sustainability
(online) Maine real organic symposium January 30th 2022 & February 6th, 2022
January 30th, 2022 & February 6th, 2022 3-5pm EST Last year we moved our Real Organic Symposium online and over 1750 unique attendees registered for our live sessions (1030+ were farmers) plus an additional 491 viewers registered to view the recorded sessions between February and August 2021. Our 2021 videos are now free and viewable with no ticket requirement […]
sierra club endorses consumer-owned utility in Maine
In the Portland Press Herald this week Sierra Club officially endorsed Our Power: “The choice is ours. We can be captive customers of CMP and Versant’s profiteers or save Maine dollars while investing in better, more reliable service, and a more rapid and affordable shift to clean energy.” We couldn't agree more, which is why we […]
food system change online congress (march 22nd-24th 2021)
Our food system is not sustainable. The current global crisis draws attention to this fact more than ever. The Food System Change Online Congress will highlight solutions to this problem by presenting decentralized, bottom-up initiatives from all over Europe, which push for a sustainable transformation of the food system. Taking place via live online transmission […]
repurposed: agricultural waste in construction materials
As the interest in environmental sustainability continues to grow, many are curious as to how to reuse or re-imagine materials and substances that may be considered agricultural or construction waste. This interest may be partly fueled by pending shortages and rising input prices. For example, insulation companies have developed alternative insulation materials from agricultural waste […]
wright-locke farm's speaker series july 19th 2017 - molly anderson
As part of their 2017 speaker series, Wright-Locke Farm are hosting their second monthly speaker, Molly Anderson, on July 19th. Molly is a professor of food studies at Middlebury College, a member of the Network Design Team of Food Solutions in New England and is co-author of A New England Food Vision 2060: Healthy Food […]
growing true blue indigo dye in a closed loop system
As part of their True Blue project, Fibershed, have recently released a report on the processes and practices involved in the making of blue indigo dye. They explain the idea of a closed-loop ideal indigo dye production system which "moves from soil to dye to textiles and back to soil." The basis for the report […]
watch: island earth
[vimeo 186219395 w=640 h=360] To feed all the humans on the planet, we are going to have to grow as much food in the next 35 years as we have grown since the beginning of civilization. Shocked when he found out that chemical companies were using Hawaii as the testing ground for their GMO crops, […]
be a delegate at slow food nations
Registration is now open for delegates who would like to represent their regions at the Slow Food Nations summit in Denver July 14-16, 2017.
"ditching NAFTA" may hurt american farmers, but which ones?
This NPR report suggests that leaving NAFT could hurt American farmers, but we wonder if it could actually help small-scale agriculture.
tomorrow on greenhorns radio! jeff conan on the devasting effects of palm oil production
Tomorrow January 25th on the Heritage Radio Network, Greenhorns radio talks to Jeff Conan, Senior Forest Campains Manager at Friends of the Earth, a global activist network that campaigns for international environmental and climate justice. Much of Conan's work focusses on the toxic legacy of palm oil production in Gautemala. Maybe you already knew that the […]
dogfish: a shark for breakfast?
NPR's The Salt on why dogfish, a shark that is plentiful off the coast of New England, is primarily exported to Europe for consumption while Americans import 90% of the fish they consume.
radio interview with draft-horse vegetable farmer
A brief but thought-provoking interview with David Fisher and Anna Maclay of Natural Roots Farm in Conway, MA.
"land restoration economy"
[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
[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 […]
easy steps you can take to reduce your electromagnetic pollution exposure
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 […]
reinventing the commons, montague, ny, jan 20
Reinventing the Commons: Social Ecosystems for Local Stewardship & Planetary Survival A Friday evening public talk and Saturday one-day workshop With David Bollier and Dave Jacke Montague Common Hall (“Grange”), 34 Main St., Montague, MA 01351 Friday, January 20, 2017, 7-9 PM, $10 @ door or in advance. Saturday, Jan 21, 2017, 8:30-5, $85-125, includes Friday evening […]
beautiful new hopeful documentary on solutions to the current eco-crisis
[vimeo 171389901 w=640 h=360] Ryan Wirick, a documentary filmmaker is looking for help supporting and funding his new feature-length documentary, The Need To GROW, a "solution-packed journey into the lives of those working to fix our broken food system in the US. It focuses on SOLUTIONS (activism, permaculture, farmer's markets and many many more), to localize […]
peace of earth's amazing cold storage scheme
We have a stubborn and delicious dream that farming can evolve to exist without a constant input of fossil fuels, and Peace of Earth Farm in Albany, VT is dreaming it too! Farmer Rebecca Beidler, has put out a call for support on a super innovative research project to combine the technologies of root cellars and ice houses to […]
yeah baby! cover cropping makes the NYT front page
I can almost hear organic farmers across the country rolling their eyes, cover cropping: this is news? And, I know, I know, you've been doing this for years-- but, yes, actually there's some real good news here: New York Times writer Stephanie Strom's report, "Cover Cropping: A Farming Revolution with Deep Roots in the Past," indicates that the […]
strong canadians! over grow the system
[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 […]
important article
Realities of Shifting to a Sustainable Economy by John Fullerton “The true nature of the international system under which we were living was not realized until it failed.” —Karl Polanyi A transition to a sustainable economy requires not only population stabilization, breakthroughs in resource productivity and checks on material consumption, but also constraints on aggregate […]