it's like a csa - but with software
Great news everone! Farmier is now accepting signups for its farmOS Hosting Service. Sign up now and you can start a 30 day free trial. After 30 days, farmOS hosting will be $50 per year. This is a special price for the beta period, so sign up now! What is "farmOS Hosting," you ask? You're […]
a fast food alternative
The Local Food Takeaway Project needs your help to make their ethically sourced and nutritious fast food alternative a reality. The Project is Crowdfunding to raise the necessary funds to re-purpose an old catering vehicle into a space for educational workshops and pop-up restaurants. Forget supersizing your fries, put that money toward adding local food to […]
the global poverty project: who benefits from welfare?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rtySUhuokM] In 13:22 gloriously-illustrated minutes, Berkeley professor Ananya Roy takes our assumptions about welfare and poverty to task.
how many bicycles would it take to power the internet?
Oh, just "a mere two billion bike generators, with 8 billion people pedal- ing." That's right, as it turns out, the entire population of the earth (and then some!) would need to pedal at once to power the internet by bike generator. How do we know? Well, we were curious, and so we did an […]
short film: age of the farmer
[vimeo 144575429 w=500 h=281] I am not usually one to use this phrase, but this beautiful six-minute documentary on "why we farm" is literally the story of my life. And I bet it'll resonate with you too! Watch: Age of The Farmer from Spencer MacDonald on Vimeo.
music: corner tour
Corner Tour is a band of charmers. We like to defy your ears with our melancholy mountain carnival. But don't ask us what kind of music this is. Listen for yourself especially around bedtime for some dream inspiration. To listen, CLICK HERE! A lightning bolt struck San Francisco in 1998 and Corner Tour was born. […]
open sourcing the q&a for state land rfp
There are 9 farms in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park that are part of a special program called the Countryside Initiative. These Park farms are committed to sustainable agriculture, and work with their park partners to be good land stewards. Earlier this year, the Countryside Initiative Request For Proposals (RFP) opened for two new farms. All […]
monsanto's pr- attempting to control science
BREAKING! DR. VANDANA SHIVA EXPOSES DETAILS OF MONSANTO'S INSIDIOUS AND DARK ORCHESTRATED WRITERS-FOR-HIRE PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN. Dr. Shiva shines the light on Monsanto's high stakes network of pseudo-journalist propagandists in this incisive MUST READ article. Please read and then SHARE WIDELY. "Currently, as Monsanto’s push in India, through corruption and lobbying, to get approval for Genetically […]
mobile slaughter house makes home slaughter possible
BROOKSVILLE, Maine — Rob Cushman believes there is a better way to kill farm animals than to load them in a truck and drive the anxious pigs, steers, goats and sheep to the nearest slaughterhouse, which in Maine can often be hours away. That’s why he and Jake Hearst, both of Brooksville, have decided to […]
age of the farmer
65 is the average age of farmers in Canada, and there are not enough young farmers to replace them… How did we get here? In the summer of 2015, Eva Verbeeck and Spencer MacDonald embarked on a trip throughout the Pacific Northwest to produce a short film on young farmers that would accompany her photo […]
grow it! social media for plants
Check out this new free app to help connect communities to their local landscapes! With real-time plant identification, this could be a wonderful tool to promote plant, flower and tree biodiversity. Available for android and iphone, click here to download this free app!
USDA whistleblowing
By Steve Volk October 28 A prominent Agriculture Department scientist is alleging that he was suspended after complaining that the agency was blocking his research into the harmful effects of pesticides on pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. In a whistleblower complaint filed Wednesday, Jonathan Lundgren, an entomologist and 11-year veteran of the […]
winter larder
A story of mobile slaughtering and winter workshops from The Farmstead Meatsmith of Vashon Island, WA. Read the newsletter and register for harvest HERE.
the future is a long time
The future is a long time and the winners of the Voices of the Soil Contest, hosted by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Lexicon of Food understand the importance of our soil and our future. The eight winners, ages 18-28, were chosen by a panel of soil experts including Joel Salatin, Dr. Elaine Ingham and […]
‘archipelago of hope’ book project shares indigenous peoples’ stories of climate, resilience
‘Archipelago of Hope’ Book Project Shares Indigenous Peoples’ Stories of Climate, Resilience By: Terri Hansen September, 24, 2015, Indian Country “We have the knowledge that can contribute to finding solutions to the crisis of climate change. But if you aren't prepared to listen, how can we communicate this to you?” Marcos Terena, Xané leader, Brazil. Indigenous […]
sail freight projects abound! meet the new FoodBargeHack @ It Takes a Region
We are SO HAPPY to see continued discussion of SAIL FREIGHT! As you may remember, we've been obsessed since our first sail freight project in VERMONT a few years ago, and then again in with Maine Sail Freight this past August. Like they said in the Portland Press Herald: "It's art. It's protest. It's celebration. And, who knows? […]
the uranium industry's dirty (not-so) little secret
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlqhjSMw2nA] How much uranium and radiation are in our groundwater? How much is in the crops that we irrigate with it? "Are the thirty-eight million people in the American Southwest aware that their water supply is filtered through 16 million tons of radioactive waste lying on the banks of the Colorado River?" And who is […]
earthalujia! sundays nov-dec, joes at the public in NYC
Revernd Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir "are wild anti-consumerist gospel shouters and Earth loving urban activists who have worked with communities all over the world defending community, life and imagination."
SARE grant proposals due nov 12
Every year the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture and Research and Education (SARE) offer grants capping at $15,000 to commercial farmers who are looking to explore and innovate. Last years winners included projects so wonderfully creative that they bordered on zany-- such as using mustard cover crops to biofumigate strawberries, pasturing rabbits for profit, and (my favorite) designing a low-impact […]
this is the most amazing hog scraping and gutting video you'll ever see
8 minutes. It only takes this man 8 minutes.
amazing european organization and ahead of the game when it comes to land access!
Our organizations work together to strengthen practical knowledge - on both problems and solutions - in the field of access to land for agroecological farmers. We thereby aim to promote the emergence and consolidation of grassroots initiatives, working towards securing access to land and land stewardship, as well as fostering a broader evolution of national […]
thank you uncle sam!
USDA Awards Millions to Support New Farmers The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on October 8th, 2015 awards totaling $17 million through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). BFRDP is the only USDA program exclusively dedicated to training new farmers and ranchers, particularly in sustainable production practices. This year, 34 organizations received BFRDP […]
one bottle of beer on the wall...
Anheuser-Busch's Brewery at 20th and Walnut-1894 The biggest beer conglomerate, Anheuser-Busch InBev, intends to gulp down the second biggest, SABMiller, leaving us with only one behemoth of brewing. The two mega-stouts of mass-marketing beer have agreed to a $104 billion dollar […]
how i edited an agricultural paper (once)
How I Edited An Agricultural Paper (Once) By: Mark Twain Friday, Oct 18, 2015, Rural America I did not take temporary editorship of an agricultural paper without misgivings. Neither would a landsman take command of a ship without misgivings. But I was in circumstances that made the salary an object. The regular editor of the […]
a tale of david vs. goliath
About 96,000 pounds of Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners were recalled Sunday by Kraft Foods Group Inc. of Columbia, MO, because of a packaging error. Classic Cheese Dogs are contained in packaging for Classic Wieners. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet... well, not in this case. The packaging […]
state of the maine grange
STATE OF THE GRANGE by Mary Pols Originally Posted on the Portland Press Herlad This week, the Maine State Grange holds its annual conference in Skowhegan. What, you didn’t know? Once upon a time, you absolutely would have known, because Grange was an integral part of Maine rural life, a gathering place for farmers and community […]
it takes a region, saratoga springs, nov. 12-14
Back in June, we posted about the upcoming NESAWG (Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group) It Takes a Region Conference. And maybe, at that moment, you thought that this year's theme of "Putting MOVE in the Movement" was so freaking great that you signed up immediately. If so, good for you! But maybe you, like me, were […]
2016 apprenticeships in regenerative agriculture in the american west
Starting a career in regenerative agriculture? Want to develop technical skills in grassfed beef production, dairy management and cheesemaking, or heirloom fruit tree cultivation and holistic orchard management? The wonderful folks at the Quivira Coalition are seeking applicants for their New Agrarian Program's eight-month (March to Nov 2016) on-site apprenticeships at San Jaun Ranch in Alamosa, CO; James Ranch […]
rewild! escape from monomania
Rewild! Escape from Monomania by: George Monbiot October 17, 2015, Rural America Most human endeavours, unless checked by public dissent, evolve into monocultures. Money seeks out a region’s comparative advantage—the field in which it competes most successfully—and promotes it to the exclusion of all else. Every landscape or seascape, if this process is loosed, performs […]
documented agricultural history from 1935-1944
Get ready to be looking at a lot of very amazing old photos on an interactive map... From 1935-1944, the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information undertook the largest photography project ever sponsored by the federal government. After a series of setbacks in the courts that repealed many of the First New Deal’s program, President […]
farmland leasing workshop in virginia's piedmont region
Calling all farmers and landowners! Are you a farmer looking for land to lease? What about a landowner who wants to lease your land? If this sounds like you, join Piedmont Environmental Council for one of two free workshops to learn more about leasing land, hear stories about current lease arrangements, and network with other […]
militant suffragettes movie: DELIGHTFUL reminder
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jBXQM7mIk]
maine grange halls
Photographer, Rose Marasco, has developed a large collection of photographs of the aging Grange halls of Maine. The halls in her photographs are at once regal relics of the past and a little spooky, leaving us both nostalgic and slightly unsettled by their slight disrepair. See a sampling of the collection on her website. A […]
did you watch hillary and bernie debate?
Time to pay attention. You can stream the debate here: https://youtu.be/RVHmox70vbI One thing we noticed: ZERO mention food, farmers, or agriculture - not in the context of public health or climate change. We are also not sure why CNN isn't hosting a easy-to-find full length debate video and lively comment section! The media prefers to offer you the soundbytes - instead […]