full of black and white photographs of old sails and rugged seafarers. Ornate boats hint at centuries of technological progress and suggest that craftsmanship has suffered as a result. But the old became new again recently at the Hudson Maritime Museum in New York, when a sailboat […]

Ever heard of an in-residence program where you actually get to keep the residence??! That would be the case in this innovative new model coming out of Detroit. Write A House accepted applications from working, "low-income" writers earlier this spring, which included writing samples and a letter of intent. Whoever wins (to be announced this month) […]

Meet Daniel MacPhee and Corinne Wesh; farmers of seeds, trees, fruit, produce and now American guinea hogs at Blackbird Rise Farm in Palermo, Maine. They recently purchased four American guinea hog piglets to use as little tractors on their farm. These rare heirloom pigs, prized for their fatty meat (which is quite red), are rooting around to clean out the tough, […]

    Joseph E. Stiglitz, Politico July/August   I hadn’t realized when I was growing up in Gary, Indiana, an industrial town on the southern shore of Lake Michigan plagued by discrimination, poverty and bouts of high unemployment, that I was living in the golden era of capitalism. It was a company town, named after […]

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/92406649] Over Grow The System has been dedicated to raising awareness around our food system, sustainability, and how to live a life that is more in tune with nature. We recognize that many aspects of our current systems in place around the globe are causing much of the environmental destruction and social issues that […]

Dear Greenhorns: Are you:  1. a young / aspiring farmer? 2. A greenhorns FAN, literate on how to welcome new farmers into the network? 3. Able to sell merch, flirt with strangers, amuse yourself all day talking about farming?    We are looking for some Greenhorns-savvy representatives to attend, table, chit-chat, and sell merch at the […]

At the request of major peasant organizations, a group of scientists and agricultural experts sent a letter and document on the problem of genetically modified seeds to the Vatican on April 30, 2014.  Signed by eight experts from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, India and Canada, the letter and accompanying document call upon His Holiness to speak out against […]

Grant applications are being accepted from eligible applicants to assist socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers to own and operate farms and ranches. The grant will assist community-based organizations, higher education institutions and tribal entities in providing outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers. Applications must be submitted by […]

How do we bring together young organic farmers and wise energetic elders to form multigenerational retirement communities that farm? "Roadmap to Generosity Farm" is a book about how to provide (1) aspiring young farmers with land and (2) energetic elders with a healthy and intellectually stimulating life to form thriving community farms. To learn more […]

  The entire archive ofThe Seedhead News, a Native Seed/SEARCH member newsletter, is available online! You can browse through the 31-year history of the organization and learn an astounding amount about the agricultural and cultural diversity of the Greater Southwest. All issues are text-searchable and downloadable in PDF format. Visit the archive to start reading!

Some drought-stricken rivers and streams in Northern California's coastal forests are being polluted and sucked dry by water-guzzling medical marijuana farms, wildlife officials say -- an issue that has spurred at least one county to try to outlaw personal grows. State fish and wildlife officials say much of the marijuana being grown in northern counties […]

What does Monsanto do with their expired seeds? They try and pawn them off on other countries through packages offered by US aid. When the farmers of El Salvador uncovered the requirement that monsanto seed be purchased as part of the aid package, they banded together to block the stipulation. Unfortunately, strings are attached to […]

HAFA is delighted to be a finalist in theTwins “Fans Choose” All-Star Legacy Giving grant program. We need your help. As a finalist, we are now competing against six other top organizations for a $500,000 grant. In this final portion of the program, fans get to choose which organization should get the $500,000 grant. Please go […]

Week 26, 2014 We are sleep deprived and red-necked, the house is a total disaster, the lawn is shaggy, and we’ve been eating cold scraps out of a nearly barren fridge. And this is exactly the way it should be when things are going well at the end of June. The weather is behaving as […]

Support the campaign HERE, and visit their website. We're building the Grange Farm School to help aspiring farmers learn the skills they need to pursue their dreams as small farmers and to provide healthy local food to their communities.  We can't think of a more important task right now than training the next generation of […]