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Appetite for Change (AFC) coming out of North Minneapolis brings a nutritional presence to social media with a music video and track both profound and entertaining. These kids - one of them 11 years old - have lyrical skill and presence like any household name all while carrying a radical message: Transform food systems and start […]

Applications are now open! The Bay Area Farmer Training Program provides the education, training and tools for a new generation of farmers in California's Bay Area to create socially-just, ecologically sustainable and economically viable urban and peri-urban farm businesses. Exceedingly high recidivism rates, increasing immigrant populations, a scarcity of living-wages for vulnerable citizens, and the rapidly aging farmer […]

Learn more and buy the book here!

Now that we are blanketed down in snow and the sun is setting well before dinner, perhaps you, along with a great deal of other young landless farmers, find yourself looking for your next agricultural pursuit.  If so, here is a great opportunity to work alongside the sisters of Our Lady of the Rock, a […]

  The alternative we've been waiting for! Like Elon Musk meeting Ernest Hemingway, who wouldn't prefer an affordable high-speed catamaran across the Atlantic to a crowded jetliner? VoyageVert is currently crowdsourcing their funding to eliminate pollution from personal transportation which according to their website amounts to 23% of the world's CO2 pollution. Follow or share this amazing project […]

  On this winter’s solstice, along with traditions of stoking the hearth and nestling fireside, we thought to drop a line on the past season. In 2016 our Greenhorns network surpassed 62,000 – a community within reach of our media projects, news and inspiration. We are continuously working to broaden and diversify our network of […]

Each farmer seems to have a different take on winter. Some see it as welcome reprieve and time to take a load off, others as an interruption. If you are part of the former group, that is to say you light up at the thought of cozying up to a fire with the latest copy […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3EoxRiy01I] This falls under the category: Things I Didn't Know About but Feel Like I Should Have Known About But Are All-the-same Absolutely Fascinating

[vimeo 173969073 w=640 h=360] Unbroken Ground from Patagonia Provisions on Vimeo. Film maker Chris Malloy asks, how can different aspects of agriculture and our food economy alter to change our relationships to our land and our oceans.

Where does Dorn Cox find the time to get so much done? Dorn is a founding member and board president of farm hack, is director of Greenstart, and-- as his bio on their webiste totes-- on his 250-acre family farm in Lee, NH, "has worked to select effective cover crops, grains and oilseeds for food and […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqRxBjEaaKk] In 1967 Les Blank and Skip Gerson were hired to work in Thailand on a documentary about the B52 Bomber. There were some problems getting access to the planes. Weeks went by with Les and Skip on payroll, but with nothing to shoot. So they began traveling around the country shooting whatever they […]

Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA George Monbiot has something of reputation for discussing the more dire circumstances we face today, but in his latest article for The Guardian he presents some reasons not to despair. In particular, Monbiot hones in on the commons, which (as you may know) is the theme of this years New Farmers Almanac.

La Via Campesino is a tenacious international "peasants" movement long admired by the Greenhorns. (We covered them in a 2011 blog post about their food sovereignty youth training program and a post earlier this year on their declaration against the powers that be.) They seek to unite peasants, landless agrarians, woman farmers, and rural youth to fight to […]

Heading into a third year of providing educational programs, the good folks at the Grange School of Adaptive Agriculture have been busy training the next generation of farmers: The Grange School's programs recognize that food production must continually adapt to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The students in our three-month residential program are […]

We are all rubbing the crusties out of our eyes, reengaging with democracy and the mess created while we were asleep. As the attached article reaffirms for US citizens, our underlying goal is a self-governing Republic. But how do we as individuals affirm that effort - how do elected officials maintain that form? Cyber attacks and the lack of transparency about them […]

Water rights are a hot topic lately, especially in the arid Southwest. It's even harder for small farmers who often can't afford the increasing cost of water to irrigate their crops. Pair that with urban growth and developers with money to spend and it can be difficult to imagine an easy path forward for sustainable agriculture […]

With a Trump administration looming in 2017, the best course of action for progressives and left-leaning individuals in this country may be at the local level. Although Trump grabbed headlines with an anti-globalization platform, proponents of localism are understandably skeptical of his motives, especially considering his recent cabinet appointees. Enter Richard Heinberg's recent article at resilience.org. […]

Dear Friends, In just a few weeks Bayer and Monsanto are getting ready to file their merger with antitrust authorities in Europe and the U.S.. If they succeed, we are facing a nightmare scenario: more bee-killing neonics in our fields, more toxic glyphosate on our plates, and more corporate control over our food supply. Regulators can still stop […]

Can produce grown in a soilless medium be called organic? Vermont-based "Keep the Soil in Organic" says HECK, NO. Growing rapidly, this grassroots movement is drawing attention to the degradation of organic certification by big money and corporate interest in hydroponics. Started with a petition by two small-scale organic farmers, Dave Chapman and David Miskell, […]

  This German farmer is backed by hundreds of years of small-farmer family history has a lot to unload to Bayer as they attempt to merge with Monsanto in coming days. Ecologically minded farmers can be powerful advocates for our four-legged heroes! This man made a genuine attempt to showcase some beautiful pigs in front of Bayer headquarters but was […]

Thanks be to High Country News for this latest piece that brings us back to a much-needed review of the ins-and-outs of our representative federal form of government as they relate to the latest events at Standing Rock. Have you found yourself wondering over the past few months, how did we get here, why can this happen […]

Concerned about the role of Russian hackers in the Presidential election? MoveOn.org has a petition up asking for further investigation before Elector College Electors cast their vote: We ask all Electoral College Electors to not vote on the presidency until CIA and other official investigations into the Russian government's hacking of our 2016 election on […]

Did you, in all of the chaos of the election, miss the 11/8 Greenhorn's Radio show with Becky Brand of Brandmoore Farm in NH? Don't worry; we've got your back. Brandmoore Farm is a diverse, organic farm with a focus on cow dairy and vegetables, and Beck speaks about diversified small-scale farming on the sea coast, farming on […]

Attention, future and current food producers! The Grange School of Adaptive Agriculture has openings in their 2017 Practicum Program. Details below! How do you practice Adaptive Agriculture? You start by educating yourself on cutting edge practices, by questioning conventions, by equipping yourself with the skills to flex, adapt, adjust to changing conditions and contexts. At […]

[vimeo 124611294 w=640 h=352] Disillusioned by a cultural story of consumption and alienation, a newly married couple are called to action. Carrying with them their unborn child, they embark on a year-long journey around the UK, searching for the seeds of an alternative culture and with it hope for the future. we the uncivilized: A Life Story resonates deeply with […]

You've probably heard of Vandana Shiva--Indian author, environmental activist, and founder of Navdanya. Now comes a new documentary film about her life titled The Seeds of Vandana Shiva. Watch the trailer below: [vimeo 133208432 w=640 h=360] To help fund this film, please consider a donation.

Live on Heritage Radio's Greenhorns Radio show this Tuesday, we'll interview farmer Erica Frenay of Shelterbelt Farm in Ithaca New York. Erica also works for Cornell's Small Farms Institute, and her bio on their page should give you an idea of how many rich topics of conversation this interview might follow. Erica began working for […]

Apply for Glynwood Farm's Business Incubator! The deadline for initial applications and letters of intent for Glynwood’s Hudson Valley Farm Business Incubator (HVFBI) has been extended to January 6, 2017, with the 2017 program beginning in early next May. HVFBI is taking the "long view" on supporting a new generation of farmers in the region, equipping participants with […]

Please join Seed Song Farm this Sunday, December 11, for their first HARVEST LUNCH in a new heated indoor space. The event is a fundraiser for the expanding infrastructure at the Farm Center. What: A locally grown, seasonal, homemade lunch at the farm; a short presentation about our exciting plans for 2017; visit the new spaces. When: Sunday, December 11th, 11am - 2pm (drop in […]

Dec 10th Book Release Party: Nature’s Remedies & New Farmers Almanac Calling all fellow Greenhorns, plant lovers, and herb nerds!  It’s Jean Willoughby here, and I can easily be described by all three of those lovely, earthbound designations. I hope you’ll join me and an amazing group of folks at the Third Root Community Health Center, a […]

How many times are you asked at the market (or anytime really) why people ought to support local, organic producers? Surely it happens often enough that you've got your own rote lines memorized. As consumers are increasingly questioning the economic chain that makes up the production of things, from food to garments, we're reminded that […]

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and food justice, food sovereignty, and veganism are your bag, check out the People's Harvest Forum. Tickets are still available to this four-day event in San Francisco's Mission District starting this Friday, December 9th. The conference is organized by Seed the Commons and includes a diverse group […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRkKF0EfwG8] The Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success is organizing this crowdfunding campaign and the goal is simple: Raise $20,000 to help purchase Fresh Start Farms in Dunbarton, NH. This 50+ acre parcel of land offers refugee farmers a place to live and grow food. These farmers have been working hard on the land for […]

"Bismarck qualified for the extra protections, Standing Rock did not, nor did the crossing at the Des Moines River" Ferocious protesters at the Des Moines River in Iowa watched as DAPL drilled under their source of drinking water. Federal laws that prioritize and protect larger population areas aren't extended to rural people who surprisingly also drink water! Drilling happened December […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JDfr6KGV-k] What creates a high-engagement high-productivity work system? "Create an alignment of strengths that make the weaknesses irrelevant." This short video with Professor Cooperridder,  Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, has some powerful insights to offer. We wonder how this kind of thinking could be applied […]

Hey, we mostly all know by now that trees are pretty nifty things. But, did you know that some scientists are using the migration patterns of glowing geckos to prove just how important trees are in the protection of both flora and fauna on your farm? What better way to show that climate change is […]

If you're anything like me, you need a push to get your holiday shopping done in a timely fashion. So here's your push: give the gift of superfood and support Brooke Budner, an Orcas Island based artist, entrepreneur, and kick ass farmer, by purchasing her seasoning blend, Landsea Gomasio. A table salt substitute of wild […]

  Ever think you could buy yourself an Italian village on eBay? Well, you can! These types of deals are becoming more and more common. Ideally, these villages would be revived and restored by a developer who would respect the cultures and traditions of these sparsely populated areas. The village has been put up for […]

Every little bit helps! These fifteen steps from Katie Singer are also good initiatives towards reducing energy usage, reconnecting with the physical world, and saving your sanity. I like number 5 the best: 5. Think of your mobile phone as a message-taker. Program it to let you know every two hours whether or not you’ve got a […]

Update: The US Army has denied the permit allowing the NDAP to pass under the Missouri river and through Standing Rock land! In the face of an uncertain transition in Washington and the continued silence of the current administration, musician, activist, and all round great fellow, Niel Young issued a statement calling president Obama to […]