NOFA-NH E-Newsletter: November 2021

Dear Friend of NOFA-NH,

As the holiday season approaches, it is a time for reflection. While many Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family and giving thanks, for others it is a day of mourning.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving—the beginning of centuries of the genocide of Indigenous people, the taking of their land, and the loss of their culture and language. Here’s an enlightening narrative of the Thanksgiving story, how the day has affected and continues to affect the Wampanoags, and how they are acknowledging this upcoming anniversary. So, how do we reckon with our past and move forward? This article offers two differing paths to healing, from both the Indigenous and European-descended settler’s perspectives.

In America, Indigenous people are excluded from agriculture because “only colonizers and settlers are considered farmers,” says A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa), Director of Programs: Agriculture and Food Systems for the First Nations Development Institute. Further, the colonial agricultural system allowed for injustices like land theft, slavery, and indentured servitude. Decolonizing agriculture calls for us to go back and reflect on those times prior to colonization when there was an ecological balance—there's so much for us to learn from practices that have existed for thousands of years.

Agroecology is an interpretation of an Indigenous way of farming, Romero-Briones explains in the decolonizing agriculture article cited above. Farmers using this approach today can be a part of the solution to the environmental crisis, as opposed to industrial farming which is a significant contributor. This article touches on the benefits of localized, organic production.

We thank our farmers and all food system workers who work tirelessly to bring healthy food to our tables.

In Gratitude,

Team NOFA-NH

Conversations With the Founders: A NOFA 50th Anniversary Video Series

We were delighted to speak with a number of NOFA founders, early volunteers, members and board members in honor of our 50th anniversary.

In these two short compilations, hear about the most important things NOFA accomplished in its first 50 years and our most pressing tasks for the future from those who seeded the movement—from helping to develop organic certification and bringing farmers markets into the mainstream, to education and advocacy, mitigating climate change, the importance of business skills, and so much more.

Featured Founders: Samuel Kaymen, Gary Hirshberg, Paul Doscher, Timothy Meeh & Jill McCullough, Chuck Cox, Mary (Shields) Kerwin, Kirke Olson, and Rick Estes.

We are grateful to the many individuals who helped grow NOFA and the organic farming community in New Hampshire through the years.

Watch The Videos

Winter Conference Registration Is Open!

Join us February 6-12, 2022 for our virtual 20th annual Winter Conference, “Collaboration & Self-Reliance, Building a Stronger NH Food System. As we experience the effects of climate change, working together as a community and learning to be more self-reliant will be integral to the achievement of food system resilience in the Granite State, ensuring that we can withstand and recover from any possible crisis or disruption in the future.

Register for $35-65 (early bird pricing through January 2). Recordings of all Winter Conference workshops are included in the ticket price. Full scholarships are available.

Local Food for Local Schools Legislation in NH

Through the leadership of NH Rep. Alexis Simpson and 9 other co-sponsoring state legislators, the NH Farm to School Network has submitted the Local Food for Local Schools Reimbursement program as a bill to the New Hampshire legislature.

The program will incentivize New Hampshire school districts and food service directors to purchase locally grown and produced food for breakfast and lunch services in cafeterias across the state, boosting youth health and wellness as well as the economic viability of local farms.

Winter Book Study: A Small Farm Future

This winter join NOFA-NH and Seacoast Permaculture members for a 6-part Zoom book discussion of A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth by Chris Smaje. The group will meet every other Thursday for six weeks, starting January 6th.

$10 for NOFA-NH members / $15 for non-members.

Learn More & Register

Support NOFA-NH's Farm Share Program at Flatbread Company in North Conway

Save the date! Support NOFA-NH's Farm Share Program by participating in a Flatbread Company Community Bake: Pizza With Purpose in North Conway on December 13th. A portion of each flatbread sold will be donated to the Farm Share Program during this fundraiser, helping limited-income individuals and families access certified organic CSA shares across the Granite State.

Learn More

Giving Tuesday: Support NOFA-NH on November 30th

This Giving Tuesday, November 30th, support NOFA-NH's mission to help build local, sustainable, healthy food systems by actively promoting regenerative, ecologically sound gardening, farming and land care practices for healthy communities.

Your gift will help us continue the work of our last 50 years: growing a robust and resilient organic farming community in New Hampshire and the Northeast.

Donate

Developments in the Regional Dairy Crisis

You may recall that Danone cancelled contracts of 89 organic dairy farms across New England back in August. The abrupt move will not only compound the dairy crisis for small farms in the northeast, but it will also hurt these families and their regional economies. This is in direct violation of the company’s B Corp status. Join us in signing this petition requesting that B Lab investigate this matter.

Dig Deeper:

Climate and market changes: What contributes to a resilient dairy system? Event hosted by the Northeast Healthy Soil Network in conjunction with Dartmouth College’s Environmental Studies Department and Stonewall Farm
Unfair Dairy podcast by the Fair World Project

Celebrating Indigenous Foodways

As with any other cultural group, there is a varied assortment of foods consumed by Indigenous people, mostly governed by geography.

Here in New England, fish played an important role in nutritionally balanced diets for the earliest Indigenous peoples representing the Abenaki bands. For other groups that populated the southern and western areas of the Americas there would have been more plant-based foods that made up a typical diet. Of course, the common theme that ran through all foods consumed hundreds of years ago was that it was seasonal and accessible.

Here are some resources to understand these issues and our place in dispelling the myths, and of course, some delicious recipes!

16 Podcasts and Films Celebrating Indigenous Foodways
Indigenous Foods and Recipes
Po’Pay Tribute Recipe
Indigenous Historical & Contemporary Stewardship of Our Lands & Food Ways with Paul & Denise Pouliot (NOFA-NH's 2020 Winter Conference)

Growing Food or Money?

Here are two articles about developments that may have major implications for efforts to create and preserve truly just, and ecologically-sound food systems.

Agribusiness and big finance's dirty alliance is anything but "green" — An article examining the strong links between agribusinesses and the financial world and how misleadingly named financial instruments are being used to mask environmental pillaging - often with the support of our public dollars. Read More

Conservation or Land Grab? The Financialization of Nature — This theme, the monetization of nature, is at the heart of trends that could either help or grievously hurt small-scale, locally-controlled food systems all across the globe - from Indigenous holdings in India or Africa to land here in New Hampshire. Read More

Maine Voters Pass “Right to Food” Amendment

On Election Day this month, Mainers voted to approve a referendum to add a “right to food” amendment to the state’s constitution, which was approved by the legislature earlier this year. Seeking to protect individuals from any potential overreach by corporations, the amendment gives individuals “the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being."

Farming Left Out of COP26

About 25,000 delegates from 200 countries, including 120 world leaders, attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland earlier this month. While this important summit was meant to address climate change risks and inspire and accelerate action, it has drawn criticism for failing to include ample discussion of farming and food systems, among other reasons.

NOFA Receives Grant to Increase Organic Certification Capacity in the Northeast

NOFA has received funding through the USDA National Organic Program’s Human Capacity Building Initiative to increase and diversify the pool of inspectors and certifiers across the United States. NOFA-NH is a participant in the project, “Verifying the Promise of Certified Organic in the Northeast: Expanding Collaboration, Cooperation and Capacity-Building in the Northeast to Train, Inspect and Certify to the NOP.”

Invasive Jumping Worms in NH

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about Asian jumping worms in New Hampshire. Have you seen them in your garden? This invasive earthworm destroys the top layer of your soil and spreads rapidly—it reproduces faster than its European counterparts. Board Member Joan O’Connor, owner of the former Joan’s Famous Composting Worms, curated a list of resources to learn more about how to identify these harmful worms and what to do when you find them (don’t feed them to your chickens or use them as bait for fishing!).

Center for Food Safety Appeals Organic Eligibility of Hydroponics

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed a petition calling for the reversal of a decision that allows the USDA to continue certifying soilless hydroponic operations under the organic label. The appeal cites the Organic Foods Production Act, which requires farmers to build soil fertility and improve the organic matter content of the soil, neither of which hydroponic operations can do.

Recommended Listening

Seacoast Permaculture has been hosting discussions this fall prompted by these thought-provoking podcasts about restorative, agroecological farming from the West Coast of Scotland. They’re perceptive, beautifully produced, and just might transform the way you look at the history of people’s relationship to land, food, colonialism, and community building:

This Landed Series is part of a larger British audio endeavor called Farmerama Radio. These podcasts are definitely worth exploring!

Funding Opportunities

NH DAMF’s Agricultural Promotion Mini-Grant Program

Deadline: February 22, 2022

Pandemic Response and Safety Grants

Deadline: November 22, 2021

Pandemic Assistance: Organic Training, Education, Certification

Deadline: January 7, 2022

NH Farm Future Fund

Deadline: February 15, 2022

USDA Strategic Economic and Community Development initiative (SECD)

Dairy Business Viability & Technical Assistance Grant

Deadline: December 7, 2021

Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grant

Deadline: February 3, 2022

Conservation Opportunity Fund (Cheshire County)

Deadline: February 1, 2022

Resources for Farmers

Legal Food Hub – Legal Food Hub (LFH) is a project by the Conservation Law Foundation dedicated to helping farmers, food entrepreneurs and nonprofits across New England by providing free legal services and educational resources. LFH launched services in New Hampshire this month.

FSMA 101 for Organic Food Processors and FSMA Preventive Controls Rule Qualified Exemption – Webinars by CCOF, held in September and October 2021

Get Published in The Natural Farmer, NOFA’s Quarterly Publication

The Natural Farmer (TNF) is seeking submissions for its Spring 2022 issue. Whether you’re a farmer, gardener, food justice activist or homesteader, you are invited to submit: technical articles, stories, or interviews; opinion pieces on trending topics in agriculture; book reviews, photographs, or seasonal recipes.

The Spring theme is LAND TENURE - including access, intergenerational relationships, history, and more, and the submission deadline is February 1st. If your writing is published in TNF, you will receive a free year subscription to the paper.

Submit

Join Our Education & Outreach Committee!

Our Outreach & Education Committee promotes awareness and aims to increase the understanding of the benefits and utility of organic methods including their long-term value to humanity and the environment at large. The Committee delivers ongoing educational opportunities that will enhance skills and knowledge in organic principles and practices for farming and gardening.

We invite passionate and enthusiastic volunteers to join the Outreach & Education Committee or any of our seven other volunteer Board Committees. (Note: You do not have to be a Board Member to join.) Prospective members are welcome to attend a meeting. Contact us for more information!

Meet Our Members: Introducing Steve & Dawn Forde and Hop N Hen Farm

NOFA-NH's knowledgeable and passionate members make our organization great. That's why we offer our members with farms and farm-related businesses eligibility to be featured in the 'Meet Our Members' e-news column. Each month, we make our community a little closer by introducing you to someone new. Please contact us if you'd like to be featured!

Welcome New & Renewing Members

Thank you to our NOFA-NH Members who became new members or renewed their memberships in October 2021.

New Members:

Brandmoore Farm, Consultants for Equitable Farm Access, Uphill Farm

Renewing Members:

His Harvest Farm, Lorax & The Secret Gardener, New Earth Organic Farm, New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation, Sherri Nixon, RSB LLC - Fertrell

Classifieds

The Temple Wilton Community Farm is Seeking a Biodynamic Vegetable Grower (Wilton)

The Temple-Wilton Community Farm (Four Corners Cooperative), in Wilton NH, is seeking an experienced biodynamic vegetable grower, beginning with the 2022 season. Click here for details. Please send a letter of interest and a resumé or description of your farming experience (especially your biodynamic experience) to Brian Drayton, at drayton.be@gmail.com.

4,600±SF Processing/Packaging Plant on 3± Acres (Grand Isle, VT)

4,600±SF Processing/Packaging Plant on 3± Acres in Grand Isle, Vermont. Auction: 12/16/021 @ 3PM (Reg. @ 2PM). Offices, processing rooms, packaging, refrigeration break room, restrooms. Well-maintained, fully equipped. Meat processing, cheese, wine, brewery, hemp, CBD… Check with zoning for your ideas. Thomas Hirchak Co. 800-634-7653. THCAuction.com (NH Lic. #3058)

Available for long-term lease (Marlborough, NH)

Land: 9-acres of cropland, 4-acres of pasture, 10-acres of woodland.

Infrastructure: barn, hayloft, heated shop, equipment storage bays. Sugarhouse and equipment also available.

Housing: A three-bedroom house and one-bedroom apartment.

Contact mhunger@equitablefarmaccess.com and see our full listing for more information.

Job Opening: Fair Farms Program Coordinator (Columbus, OH)

The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) has an immediate opening for a highly capable and motivated individual to serve as Program Coordinator for a new initiative focused on Fair Farms, understood as including fair prices to farmers, fairness in trade with farmers, as well as fair working conditions for everyone who works producing the food. https://www.oeffa.org/employment.php

NOFA-NH Members may post 1 free Classified per month on our Classifieds page and in this newsletter. Not yet members may post a Classified in the e-news and on our website for $45 per Classified per month. To inquire about this program and to share your Classified with our community, please contact info@nofanh.org.

Please Note: The views and opinions expressed in these classifieds are those of our members and sponsors, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NOFA-NH, its staff, or Board of Directors. We reserve the right to reject content deemed unsuitable or inappropriate for our readership and distribution.

NOFA-NH's Winter Conference Book Store

Hosted by Main Street Book Ends

MainStreet BookEnds of Warner is a family owned, independent bookstore serving NH since 1998. They share a strong commitment to community, local farmers, children, teachers, local artists and authors, and all who enjoy reading the printed word. MainStreet BookEnds is proud to once again be the bookseller for NOFA-NH’s Winter Conference.

Books by conference presenters and others are available through our Winter Conference Book List! When placing a book order, be sure to write "NOFA-NH" in the comments. As always, 20% of proceeds from book sales go back to support NOFA-NH throughout 2021!

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