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The Leap to Biosphere Consciousness and Collaboration: An Interview With Author Jeremy Rifkin Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, The Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism, describes a world where privatized monopolies yield to collaborative Commons. Over the last two hundred and fifty years, various social thinkers […]

Lisa Hamilton has written an excellent article, The Quinoa Quarrel - as of a collaboration between FERN and Harper's Magazine. You must be a Harper's subscriber to read the article online, but FERN has published a beautiful photo essay by Hamilton: Native Lands: The Birthplace Of Quinoa by Lisa Hamilton Many people consider quinoa to be […]

We focus our attention on:  http://magazine.ouishare.net http://www.shareable.net http://blog.peers.org/ http://www.reddit.com/search?q=sharing+economy&restrict_sr=off&sort=relevance&t=all http://ourgoods.org know of other resources for the sharing economy? email us! [email protected]

By Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times May 8, 2014 “Bad behavior is pretty rare in our industry,” one of the six young farmers profiled in “Farmland” tells us. Though he doesn’t elaborate, his comment’s lack of detail and depth is typical of a film that plays more like a feature-length advertisement than like a documentary. You […]

The following essay written by George Naylor was published published by the Huffington Post on May 9, 2014 and is deserving of attention. Picture via National Geographic The brief article, "A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World" offered by Professor Jonathan Foley in the latest National Geographic magazine, clearly states the stark features of a global […]

Here’s a fun fact: Abraham Lincoln didn’t go to law school. He independently studied the law, registered with the Sangamon County Court in Illinois and passed an oral examination by a panel of attorneys. He was then given his license to practice law. In five states, you can still take this non-law school route to […]

By Carrington Morris of Edible Manhattan April 17, 2014 Earlier this month, luminaries of the food movement — who also happen to be longtime friends — took the stage at Cooper Union’s historic Great Hall. Attendees flocked from across the nation to watch farmer-poet Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson, president of The Land Institute, join New York Times columnist Mark […]

This video is the first thing you see when you click on the EXPO page of the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) website.  This video has nothing to do with agriculture and everything to do with image. It's the women's version of the Marlboro Man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVQubTu17qA   Is this the right role model for these […]

Announcing The Kitchen Sisters spanking new podcast ~Fugitive Waves~ Fugitive Waves: Lost recordings, shards of sounds. Tales of remarkable people from around the world.  Stories from the flip side of history. All three episodes are on iTunes with many more to come! Episode 3:  Eel Pie Island
  Episode 2: Tennessee Williams and The Pennyland Recordings […]

We love this band. The Whiskey Farm

Good Food Web is launching on May 23! And they're seeking "expert advisors". The Good Food Web is a platform where food-focused entrepreneurs of all kinds can tell their story, share best practices and build alliances to grow their business. Some experienced entrepreneurs have accumulated knowledge and insight that would be of great value to […]

More recordings from this amazing event available are here: http://agrariantrust.org/symposium/

What a great model! Taos Food Center Food is at the heart of the cultures and people of Northern New Mexico. The Taos Food Center is at the heart of TCEDC''s activities in supporting the people, cultures, and food of Northern New Mexico. The Taos Food Center is a 5,000 sq. ft. commercial kitchen that […]

Such as this job, at one of our favorite farms - Juniper Hill in Westport, NY.  Other places to look include MOFGA (Maine), PASA (Pennsylvania) and nation sites like Good Food Jobs (which we partner with). Juniper Hill Farm has a full time farm worker position starting April/May 1st going through November/December possibly year round. Come join our […]

Gathering of Maine’s Young Farmers Alliance! The next gathering will be held at Grassland Farm in Skowhegan on Saturday May 10th at 5pm. After a round of introductions there will be a farm tour and potluck. Please bring a dish and drinks to share. FMI or to carpool email David Gulak, [email protected]. Grassland Farm is located at 41 Grassland Lane, […]

A perspective from 1943. Download the pdf: Kansas Union Farmer

The latest from Rev. Billy! We’re swarming at Times Square and Harvard University and Monsanto - a corporation that drenches the land with bee-killing pesticides and GMO crops.  We returned last night from Cambridge, where we confronted designers of the Robobee, the robot slated to replace the Honey Bee as the real bee slides into extinction.Watch […]

Kate Tempest started out when she was 16, rapping at strangers on night busses and pestering mc's to let her on the mic at raves. Ten years later she is a published playwright, poet and respected recording artist. Here's a snippet from the video above: Look, if all these people were prophets, We’d profit. We […]

Do any of you annual farmers ever get tired of bending over all day and dream of growing food whilst standing? There is a solution- you can grow food (and drink) on trees! The US is currently witnessing a booming growth in hard cider production that shows no chance of slowing anytime soon. The demand for cider […]

According to the FFA website, Monsanto, Pfizer (Monsanto's pharmaceutical business), Cargill, Dupont and Syngenta donated millions of dollars to the FFA in 2013, and have been awarded "Platinum" and "Gold" sponsorship titles by the organization.  In 2012, a press release from the FFA stated that these companies (and some others) had donated 16.8 million dollars to help "create […]

Visit http://patperry.net to see more of Pat's art.

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. Click HERE to download some of their music!   

Agrarian Trust's May 3rd training workshop with the NY State Agricultural Mediation Program (NYAMP), Negotiation Your Way to Land, is SOLD OUT. You can get a podcast of the program by joining the Agrarian Trust email list. For those of you in the Hudson Valley, there are two more workshops coming up THIS weekend, hosted by the the Hudson Valley […]

Thoughts on Land Reform Summits in San Francisco By Raj Patel, 04/19/2014 In San Francisco, from April 25-28, 400 people from across the country and around the world gathered to discuss an awkward problem – land reform in America. Land reform is a loaded term, one that reeled conference participants’ imaginations toward the antics of Third […]

Study Sustainable Farming this Summer at the University of Vermont Learn sustainable farming at UVM’s Catamount Educational Farm this summer in beautiful Burlington, Vermont – a hot-spot for community-based food and agricultural systems. Be part of the vibrant learning environment of the farm that cultivates over 10 acres of vegetables and fruit for the UVM […]

“In real estate it’s location, location, location and for monarchs and other wildlife it’s habitat, habitat, habitat”, said Chip Taylor, Director of Monarch Watch. Monarch Watch (www.MonarchWatch.org) started in 1992 as an outreach program dedicated to engaging the public in studies of monarchs and is now concentrating its efforts on monarch conservation. “We have a […]

An excellent network & resource: Good Food Web The Good Food Web is a community-driven online platform to build a resilient, good food economy. We connect farmers, food entrepreneurs, investors, advocates and eaters to educational resources, best practices and expert advisors. Find the people and info you need to build your local food business. Earn […]

Novella Carpenter's latest book! Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild Gone Feral is Novella Carpenter’s search for her father. Back-to-the-land homesteader, gifted classical guitarist, Korean War vet, hermit, curmudgeon, George Carpenter has been absent for most of his daughter’s life. But when he officially goes missing— only to be found in a fleabag Arizona motel, escaping the brutal Idaho […]

Read National Geographic's piece, Feeding 9 Billion, HERE. (with some incredible photography) Eric Holt-Gimenez of Food First responds HERE. Feeding Nine Billion: Five Steps to the Wrong Solution Eric Holt-Giménez | 04.25.2014 National Geographic‘s recent online slideshow featuring an article by global ecologist Jonathan Foley lays out a Five Step Plan to Feed the World that proposes to […]

Ceres is preparing to launch again for her second season delivering Vermont goods on Lake Champlain and the Hudson. We are looking forward to heading down the river again in June, and the highlight of the second voyage will be the Clearwater Festival, June 21 & 22 in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.  Also known as Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, […]

via Comunidad a Comunidad Our Farm Worker Community needs your help today. As many of you know, Familias Unidas por la Justicia has been in a labor dispute with Sakuma Bros. Farms in Skagit County.  Familias Unidas por la Justicia want a just wage, fair treatment, and decent housing and have been trying to negotiate […]

Throughout the world and here in the United States, innovative practices are taking place on farms, ranches, and forests. This report highlights some exciting progress and identifies a number of near- and long-term actions with potential to realize the full range of solutions that farmers, ranchers, and foresters can deliver from the land. Thought leaders […]

Learning By Doing At The Farm: Craft, Science, and Counterculture in Modern California Beginning in 1968, the University of California, Irvine, was host to an experiment in intercultural exchange and artistic and social scientific learning through practice. Located on the edges of William Pereira’s California Brutalist campus, the Farm was a space for craftspeople from […]

Food for Thought, For Becoming at Home in Our Place, For Thoughtfulness in Producing Food. By Gary Nabhan With future generations in mind, may my family and friends never leave the land we steward poorer, nor its water scarcer than conditions were before we acquired responsibility for their care. May we keep land meant to […]

On Thursday, September 22, the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), a new trade association made up of some of the biggest players in the food industry—including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Dupont, and Monsanto—hosted what they called “Food Dialogues” in Washington D.C., New York City, U.C. Davis, and Fair Oaks, Indiana. The USFRA describes the Food […]

A Food Initiative on the Gill Tract Farm >> Sign Here <<  We urge UC Berkeley administration, the UC Regents, and President Napolitano to halt the current development plan for the Gill Tract Farm and enter into a collaborative design process with students and community for the entire Gill Tract Farm. For over 15 years, faculty, students, […]

Preliminary results from the 2012 Census of Agriculture show the increasing role of women in U.S. agriculture—especially on organic and small-scale farms. When Lindsey Morris Carpenter was a college student studying art in Philadelphia, she never expected that, just a decade later, she would spend most of her days fixing up tractors, turning piles of […]

Scholarships available for young farmers! Balle Conference: Prosperity for All June 11-13, Oakland, CA [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJJjR_8USH4&w=560&h=315]

HERE. Reading materials on topics of agrarian interest, including the following: agricultural history, rural social movements land tenure across history and cultures rise of capitalism, colonialism, and international markets agricultural policy labor and solidarity economics social justice and movements for change subsistence and peasant studies

Check out this important new film, which will be released in 17 days: Fed Up  [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUbvOwwfWM&w=560&h=315]