Local Seedling Sales around the State

Didn't get a chance to start your seeds this year? That's ok! You can still have organic, locally seeded veggies - from the experts!

A number of farms around the state are having seedling sales this weekend.  If you're a farmer and would like some help promoting your seedling sale, please post it on CT NOFA's Facebook.

Here are the ones we know about, one in New Haven, one in New Britain and one in Waterford:

Common Ground High School's Seedling Sale
May 18, 10:00am - 3:00pm
385 Springside Avenue, New Haven
http://commongroundct.org/events/farm-festival-and-seedling-sale/





Urban Oaks Organic Farm
May 17 (12:00pm - 6:00pm)
May 18 (9:00am - 2:00pm)
225 Oak Street, New Britain, CT
http://www.blog.urbanoaks.org/?page_id=713

Hunts Brook Farm Farm Tour and Seedling Sale
Saturday & Sunday May 18&19 (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.)
108 Hunts Brook Road
Quaker Hill, CT 06375
http://huntsbrookfarm.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/farm-tour-and-seedling-sale/

Also, if you're looking for some fun with the whole family, visit Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury, CT for Flanders Family Farm Fun Day on May 18 between 10:00 and 3:00!  CT NOFA will be there with NEW Farm and Food Guides!

We hope you can enjoy this weekend for some gardening, and visiting some of our states working and educational farms to get to know farmers and your food better!

Best,

Kristiane

Food Traceability: Another Reason to Buy Local

Foodborne illness can happen in any environment, whether on a small farm, in your kitchen, or in a huge industrial food supply chain. In industrial ag, however, complications arise because it's often hard to locate the source of a foodborne pathogen.  Food Safety News recently featured an article about farm-to-fork traceability - how well recorded the processes are that foods go through during the time between harvest and consumption. Their report shows that cumbersome long distance supply chains like the one that provides the majority of America's food, are fraught with recording system incompatibilities and a lack of consistency, making it difficult to trace a pathogen outbreak back to its source in a timely fashion. The article weaves this tale:

Picture a pile of tomatoes in the produce section. Farms supply tomatoes to a distributor, who gives them a product code before passing them onto a retailer who may give them a different identifying code. Go find a can of diced tomatoes in another aisle and the number of changed hands and identification codes may have doubled. Find a jar of salsa — the ingredients, codes and suppliers compound exponentially.
Now, throw a Salmonella outbreak into the mix. Hundreds of people around the country report illnesses and face interviews with investigators asking them to recall several weeks of meal histories.

At first, interviews seem to point to tomatoes as the most likely source — maybe a lot of the victims ate salsa — and so investigators begin tracing back through the tomato supply chain in search of the contamination. Eventually, however, the investigation into tomatoes dries up, and it only later becomes apparent that the outbreak was instead likely caused by contaminated jalapeño peppers.

That’s what happened across 43 states in the spring of 2008, and while investigators were tracing back through tomato supply chains, the jalapeños were granted more time to sicken additional consumers.

The industrial food system has a lot of inefficiencies, and a lot of middlemen.  In such an overly complex system, problems tend to arise and are difficult to solve. As a person eating those products, it's hard to trace where each ingredient is coming from and what processes it went through, so consumers are heavily reliant on the industrial food system's faulty food traceability mechanism.  This reliance is inefficient and dangerous, but there are alternatives!

If you want to know what's in your food, there are a few easy things you can do:

• Buy minimally processed foods that only have a few ingredients, and make sure those ingredients are things that you recognize and can pronounce!
• Buy whole foods like fruits and vegetables that have only one ingredient
• Buy organic. These foods are exposed to far less chemicals and don't contain any genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
• BUY LOCAL! If you know the farmer and the farm where your food came from, you'll not only know what's in it, but also what processes (if any) the food went through between the time it was harvested and the time it goes into your mouth.

It's easier now more than ever to buy local!  Check out our brand new Farm and Food Guide to find a sustainable farmer, business, or farmers market near you.  You can also visit the CT Farm Map online for an interactive farm location experience!

Have a great afternoon,
Melissa

Get Ready for Spring Crops!

Although you can grow or buy a bounty of foods year-round in Connecticut, now is the time that the season for a wide array of spring and summer crops really starts to pick up.  This week as you're contemplating your grocery list, check out the above Connecticut Grown calendar (also available online here) to see what's growing in the area right now. 

Then, check out our brand new Farm and Food Guide that just came out for a listing of organic and sustainable farms near you!  The Guide provides not only a list of farms and farmers markets with maps that show where each farm is located, but also contains information about which Connecticut Grown farm products are available from each farm.  Starting right now, you can use the Guide and the CT Grown map together to get more of your produce from local sources.

And don't forget, CT farmers offer all of the produce listed in the map, plus more!  Check out the Guide to learn about additional types of produce as well as baked goods, dairy items, meat and seafood, and so much more! Buying local is an easy and delicious way to keep your food dollars where they count - in the local economy supporting Connecticut's own farmers!

Have a great afternoon!
-Melissa

Interns Wanted!

Summer Intern Hours: 25 to 40 hours a week - weekly hours are flexible based on intern availability,

event scheduling and requirements for college credit.  The position is mostly structured for a current student or recently graduate, but all are welcome to apply.

Compensation: Unpaid

Position Details: CT NOFA’s intern position is provides an opportunity to become involved with multiple programs at the organization and gain broad experience with non-profit work. The intern’s work will primarily be in our office in Oxford, Connecticut helping to promote events, completing and compiling research, helping at workshops and carrying out administrative duties.  Interns are welcome to work remotely for some time based on their availability and location (we encourage interns to come in once a week or more).

Responsibilities: 
• Complete research about state and regional resources for gardeners and farmers and education opportunities for gardeners and landscapers
• Update CT NOFA and NOFA Organic Land Care websites
• Contribute to CT NOFA and NOFA OLC’s social media: Facebook, Twitter and a Blog
• Help event coordinators with workshops and summer events (set up, registration, clean up, etc.)

Qualifications: 
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Intern must have access to a car, outreach requires travel to different locations, mostly within Connecticut (CT NOFA will reimburse for mileage expenses)
• Familiarity with local farming or the Connecticut sustainable food movement is helpful, but not required.

About CT NOFA CT NOFA is the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. CT NOFA is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the practices of ecologically sound farming and gardening, and to the development of local sustainable agriculture. Our efforts give consumers increased access to safe and healthy food. CT NOFA is a growing community of farmers, gardeners, land care professionals, businesses and consumers that encourages a healthy relationship to the natural world.

How to Apply:
Please send a coverletter and resume to Kristiane Huber at kristiane@ctnofa.org.  We'll get in touch with you right away to discuss if you'll enjoy and benefit from working with us this summer!

Stay Tuned: My Experience at Pond Hill Farm

About a month ago I packed my belongings, got in my car, and set my sights on Michigan. This summer I will be working as a farm apprentice at Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs, MI located right on Lake Michigan and in the upper northwest corner just before you reach the Upper Peninsula. You may wonder why I would move to Michigan when I could be working at one of the many local farms in Connecticut. I had my personal reasons to move (my boyfriend lives in Michigan) and well, after a year of traveling to five different states within ten month in AmeriCorps NCCC, I couldn't resist my urge to travel any longer. It was time for my next adventure.

Yet even though I am many miles away from Connecticut, I was asked to blog about my experience at Pond Hill. I was very grateful for this opportunity since I am sure I will be eager to share my trial and tribulations of true farm life to which I'm sure many of you can relate.

Jimmy and JJ 

Next Monday will be my first official day at the farm and I am very much looking forward to meeting the Pond Hill Farm family and staff. The farm is owned and operated by the Spencer family which consists of mother Sharon, son Jimmy, his wife Marci and their two very adorable children Emma and JJ. They also have a full-time farm staff as well as a hand full of interns like myself that assist them with the hectic summer months and growing season.

One of the main reasons I wanted to work at Pond Hill was because they have effectively developed their farm into a full-fledged agritourism experience for their visitors and customers. Not only do they provide herbicide and pesticide free produce and organically raised meats through their CSA and on-site market, but they also have a winery complete with a tasting room as well as a Garden Cafe that is open from May through October. Throughout the summer and into the fall, their calendar of events is packed with activities ranging from barn dances, pig roasts, hayrides, farm to table and wine tasting dinners and fall festival weekends.

A squash rocket! 

It is currently snowing as I write this post and I guess you could say that adjusting to Michigan's horribly inconsistent weather has been my first trial and tribulation of this experience. Two days ago it was 65 and sunny and today it is wet and cold. I can only look forward to the summer days ahead and all that I will learn and share with you in the upcoming months. 

Until next time,

Katie  

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everyone! We'll be at a number of Earth Day fairs this upcoming weekend!

On Saturday you can visit us at:
Woodbury Earth Day

Hollow Park, Woodbury, CT
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
FREE Admission
Rain or Shine

Newtown Earth Day

Newtown Middle School
Queen Street
10AM - 4PM
FREE Admission
Rain or Shine

We hope you've had some time to plant your garden! On Saturday, Melissa and I went to the Peabody Museum's Earth Day celebration! What a great day - we were seated in the Peabody's Great Hall giving out pea and bean seeds to Connecticut's youngest (but most enthusiastic) gardeners.

With all the celebrations of our environment, the budding trees, sprouting plants and greening of the landscape, spring is such an inspirational time! Part of your celebration of the Earth this year might be to become involved with the legislative process.

Here's an excerpt from a GMO Free CT update:

The 2013 legislative session ends on June 5^th. This gives us 45 days to pass a GMO labeling bill in CT.  We remain hopeful that with your help, CT will be the first state to give its citizens the right to know what is in their food.  As we track our bills through the legislative process, actions will need to be taken.  See below for our current action alerts.  The only way these bills will pass is if the legislators hear from you.  Please remember that every e-mail, every phone call, and every meeting is extremely important.

ACTION ALERT

HB 6519, AN ACT CONCERNING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD

The Public Health Committee overwhelmingly voted in favor of HB 6519 with a vote of 23-4 on April 2^nd.  The bill was then analyzed by the Office of Legislative Research and Office of Fiscal Analysis.  HB 6519 will now most likely be sent to the General Law Committee for a vote.  We need to ensure that the committee will vote in favor.  If your legislator is on the General Law Committee, please reach out to them and ask them to support the bill.  If your legislator is not on General Law, ask them to speak to their colleagues on General Law and encourage them to vote in favor.  We have heard that the General Law Committee is not in favor of the bill as of now.  We need your help.  If you are not sure who your local town or city legislator is, you can enter your address to find them here.

HB 6527, AN ACT CONCERNING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BABY FOOD AND BABY FORMULA

The Children’s Committee overwhelmingly voted in favor of HB 6527 with a vote of 11-1 on March 12th. The bill is currently in front of the Public Health Committee for a vote. While it would seem logical that the Public Health Committee would vote in favor of HB 6527 as it did for HB 6519, we can not take anything for granted. If your legislator is on the Public Health Committee, please contact them and ask them to support HB 6527. If your legislator is not on Public Health, ask them to speak to their colleagues on Public Health and encourage them to vote in favor. If you are not sure who your local town or city legislator is, you can enter your address to find them here.

Whether you're calling your legislator to improve the transparency of the food system or reducing your reliance on industrial food by planting your garden - you're improving our environment and your health!

Happy Earth Day!
Kristiane

Rethink Your Cellphone and the Global Food System

For many, cellphones are used for a few primary services; communicating with others and (if you own a smartphone) staying connected to the internet and often times your Facebook page. Yet for farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa, having a cellphone could mean the difference between making a profit on your crop in the global market or none at all. 

FoodTank, an organization that has created a network of connections and information that offer solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our food system, has highlighted five major ways cellphones are changing agriculture in this region of Africa. Check them out:

1) Access to market prices: Mobile phones allow farmers to gain access to vital information about prices of crops before they travel long distances to markets. Cell phone services employ SMS text messaging to quickly transfer accurate information about wholesale and retail prices of crops, ensuring farmers can  negotiate deals with traders and improve their timing of getting crops to the market. SokoniSMS64 is one popular service used in Kenya to provide farmers with accurate market prices from around the country.

2) Micro-insurance: Cell phones are also used for a “pay as you plant” type of insurance. Kilimo Salama, meaning “safe agriculture” in Swahili, is a micro-insurance company that protects farmers against poor weather conditions. The insurance is distributed through dealers who utilize camera phone technology to scan and capture policy information through a code using an advanced phone application. The information is then uploaded to Safaricom’s mobile cloud-based server that administers policies. Farmers can then receive information on their policy, as well as payouts based on rainfall, in SMS messages. This is a paperless, completely automated process. 

3) iCow from M-Farm: This cell phone application calls itself “the world’s first mobile phone cow calendar.” It enables farmers to keep track of each cow’s individual gestation so farmers never miss the valuable opportunity to expand their herd. iCow also keeps track of feed types and schedules, local veterinary contact information, and precise market prices of cattle. 

4) Instant weather information: Mobile technology provides farmers with crucial weather data so they can properly manage their crops. Programs such as Tigo Kilimo in Tanzania give small-scale farmers instant weather information combined with appropriate agricultural tips. 

5) CocoaLink: This app makes use of western Ghana’s rapidly expanding mobile network to deliver important information to cocoa farmers. The World Cocoa Foundation created this program to provide free voice and SMS text messages about farm safety, child labor, health, and improvements in farming practices, crop disease prevention, and crop marketing. Farmers receive messages in English or their local language. 

It is amazing to see how technology is being used all over the world for more purposes than what we are accustomed to. It is also interesting to note that while we advocate for sustainable agriculture and organic farming which tends to stray from the technological advances of the modern world such as those used in industrial agriculture, people of other areas of the world are utilizing technology in a way that advances their profits and maintains their livelihood of being a farmer.

Have a great afternoon!

Katie