Winter, 2010-11 Vol. 2, No. 87 Publication of the Northeast Organic Farming Association 1077-2294

Inside This IssueFeatures

Full Circle Farm: Threat or Boon? 40Garden Notes 42NOFA-NY Gets Beginning Farmer Grant 42

Supplement on Or-ganic Farms & Co-opsA Short History of Agricultural Co-ops 9Park Slope Food Co-op 11Farm Co-ops: Their Economic Impact 17My Experience with Organic Grain Co-ops 21Working Together in the Northeast 22Finger Lakes Growers Co-op 23Neighboring Food Co-op Association 28Organic Valley and Its Tough Decisions 32Deep Root: Growing Cooperation 39

DepartmentsEditorial 2Letters to the Editor 2NOFA Exchange 5News Notes 5Book Reviews 43NOFA Contact People 46NOFA Membership 47Calendar 47

37th Annual NOFA Summer Conference Set for August 12-14 at UMass Amherst

by Ben Grosscup, Conference Coordinator

Having served in different roles on the NOFA Summer Conference Committee since 2006, it is an honor to take on the new role as Conference Coordinator for 2011. I have big shoes to fill, as I take on a key leadership role in a conference that Julie Rawson and Jack Kittredge guided for twenty-four years. I know that I speak for the entire Interstate NOFA community when I say, thank you, Julie and Jack, for the leadership you’ve provided all this time! Your example and vision have helped us become more effective at what we each do in the many roles we play in what 2009 NOFA keynoter, Will Allen, called “The Good Food Movement.”

Coming into a well established position like this involves negotiating between tradition on the one hand and innovation on the other. For many people the Summer Conference has become a cherished vacation that they enjoy each year with their families. Traditions like the Saturday Fair, the Local Meal, the dancing, and the many wonderful workshops are part of what supports our commitment to what we do, so we make a commitment to keeping these traditions alive.

At the same time, each and every one of us – NOFA Summer Conference committee members and attendees alike – bring our own visions for a healthy ecological food system to the conference, hoping to see them reflected in the experience we share together in August. Every year, the Summer Conference Committee works to make the conference a fuller (and better organized) experience. As people bring up their own ideas for discussion – through written evaluations, phone calls, and meetings – the conference can incorporate them and maintain the dynamism for which it is known. Innovation, too, is on this committee’s agenda.

Our committee met in October, 2010 to recap what we had learned from the past year’s conference. I felt lucky to be working beside such a committed and experienced group of people. One thing that someone pointed out to me was that the average age of people in the room seemed to have dropped by about 15-20 years compared to some committees in previous years. Nobody actually did a precise analysis, but I think that elders of the organic movement can feel confident that young people are taking on roles to carry on the work that they helped start many years ago.

With youthfulness and wisdom combined in every committee member, regardless of age, we are still making adjustments based on the evaluations we’ve received, and we’re also generating new ideas from within our group.

One change involves the organization of Work Exchange volunteers who put in 20 hours during

by Mark A. KastelThe Cornucopia Institute

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) concluded its four-day semi-annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin on October 28 with votes and decisions on several issues impacting the organic industry. The meeting began on Monday with a comprehensive progress report by USDA deputy administrator Miles McEvoy who heads the National Organic Program (NOP).

It is hard not to be impressed by the ambitious agenda McEvoy has put forward and the eminently qualified team he has assembled of dedicated veterans and new recruits in the rapidly growing program.

One of the most pressing issues to be considered was a decision on what “access to the outdoors” constitutes for poultry. Do small “porches” provide real access? Dozens of egg farmers and marketers, joined by retailers and consumers, had traveled to Madison from as far away as Seattle to passionately appeal to the NOSB and the NOP to aggressively enforce the requirement for access to the outdoors in the poultry industry.

In testimony, certified organic egg producer Loren Yoder, of Riverside, Iowa said, “My birds are outdoors 24/7.” Yoder’s barn holds 9000 birds and he has a 14 foot door at one end that the birds use.

Matt O’Hayer, of Vital Farms in Texas, criticized confinement egg-laying operations

The extent to which poultry are allowed full choice access to outdoors pasture is becoming a defining issue in organic production. At the recent Madison meeting of the National Organic Standards Board, passionate farmers spoke for requiring full access.

NOSB Madison Meeting Report

continued on page 41continued on page 41

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 12

Advertisements not only bring in TNF revenue, which means less must come from membership dues, they also make a paper interesting and helpful to those looking for specific goods or services. We carry 2 kinds of ads:

The NOFA Exchange - this is a free bulletin board service (for subscribers or NOFA members who get the TNF) for occasional needs or offerings. Send in up to 100 words and we’ll print it free in the next issue. Include a price (if selling) and an address, E-mail or phone number so readers can contact you directly. If you don’t get the paper yourself you can still send in an ad - just send $5 along too! Send NOFA Exchange ads directly to The Natural Farmer, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 or (preferably) E-mail to TNF@nofa.org.

Display Ads - this is for those offering products or services on a regular basis! You can get real attention with display ads. Send camera ready copy to Bob Minnocci, 662 Massachusetts Ave. #6, Boston, MA 02118 or Bob@nofamass.org and enclose a check (to “TNF”) for the appropriate size. The sizes and rates are:

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Advertise in or Sponsor The Natural FarmerFrequency discount: we give a 25% discount for year-round ads. If you reserve the same space for four consecutive issues your fourth ad is free! To receive the frequency discount you must pay for all the issues in advance, upon reserving the space.

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Disclaimer: Advertisers are helping support the paper so please support them. We cannot investigate the claims of advertisers, of course, so please exercise due caution when considering any product or service. If you learn of any misrepresentation in one of our ads please inform us and we will take appropriate action. We don’t want ads that mislead.

Sponsorships: Individuals or organizations wishing to sponsor The Natural Farmer may do so with a payment of $300 for one year (4 issues). In return, we will thank the sponsor in a special area of page 3 of each issue, and feature the sponsor’s logo or other small insignia.

Contact for Display Ads or Sponsors: Send display ads or sponsorships with payment (made out to “TNF”) to our advertising manager Bob Minnocci, 662 Massachusetts Ave. #6, Boston, MA 02118. If you have questions, or want to reserve space, contact Bob at (617) 236-4893 or Bob@nofamass.org.

The Natural Farmer is a quarterly membership journal of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.We plan a year in advance so those who want to write on a topic can have a lot of lead time. The next 3 issues will be:

Spring 2011: Organic Tree Fruit

Summer 2011: Legumes as Cover Crops

Fall - 2011: Seeds

If you can help us on any of these topics, or have ideas for new ones, please get in touch. We need your help! Deadlines are same as for ads ***

Moving or missed an issue? The Natural Farmer will not be forwarded by the post office, so you need to make sure your address is up-to-date if you move. Those who regularly send us a subscription fee should send address changes to us. Most of you, however, get this paper as a NOFA member benefit for paying your chapter dues and should send address updates to your local NOFA chapter (listed at the end of each issue).Archived issues from Summer 1999 through Fall 2005 are available at http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/digital/tnf/. More recent issues are downloadable at www.nofa.org as pdf files.

Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005978-355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046

tnf@nofa.orgISSN 1077-2294copyright 2010,

Northeast Organic Farming Association, Inc

The Natural Farmer Needs You!

by Jack Kittredge

Farming is the one profession where one buys retail but sells wholesale. Working collectively with other farmers on either side of that equation can make a huge economic difference. Buying as a group, farmers can take advantage of volume discounts. Selling as a group, farmers can avoid distributors or transportation monopolies and take their products directly to final markets.

But farmers are an independent and proud lot. It is not easy to get them to associate in business ven-tures. The cooperative form of organization makes such association more palatable. For one thing, co-ops are usually formed for a very specific pur-

pose – buying farm supplies, affording specialized services or equipment, storing crops to stabilize seasonal price fluctuations, reaching distant markets. The value of such voluntary cooperation is clear and measurable and does not compromise one’s inde-pendence.

In addition, co-ops avoid the hierarchical nature of the more prevalent form of business model – cor-porations. Corporations are owned by stockholders, some of whom own more stock and thus have more votes. Cooperatives are owned by members, each of whom has only one vote, no matter how big or small that member’s operation.

In this issue we explore how co-ops play a role in agriculture, and look at some of the ones that are active in organic food and farming in the Northeast. We look at the history of cooperatives, their form of organization, and how economically significant they are.

Why Co-ops in Farming?

We illustrate these points by examining various co-ops from small and informal ones to those that are huge and dominate an industry. We look at how in some ways cooperatives are innovators, and in other ways they are bound by market forces to behave much as other businesses do.

Co-ops have a long and honored tradition in Ameri-can agriculture, and during the last generation have played a large role in connecting organic farmers and consumers in the region and have been crucial to the viability of many of our farms. We hope you enjoy this issue and learn more about how coopera-tives can be helpful to you.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Readers,The Summer, 2010 issue of this paper, which fo-

cused on Small Farms & Government Regulation, stirred up more comment than we usually get in a year! To encourage full discussion we are printing not just the initial letters we got, but responses to those letters and in one case a response to a re-

sponse. Read on!

August 13, 2010Hi Jack and Julie -- Rainy morning, cleaning off desk, read summer

TNF. What a fantastic issue. Every article enlighten-ing, maddening, encouraging. Clippings all over the desk. Into files for safekeeping. Wonderful work. Praise and hurrahs. Keep it up. Best, Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm

August 29, 2010Dear Jack, I am writing to you to express my disappoint-

ment at some of the things you included in the Small Farms and Government Regulation supplement. I did not get to read the entire piece until a long air-plane flight this week and I was surprised at some of what I found. As the lead article, you use an old piece of writ-

ing by Jocelyn Engman from Iowa, instead of some-thing by a NOFA member. I guess it would be all right if you had taken the time to intervene a little as

photo courtesy Erbin Crowell

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 3

Please help us thank theseFriends of Organic Farmingfor their generous support!

Supporting a Food Culture that is

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Grass-roots

Kim Q. Matland

editor and bring it up to date. The opening message from Wendell Berry – “Tell the Government to Get Out of the Way” – is a popular one these days, but look at what is going on this weekend in DC. [ed. Note – she is referring to the Glenn Beck Rally] I don’t think we should yell this out without provid-ing some context and reflection about what parts of the government we mean. Bald, this message plays into reducing social security and medicare, cutting back on welfare and other parts of the safety net for the poor and weak. The ‘get rid of government’ talk also comes out of the mouths of people who want to increase some parts of the government – our military presence on the borders with Mexico and Canada, our bases for defense against “terrorists,” etc. To get back to Jocelyn – she is worried about

FDA and the labeling of supplements. There is a loud effort to prevent this – much of it supported by the large scale manufacturers of supplements who also have other motives. Some of the viral messag-ing against the Food Safety Bills have come from these folks and made the small farm message sound really stupid because of the admixture of semi-and untruths. Jocelyn makes a big deal out of the NAIS – which is now dead. An editorial note could have pointed this out. The huge outcry from small-scale farmers and their advocates did have results. While I agree with many of Jocelyn’s points

about what is needed – the list on p. 12, her con-clusion – “Let’s get rid of the farm bill” plays into people’s ignorance about what that bill contains. A major part of the bill and its funding covers all the nutrition programs. It is stupid to call for its elimi-nation without some better analysis. I find Jocelyn’s rhetoric facile – and unenlightening. Your piece on Red Fire Farm is excellent, as

your reporting usually is! Then we come to Winton Pitcoff. I suspect his

problem is that he is using Joel Salatin’s writing as his template. Salatin may have some delightfully eloquent ways of criticizing the excesses of govern-ment regulation, but he is one of the right wing lib-ertarians. On his farm, women do not drive tractors – they cook. I am not familiar with the regs for livestock pro-

cessing, so I cannot comment on Pitcoff’s accuracy. He complains about the FSIS proposal – but does not mention that this is another one that massive consumer and farmer comments were able to kill.

Finally, he does get to a NE example – Morse Pitts, but the quote from him is also idiotically one-sided – “ideally, says Pitts, there would be no regulations dictating how he raises, processes and produces his greens…” Pitts is selling on government owned land, at a farmers market constructed and main-tained by public dollars. The City of NY has every right to ensure the safety of the food sold there – but their regs must be appropriate to the scale of the farms involved. Pitts’ statement on the contradictions of USDA

policy deserves further analysis. USDA is not a single person with one mind. It is a complex agency where the battle between industrial ag and organic, small-scale ag is taking place – a very interesting dynamic where the NOFA’s and NSAC and NOC are active players. Salatin is clever about pointing out the con-

tradictions of government policy on young people working on farms – but short on useful analysis and how to deal with this. The regulations protect-ing farm workers have been earned by the blood of many people. Those regs provide a few meager pro-tections for migrant and seasonal farm workers in a system that exploits them, takes advantage of their lack of power and then tosses them out when they get too old or sick to produce at top speed. Elimi-nating the few laws that govern conditions for farm workers is throwing out the baby with the bathwater and will not lead to good policy for farm interns. Salatin thinks organic certification siphons off cre-ative energy. Do you agree to that? Yet you print this piece with no editorial comment. As editor, you might have asked Pitcoff for better writing and clearer thinking. How about asking him to explain to the rest of us why Salatin does not certify. But the conclusion takes the cake:Pitcoff quotes Salatin as saying: “Culturally the

movement has grown out of the liberal background in which the government is considered benign, he says, but now that more conservatives are getting interested their tendency to oppose over-regulatiion could ultimately strengthen the movement. We’re not going to turn a corner on this until it’s so serious that all the foodies start not being able to get what they’ve been getting.” I’m sorry, Jack. Either you agree with this – and

then we need to have a really long talk at the next IC meeting. Or you were asleep at the wheel as editor! We are living in hard times. TNF is a bright

light in the darkness. It is your responsibility as edi-tor, and our responsibility as the NOFA policy folks, to make sure we provide clear thinking and good energy for our members and whoever else has the good luck to read our excellent publication! For Peace in Our Lifetimes, Liz Henderson

Aug 31, 2010Hi Joel, I guess not everyone liked that issue of The

Natural Farmer on Government Regulation! Along with your supporting email, I was going

to run this critical letter from Liz Henderson in the next issue as letters to the editor. I plan to answer some of her criticisms, but since she uses your name I thought it proper to give you a chance to respond too. So if you want to weigh in, feel free and I’ll be glad to print it. Jack Kittredge

August 31, 2010Hi Jack-- Thanks for the chance to respond. I’ll be brief. Interesting that while Ms. Henderson accuses

me of shallow conclusions and accuses Kittredge of not being up-to-date, she creates a lie out of thin air that at Polyface women don’t drive tractors: they cook. I invite anyone to come and visit the farm. You will not only see women driving tractors, you will see men cooking. In fact, one of the farms we lease is completely operated by a former intern, sin-gle woman subcontractor who moves cows, drives tractors, builds fence . . . and cooks. Ms. Henderson could not be more wrong. Goodness, I even had the ladies out running a chainsaw two weeks ago. How about that? The reason many of us entrepreneurs sweep

government involvement with a broad brush is because we have the wisdom to realize that bureau-crats sweep with a broad brush. It would be nice to have regulations that work like a scalpel on only universally-accepted nasty things, but that is not the way government works. It always moves toward a lowest common denominator and regulates with a one size fits all mentality. Part of that is because by the time the regulations actually get implemented, they’ve been vetted through the sieve of large inter-ests who have the political clout to wine and dine the officials.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 14 When the FDA puts in writing its legal position

that citizens have no fundamental right to choose what food to eat, what kind of regulations do you think the agency will promote? The so-called safety net is actually a straight jacket for freedom. I for one don’t want social security, medical care, worker’s protections or housing regulations. Social security is the worst investment of any money anywhere. Med-ical care: I resent the fact that I have to pay to care for a smoking, drinking, beer-gutted couch potato who thinks organic food is too expensive and lives on microwavable frozen DiGiornio pizza dinners. Why on earth should the government hold a gun to my head to force me to take care of that guy? In the name of workers’ protection, we’ve

exported most of our manufacturing jobs and de-stroyed the hopes and dreams of countlessyoung people who would love to farm, but can’t

get any experience because the farmer is afraid of regulatory paperwork and fines. I have young people begging me to come and learn how to farm, and they say they’d be glad to live in tents for the op-portunity. But if the government finds out about that arrangement, I could lose the whole farm. Anyone who has not faced these bureaucratic police has no idea how unreasonable they are--and how intimidat-ing and powerful. After all, they have the full power of the U.S. military behind them. That’s scary. The bottom line: government officials are just as

sneaky, untruthful, and greedy as any average citi-zen or business person. To assume that something about drawing a government paycheck suddenly creates internal morality and ethics is both naive and foolish. The question is this: Do we centralize the propensity for human depravity in the hands of government officials, or do we decentralize it in the hands of thousands of citizens? This is the differ-ence between tyranny and freedom. Concentration of food production and processing leads to arro-

gance and abuse. Decentralization creates checks and balances. It’s the same in politics, religion, education, medication, retirement, and recreation. Society does change without government intrusion. Within 6 months of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

being published, industrial meat consumption in the U.S. dropped by 30-50 percent, depending upon which historian you read. That was devastating to the troublemakers. And they would have gone out of business had it not been for the creation of the Food Safety and Inspection Service which give them a government stamp of approval, and gave them back marketplace credibility. Now, a century later, plants are dirtier, more centralized, and more worker abu-sive. We’ve come a long way, baby. If the informed marketplace had been allowed to work and destroy those terrible meat packers, today we would have a much more safe, decentralized, professional indus-try. People who put their faith in the government have no faith in their neighbors. And that’s a shame. And certainly no way to build a vibrant community. Best regards, Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm

October 31, 2010Hi Liz, Thanks for your critical but thoughtful letter on

the Summer 2010 issue on Small Farms and Gov-ernment Regulation. I don’t get a lot of feedback on the paper, so anything that indicates people are read-ing it is good news to me! I’m sorry a couple of the articles upset you, but

I’m happy to tell you why I chose them. As I indi-cated in the lead editorial, government regulation is controversial and almost all of us would call for it in some instances, and reject it in others. But I think the case for regulation – health, safety, public order, etc. – is constantly made in our schools, newspa-pers, public halls. I thought it would be educational to examine the other side, particularly as it affects small and organic farmers. Yes, the Jocelyn Engman piece was written a

couple of years ago, but I thought it expressed very eloquently the view of many small farmers that regulation is stacked against the little guy. Failure to regulate GMOs or regulatory efforts to suppress vol-untary testing for mad cow disease can only benefit the corporate hegemons of agribusiness. So also do efforts to require licensed commercial kitchens for you to do something your grandmother did over her woodstove. Do we see a pattern here? Just because there are businesses that oppose

FDA regulation of supplements does not tar ev-eryone who feels that way. Lots of people feel that traditional herbal and natural products should be available for consumption on the basis of individual decision. As far as Wendell Berry telling the government

to get out of the way if we want farms to be viable and attract young farmers, I think he is right on target. As the two features in that issue illustrated, unreasonable regulatory burdens can stifle farm profitability and potentially even destroy the farm. No one is calling for anarchy here, just a better bal-ance between government authority and individual rights. Many people in this country are uneasy about that balance having tipped too far, and as long as progressive people ignore that and instead shoot at the messenger they will just erode their political credibility. NAIS is not yet dead. After a huge effort on the

part of thousands of people at the grass roots we beat them back in the political arena, but the war is not over -- as those of us who have been closely fol-lowing the USDA’s follow-up meetings with NIAA personnel and continued funding of state enforce-ment of mandatory registration realize. As for the Farm Bill, I would love to see a vig-

orous debate in NOFA about whether it really serves the interests of small farms or not. True there are significant hunger and nutrition programs funded this way. But perhaps it would be better to decide about those programs openly on their own merits, rather than as a bone to urban legislators in ex-change for huge subsidies for the empty calories of industrial agriculture – which then undercut unsub-sidized organic and sustainable farming and make healthy food seem expensive. Thanks for the compliment on the Red Fire arti-

cle. I find Ryan and Sarah’s situation, as that of Pam and Ray Robinson, cause for real anger. These peo-ple have been playing by the rules and contributing to their communities for years, and don’t deserve to be ground down by petty bureaucrats.

On Winton’s article, I think he is accurately reflecting the views of many farmers around the country about food safety regulations – that they do not necessarily have the effect of ensuring safe or healthy food. If they did, we wouldn’t have all the food scares of recent months. What they do is impose heavy burdens on smaller operations that are not proportionate to the risks they pose. I am sure that USDA and FSIS and the FDA and

OSHA and the rest all have many fine individuals working for them who do not deserve to be demon-ized. But, as you admit, those institutions are battle-grounds “where the battle between industrial ag and organic, small-scale ag is taking place”. We need to educate people that these are not, to use Salatin’s term, ‘benign’ institutions. They can be liberating or they can be oppressive, depending on who gets control of them. I’d say right now that industrial ag seems to have the majority share. Julie and I still proudly certify our farm every

year and have done so since 1987. But I know plenty of people in NOFA who have decided not to do so. I certainly don’t think NOFA ought to lecture them about it. If we want certification to be attrac-tive and valuable for farmers, let’s insist on tough standards (including outdoor access for poultry) that really mean something and that consumers can rely on. Then, I think, we will see farmers coming aboard. At the end of your letter you ask whether I agree

with Joel that: “We’re not going to turn a corner on this until it’s so serious that all the foodies start not being able to get what they’ve been getting.” I wish it were so simple! As the inclusion in this issue of the story on Full Circle Farm and its 12,000-mem-ber produce delivery service indicates, I think the market is creative enough to get ‘foodies’ what they want without necessarily empowering small and lo-cal farms. I appreciate your support for The Natural Farm-

er. I hope to continue to raise issues that need dis-cussion and get a spectrum of coherent, thoughtful articles in the paper, without necessarily agreeing with all of them. I figure our readers are plenty able to sort through and find what makes sense to them! Respectfully, Jack Kittredge

November 7, 2010Dear Jack, Thanks for giving me a few days to respond

again! The sentence in Pitcoff’s conclusion that made

me scratch my head was this one: “Culturally the movement has grown out of the liberal background in which the government is considered benign, he says, but now that more conservatives are getting interested their tendency to oppose over-regulation could ultimately strengthen the movement.” What does this mean? Who are these liberals and who are the welcome conservatives who will straighten them out? The organic movement has never identified as “liberal,” nor have we made the assumption that the government is “benign.” Labels like these just add to the atmosphere of misunderstanding and conten-tion that turns most people off from civic discourse. I like the German Green Party assertion – “We are not right or left, we are ahead!” I also like your idea for redesigning the Farm

Bill to separate out the nutrition programs and re-direct them so that our society guarantees food as a right with nutrient dense organic food grown as locally as possible for everyone. Let’s cut the sub-sidies that support GMO corn and soybeans and big cotton and figure out how to end food insecurity and hunger. In these days of the Tea Party funded by the

Chambers of Commerce and the Koch brothers, we need to be very careful to explain what we mean when we call for “less government.” The Kochs want less government so that they can go on pol-luting. Corporations like theirs must be controlled and only government has the power to do that. No government leaves the big boys to control themselves. That is how the meat supply became the horror described in The Jungle and after a few de-cades of reform has reverted to the horror described in Fast Food Nation. I suggest that we do not need less government – we need better government controlled not by big corporations but by us, the people. Best regards, Liz Henderson

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NOFA ExchangeAssistants for 2011 - NCOF www.natickfarm.org looking for 2 assistants for:* Crops: experience in diverse vegetable growing from planting to marketing.* Flower: creative and artistic, ability to efficiently make bouquets, responsibilities from production to marketing.You have 1 to 2 years experience in farming, like to work with children (we run a summer program mid-June to end of August), and are ready to juggle with farming and education. Common sense and humor absolutely needed. June to September. Work week: 5 days 8:30-5 with flexibility. Remuneration accord-ing to experience. Housing possible. Resume: lsim-kins.ncorganic@verizon.net, jcbourrut.ncorganic@verizon.net

Knowledgeable farm-hands and apprentices sought for established, organic CSA, in Hinesburg, VT. Full Moon Farm, located on 155 gorgeous acres, has 275 summer shares and 110 winter shares to keep well-fed and happy. Since relocating our farm two years ago, we have created new systems and infrastucture to accomodate our diversify-ing (now raising pork and organic poultry) farm. But there is still more work to do. We need your help! Experience with tractor maintenance, power tools, carpentry, livestock, slaughter, fieldwork, mar-keting, and contradancing desired but not necessary. Variety of positions available April - Dec. Salary, housing, produce and exhaustion provided. www.fullmoonfarminc.com

Wanted: Summer internship position for an under-graduate student on a small, diverse organic opera-tion in CT, MA, NH, NY, or VT. Ideally, the farm would include an orchard and raise some livestock as well as vegetable crops. An AgriTourism-minded operation would be nice as well. I don’t have much experience, but I work hard and I’m a fast learner. In terms of compensation, I am looking for room and board at minimum. Available between June 10 and August 15. Contact Kristina Runde at krunde@rams.colostate.edu.

Positions at Tracie’s Community Farm: 3-4 Field Workers, Assistant Farm Manager: We’re in our 13th year of diversified vegetable and fruit produc-tion with a 270+ family Summer CSA, Fall CSA, spring CSA, onsite farm-stand, farm-store and restaurant sales. Looking for hardworking, enthu-siastic, self-motivated team players, serious about farming, with a positive attitude, stamina to work 10+ hour days, move 50# bags, while having a good time. Knowledge of equipment repair, chainsaw, carpentry and a desire for long-term employment a plus. We provide long-term employment opportuni-ties, hourly pay, potential housing, farm produce, and hearty lunches Mon-Fri. Contact Tracie, (603) 209-1851 www.traciesfarm.com.

Subscribe to:

Send $15 for U.S. address, $20 for foreign address to:

411 Sheldon Rd.Barre, MA 01005

Certified by Baystate Organic Certifiers

Vegetable and Flower Shares, Chicken, Turkey, Pork, Lard and Eggs available

Julie Rawson &Jack Kittredge

Barre, MAfarm@mhof.netwww.mhof.net 978-355-2853

News Notescompiled by Jack Kittredge

The Innerfence processing app on a smart phone lets you take credit cards without a terminal.

Smart Phones and Credit Card Processing New applications for iPhones and some other smart phones enable a farmer at a farmers market to take credit and debit cards right on her cell phone with-out benefit of things like phone lines or credit card terminals. One Washington DC farmers’ market farmer says accepting credit cards increased his sales by 30 percent. The apps require a processing service, which entails a monthly service fee as well as a transaction fee, as is necessary for any card pro-cessing. Innerfence is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android -- transactions are keyed in manually, without swiping technology. PAYware Mobile from VeriFone includes a swipe attachment for an iPhone. Intuit’s GoPayment has card reading and even printing options, which reduce the transac-tion cost from keyed in sales. PayPal’s Send Money allows cellphone login to PayPal accounts, where

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1�users enter pin numbers to move money, or ”bump” two phones together using a Bump Technologies de-velopment. Square is still in development, but will offer a free app and card reader that plugs into the audio jack of an iPhone, droid, or Blackberry. All of these systems protect transaction information should your phone fall into someone else’s hands. And to think a few years ago we made do with a cigar box!source: Growing for Market, August, 2010

U. S. Challenges Gene PatentsReversing a longstanding policy, the federal gov-ernment has asserted that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The new position could have a huge impact on medicine and on the biotechnology in-dustry. It was declared in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Department of Justice in a case involv-ing two human genes linked to breast and ovar-ian cancer. In its brief the government said it now believed that the mere isolation of a gene, without further alteration or manipulation, does not change its nature. However, the government suggested such a change would have limited impact on the biotech-nology industry because man-made manipulations of DNA, like methods to create genetically modified crops or gene therapies, could still be patented. “We acknowledge that this conclusion is con-trary to the longstanding practice of the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as the practice of the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies that have in the past sought and obtained patents for isolated genomic DNA,” the brief said. It is not clear if the position in the legal brief, which appears to have been the result of discussions among various government agencies, will be put into effect by the Patent Office. If it were, it is likely to draw protests from some biotechnology compa-nies that say such patents are vital to the develop-ment of diagnostic tests, drugs and the emerging field of personalized medicine, in which drugs are tailored for individual patients based on their genes. source: New York Times, Oct. 29, 2010

CCOF ED Heads OMRIPeggy Miars, executive director of the California Certified Organic Farmers, has become executive director of the Organic Materials Review Institute. source: Acres, U.S.A. , September 2010

Conflict of Interest in NY Times Report of Colo-ny Collapse Disorder Cause Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a disease that causes honeybees to become disoriented and die far from their hives, has kept scientists desperately seeking for the cause. One suggested culprit has been pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids, which kill insects by attacking their nervous systems. Their leading manufacturer, Bayer Crop Science, has been fending off lawsuits from angry beekeepers for years now. But recently, a front-page New York Times article pointed to another solution. Running under the headline “Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery,” the article reports that a new study claims the cause is actually “a fungus tag-teaming with a virus.” However, one fact that the Times article did not mention is the relationship between the study’s lead author, Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, and Bayer Crop Sci-ence. Bromenshenk has received a significant re-search grant from Bayer -- and failed to disclose the conflict of interest to the Times. As Fortune Maga-zine reports:“The Times reporter who authored the recent article, Kirk Johnson, responded in an e-mail that Dr. Bro-menshenk ‘did not volunteer his funding sources.’” Even more suspicious, Bromenshenk was re-portedly all set to serve as an expert witness in 2003 for beekeepers involved in a class-action lawsuit against Bayer. He dropped out without explanation, however, and subsequently received the grant from Bayer.source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/29/is-the-reason-for-bees-dying-in-colony-collapse-disorder-finally-solved.aspx

Environmental Contamination Role in Cancer Rises From 10% to 70% - 90% in Under a YearFamous epidemiological work by Doll and Peto in the early 1970s concluded that exposure to chemi-cals in the environment might account for up to 10% of human chronic disease, such as cancer. This 10% number became, and persisted for 40 years, as “conventional scientific wisdom.” In the early days of the Human Genome Project, some scientists suspected that our genes play the dominant role in predisposing a person to either succumb to, or suc-cessfully combat cancer and other chronic diseases. So some geneticists speculated that environmental

factors might not even account for 10% of chronic diseases. In May, 2010 the President’s Cancer Panel re-port stated bluntly that the contribution of chemicals in the environment, including pesticides, to the can-cer burden of disease is “significant” and has been, for years, underestimated. They called for more focus on avoiding such exposures as one of many necessary steps in the long-overdue shift toward cancer prevention as opposed to cancer treatment. In an October 22, 2010 commentary in Science, the nation’s most respected scientific journal, two ex-perts in the etiology of disease write:

“Although the risks of developing chronic dis-eases are attributed to both genetic and environ-mental factors, 70 to 90% of disease risks are probably due to differences in environments.”

The scientists making this case cite several new studies involving use of advanced tools that can screen human DNA for genetic twists indicative of exposure to certain chemicals, some from the envi-ronment, others manufactured inside the body. They see evidence in the new data leading them to con-cluded that 70% to 90% of chronic diseases, includ-ing cancer and diabetes, are triggered by environ-mental factors via complex interactions between a person’s genes, health, lifestyle, and early life and ongoing exposures to chemicals and pathogens.source: http://www.organic-center.org/news_ar-chive/October2010Newsletter.htm

High Quality Managed Pastures Reduce GHG Emissions per Gallon of Milk ProducedA team of scientists in Ireland studied the impact of pasture quality on milk production, dry matter intake from forages, and methane emissions from Holstein cows. High quality pastures with younger growth and less herbage volume per acre/hectare provided grazing animals forage that is more readily digestible. As a result, high quality forages reduced methane emissions by 42 grams per day, or by about 10% based on typical enteric methane emission rates, when compared to the same cows grazed on nearby pastures with about twice the per acre/hect-are volume of herbage. Methane emissions from cows consuming high quality forages were reduced by 3.5 grams per kilogram of milk, representing about a 25% reduction from typical baseline levels of enteric methane emissions per kilogram of milk

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 7produced. These findings are relevant to dairy farmers worldwide, and drive home the importance of pas-ture and grazing management in terms of the overall environmental footprint of dairy farm management systems.source: http://www.organic-center.org/news_ar-chive/October2010Newsletter.htm

Organic Systems Show Great Promise in Reduc-ing GHG Emissions in CaliforniaOrganic management of vegetable and row crops in California’s Central Valley has the potential to reduce net GHG emissions from soil by 3,496 ki-lograms (kg) of CO2-equivalents per hectare per year, compared to conventional management sys-tems with standard tillage. The “standard tillage” system in the “Long-term Research on Agricultural Systems” (LTRAS) study resulted in net soil GHG emissions of 1,081 kg CO2-equivalents per hectare/year. Accordingly, the organic system brought about an approximately 4,500 kg reduction in CO2-equiv-alents per hectare per year.In the quest to reduce agriculture’s contribution to global warming, the most prominent and powerful coalition of agribusiness companies are promoting the combination of conservation tillage, GE seeds, and precision farming-guided fertilizer applica-tions as the best way to reduce net GHG emissions. This study, along with others, shows why this com-bination of practices will bring about little or no change. Conservation tillage, and even no-tillage does not result in appreciable, sustained soil carbon sequestration. The increase in soil organic matter in the top few inches of soil in no-till fields is ac-companied by no increase or declines deeper in the soil profile. GE seeds impact how farmers manage weeds and certain insects, but have marginal, if any impact on net GHG emissions. Precision farming can bring about marginal gains in nitrogen use ef-ficiency, and hence some reductions in nitrous oxide losses, but will do little to build soil organic matter and sequester substantial levels of carbon. The big gains from nutrient management come from incorporating cover crops plus animal manures in the soil profile. Cover crops plus additions of compost and/or animal manures are core practices on organic farms in California, and indeed around the world. This California study shows that this combination of practices has the potential to turn significant GHG emissions into substantial reduc-tions. source: http://www.organic-center.org/news_ar-chive/October2010Newsletter.htm

Innovators Producing Non-Petroleum and Non-GMO PackagingIncreasing consumer demand is providing a market for three new producers of packaging. BioBag pro-duces a number of bags from a bioplastic composed of Non-GMO corn starch and a copolymer. The bags decompose in a composting environment in 10 to 45 days and provide an alternative to the ubiqui-tous polyethylene/polypropylene plastic bag. Ver-Terra makes dinnerware from palm leaves that are steamed and pressed. Anyone who has visited India will realize that this idea is simply a more sanitized version of street food there. Many vendors in the subcontinent routinely serve food on palm leaves. Similarly, Be Green Packaging has developed a line of containers made from Chinese bulrushes. Whole Foods Market has adopted them for many of its deli bar items.source: The Organic and Non-GMO Report, July/August 2010

OTA Moves to VermontThe Organic Trade Association, the (since 1990) Greenfield, Massachusetts group that represents the interests of the organic industry, is moving to Brat-tleboro, Vermont. The Vermont Economic Progress council approved $86,300 in incentives to encour-age OTA to make the move. source: Acres, U.S.A. , November 2010

Court Oks Hormone-Free Label on Dairy Prod-ucts in Ohio, Challenges USDA’s “No Significant Difference” FindingA federal court has struck down an Ohio ban on dairy products whose labels say they’re made from milk that’s free of hormones that increase cows’ milk production. That means companies that want to say their products are “rbGH free” and “rbST free” and “artificial hormone free” are now free to do so. But the bigger deal might be that the ruling chal-lenges the FDA’s 17-year-old finding that there’s “no significant difference” between the milk of cows given growth hormone and those that aren’t. Just that sort of distinction, or lack of it actually, is part of the ongoing debate about how to label genetically engineered salmon. The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said there is a “compositional difference” between milk from cows given growth hormones and those with-out. The court gave three reasons they’re different:- Increased levels of the hormone IGF-1;- A period of milk with lower nutritional quality dur-ing each lactation; and- Increased somatic cell counts (i.e. more pus in the milk). The FDA says it’s OK with voluntary labels on hormone-free milk that say the milk is derived from cows not treated with rbGH and that say the agency has found no difference in the milk. But states are the deciders. The battle may go beyond milk, however. While genetically-engineered salmon is still awaiting ap-proval, FDA documents released at the time of the meeting indicate it will conclude the same about salmon - it says the flesh of the GE salmon is not significantly different from ordinary farm raised Atlantic salmon, therefore, it would not need a label. Such a label would be false and misleading, says AquaBounty, the company who makes the geneti-cally-engineered salmon. But if FDA approves the salmon, consumer groups say the ruling may help companies who want to label their salmon as non-genetically engineered. A spokeswoman for the biotechnology trade as-sociation BIO says, however, that the milk issue and the salmon issue are completely different. “There’s no growth hormone added to the fish,” she says. The fish are given DNA from an eel pout that allows the fish to produce their own hormone, and grow year-round, instead of just in the summer.source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/10/01/130270131/court-give-hormone-free-label-on-dairy-products-an-ok-in-ohio

Stonyfield Cups Going GreenNew Hampshire based yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm has upped the going-green ante, recently an-nouncing it’s switching its yogurt multi-packs to a corn-based, compostable bioplastic. The firm also announced that they will fund enough non-GMO corn crops to accommodate the amount of corn needed to make the new packaging. The new bioplastic will replace traditional petroleum-based plastic which is made from a material derived from corn called polylactic acid (PLA). To keep the corn-plastic coming, Stonyfield Farm is working with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Working Landscapes program to pay a premium to farmers growing GMO-free corn to be used for bioplastic. source: Eco-Farm’s Genetic Engineering News List, October 25, 2010

Bayer Settles Texas Suits Alleging Its GM Seed Contaminated Rice FieldsAfter 3 days of trial a Bayer AG unit on October 15 settled a lawsuit brought by three Texas grow-ers over claims its genetically engineered seed contaminated U.S. long-grain rice fields, causing a plunge in exports to Europe. The settlement only covers claims by the growers in trial and doesn’t af-fect more than 6,000 other claims. “It’s an historic event,” the attorney for the farmers, Don Downing, said. “It’s the first time there has been a settlement in a farmers’ case” against Bayer involving contami-nated rice. Farmers in five states claim Bayer negligently contaminated the U.S. long-grain rice crop with its genetically modified LibertyLink seed, leading to export restrictions, bans on two kinds of high-yield seeds and a plunge in prices. Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, denies negligence and dis-putes the damages claims, contending that rice sales rebounded after an initial drop. The Texas trial was the seventh against Bayer in the genetically modi-

fied rice litigation. Bayer lost the first six, for a total of about $54 million. The company is challenging the verdicts in appeals and post-trial motions. The three Texas growers were seeking $430,000 in dam-ages, plus unspecified punitive damages, Downing said. They settled for $290,000. “These are relative-ly small farmers with relatively small acreage.” source: Bloomberg News, October 19, 2010

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Sales DownSales of HFCS are down 9% from 2007 levels. Food companies such as Hunt’s, Snapple, Gatorade and Starbucks have dropped the controversial sweetener because of growing concern about its health effects. Movies such as 2007’s “King Corn” not only raised health issues involving the product, but also high-lighted the amount of tax-payer subsidies that sup-port growing corn. source: The Organic and Non-GMO Report, July/August 2010

Forest Fire Substances Speed Plant GrowthThe smoke-derived chemicals, karrikins (from the aboriginal word for smoke) have been identified by Australian scientists as the substances responsible for promoting germination of seeds after forest fires. Studies show karrikins speed growth of corn, toma-toes, lettuce and other food crops, as well as help them tolerated a wider range of temperatures. They are being used to restore vegetation on land stripped bare during mining of aluminum ore. source: Acres, U.S.A. , September 2010

Onions Contain Natural PreservativesAntioxidant and antimicrobial properties of onions are useful in preventing the development of Staphy-lococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, among other food-borne pathogens, say researchers at the Universities of Catalonia and Barcelona. The prop-erties are produced by phenolic compounds (flavo-noids) in the bulbs. source: Acres, U.S.A. , September 2010

Farmers’ Market Numbers GrowingIn one more indication of the popularity of the lo-cal food movement, the USDA has reported that the number of farmers markets has grown 16% in the last year, from 5274 to 6132. The top ten states for the markets are California (580), New York (461), Illinois (286), Michigan (271), Iowa (229), Massachusetts (227), Ohio (213), Wisconsin (204), Pennsylvania (203), and North Carolina (182). A total of 882 markets operate in the off-season from November through March. The USDA Farmkers Market Directory can be found at http://farmersmar-kets.usda.govsource: Acres, U.S.A. , October 2010

USDA Funding Buys 2300 Hoop Houses So FarThe USDA’s 3-year pilot cost-share program initiat-ed by Kathleen Merrigan to encourage construction of hoop houses for off-season growing has, in only its first year, awarded contracts worth $12.5 million resulting in construction of over 2300 hoop houses. That comes to a little over $5000 per house. The program would not fund purchases of used hoop houses, only new ones. source: OEFFA News, Fall, 2010

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 18

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 9

Special Supplement onOrganic Farming and Co-ops

Cooperative efforts have occurred throughout his-tory. Since early man cooperated with others to help kill large animals for survival, people have been cooperating to achieve objectives that they could not reach if they acted individually. Cooperation has occurred throughout the world. Ancient records show that Babylonians practiced cooperative farm-ing and that the Chinese developed savings and loan associations similar to those in use today. In North America, clearing land in preparation for the plant-ing of crops, threshing bees, and barn raisings all required cooperative efforts. In the United States, the first formal cooperative business is assumed to have been established in 1752, almost a quarter-century before the Declaration of Independence was signed. This cooperative, a mutual insurance company called the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, was organized by Benjamin Franklin and others, and it is still in operation today.

The cooperative as a modern business structure originated in 19th century Britain. The Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on the way busi-ness was organized and on the working condi-tions and economic situations of many people. In response to the depressed economic conditions brought forth by industrialization, some people began to form cooperative businesses to meet their needs. Among them was a group of 28 workers who were dissatisfied with the merchants in their community. They formed a consumer cooperative known as the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pio-neers in 1844. They began by opening a cooperative store that sold items such as flour and sugar to mem-bers, and the Society quickly grew to include other enterprises. The founders also established a unique combination of written policies that governed the affairs of the cooperative. Among these rules were: democratic control of members, payment of limited interest on capital, and net margins distributed to members according to level of patronage. Based on its success, the Rochdale set of policies soon be-came a model for other cooperative endeavors, and became known as the general principles that make a cooperative unique from other business structures.

Agricultural Cooperatives

Agricultural cooperatives are typically classified ac-cording to the three major functions they perform: marketing, supply, and service. Many cooperatives combine all three types of functions in their opera-tions.

Marketing cooperatives

Marketing cooperatives help to sell their members’ farm products and maximize the return that they re-ceive for these goods. Their operations can be quite diversified and complex. Some marketing coopera-tives perform a limited number of functions, while others vertically integrate their operations so that they perform more functions that add value to their members’ products as they move from the farm to the consumer. Some cooperatives even sell prod-ucts in grocery stores under their own brand name; Land O’ Lakes and Ocean Spray are two prominent examples. Marketing cooperatives can serve their

members in many ways, including bargaining for better prices, storing and selling members’ grain, and processing farm products into more consumer-ready goods. In the United States, agricultural co-operatives handle about 30 percent of farmers’ total farm marketing volume.

Supply cooperatives

Supply cooperatives (sometimes referred to as pur-chasing cooperatives) sell farm supplies to their members. Products include production supplies such as seed, fertilizer, petroleum, chemicals, and farm equipment. American farmers purchase about 28 percent of their supply needs through cooperatives.

Service cooperatives

Service cooperatives provide various services to their members. For instance, cooperatives may offer services such as pesticide applications, seed clean-

A Short History of Agricultural Cooperatives

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 110ing, and artificial insemination. Service cooperatives also include organizations such as the Farm Credit System, a network of borrower-owned lending institutions that provide credit and other financial services to farmers, and rural electric cooperatives, which provide electricity to rural areas.

The first formal farmer cooperative to form in the United States occurred in 1810. However, agricul-tural cooperatives were not really perceived as a vi-able business organizational structure until after the Civil War. Several farm organizations helped to pro-mote cooperative development. The Grange, a farm-er organization established to improve the economic and social position of the nation’s farm population (National Grange), began to engage in coopera-tive marketing and purchasing. In 1875 it adopted the Rochdale system in carrying out its coopera-tive activities. Other farm organizations, including the Farmers Alliance and the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America (known as the National Farmers Union), also began to promote co-operative development. Farmers not affiliated with any farm organization also began to establish coop-eratives. By 1900, at least 1,223 cooperatives were active in the United States.

By the early 1900s the United States government began to pass laws that provided a favorable envi-ronment for cooperative development. A commis-sion established in 1908 by President Roosevelt noted that the country lacked adequate credit for the agriculture sector, and their findings helped lead to the passing of the Federal Farm Loan Act in 1916, legislation that led to the creation of the Farm Credit System. The Capper-Volstead Act of 1922 was cru-cial for agricultural marketing cooperatives, as it provided limited antitrust immunity for farmers and ranchers who join together in cooperative marketing associations.

Government encouragement for agricultural coop-eratives was highest during the 1920s and 1930s. Most state legislatures established agricultural co-operative acts during this time. America’s agricul-tural sector went through a difficult period as prices collapsed after World War I ended. As part of the response to the adverse economic conditions, Presi-dents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover all strongly endorsed the use of agricultural cooperatives. The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, which included the establishment of a fund for cooperative loans, also helped to strengthen the cooperative movement.

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According to the United States Department of Agri-culture (USDA), the largest number of agricultural cooperatives occurred during 1929-30. At that time, the USDA recorded 12,000 farmer cooperatives. Although the number of agricultural cooperatives has been decreasing since then, total business vol-ume has been rising. In its 1997 survey, the USDA reported that 3,791 farmer cooperatives generated a net business volume of $106 billion, equal to the record high set in the previous year. The net income was near the record high of $2.36 billion reported in 1995. The number of farmer cooperatives has decreased through various activities including dis-solution, mergers or consolidations, and acquisitions as cooperatives, like other businesses, adjust to a changing economic environment. This is extracted from a larger document called New Generation Cooperatives on the Northern Plains on

the University of Manitoba website

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 11

“We were surprised by the results.We maintain our tank SCC down at 80-100,000 by spraying every fresh udder for 4 to 5 days.”

“We were surprised by our results with Udder Comfort™. We used the new yellow spray, which has a natural coloring. Our SCC had been running 140-170,000, we could not believe how squirting this spray on the outside of the udder would cut our somatic cell count down by 70,000. But it worked. It softens the udder, which relaxes the cow. This helps withedema and irritation when they come fresh,”says Alan Mesman. He and his wife Vickie and son Ben and daughter Sammy milk 140 cows at their Certi� ed Organic dairy near Mt. Vernon, Washington.

“At � rst we sprayed Udder Comfort on the whole udder of 39 identi� ed cows (out of 140 milking). As a result, the tank SCC dropped down to 80,000. This boosted our quality premium another 29 cents.

“We do not dry-treat any animals here. We are able to maintain our bulk tank SCC down at 80-100,000 by spraying every fresh udder after both milkings for 4 to 5 days after they calve.”

For external application to the udder only after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.

— Alan Mesman

MESMAN FARM, Mt. Vernon, WashingtonAlan and Vickie Mesman and son Ben and daughter SamanthaGrazing-based Certi� ed Organic DairyMilking 140 cows with RHA 19,000 lbs (2x)SCC: Before — 140-170,000 After — 80-100,000

The Mesman family (l-r) Alan, Ben, Vickie and Samantha.

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by Jack Kittredge

Park Slope is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, the most populous borough in New York City. The name comes from being on the western slope of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Fifty years ago Park Slope was a booming working class neighborhood – Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican and Black – all together in one area. But its many natural advantages have attracted upscale residents over time, however, and it has now become one of the most desirable places to live in the metropolitan area. It was recently ranked #1 in New York by New York Magazine, citing its quality public schools, dining, nightlife, shopping, access to public transit, green space, quality housing, safety, and creative capital, among other aspects.

One of the features that many would mention is that it is also the home of the Park Slope Food Co-op, the largest wholly member-owned food co-op in the country. The co-op is located at 782 Union Street, a bustling area just a block or two off of Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn’s main thoroughfare. That is the same building in which it was founded 37 years ago.

“There were about ten of us who founded the co-op,” recalls Joe Holtz, who is still employed there. “We really wanted to get good, affordable food. We could get good food here, in Brooklyn, but it wasn’t necessarily affordable. We wanted to eat a diet that was higher in fresh fruits and vegetables than the normal American diet. We were young people and we had trouble affording the way we wanted to eat. We decided to take matters into our own hands. It was also an exercise in building community!

“I was living with three other people,” he continues, “and one of my roommates came home from the subway and said: ‘I just met someone I know and there is a meeting next week to start talking about a food co-op in the neighborhood. Do you want to go to the meeting?’ I said: ‘Yeah!’ So we went. We started working on it in late 1972 and it opened in February, 1973.”

Food co-ops were very prevalent back then. In the late sixties and early seventies young people and others interested in a more healthy diet started food co-ops across the country. Many started in California, where it was easier to find fresh and healthy produce because of its long season and proximity to many organic farms. Joe had been in a California organic food co-op the year before. There they hooked up with local farmers and sourced all the fruits and vegetables organically. But that was not so easy to do in the east.

But the first task once people were willing to start a co-op in Brooklyn was to find a space. As Joe tells it: “In 1973 there was a community center renting the top floor of this building. They had film showings and discussions at night, but weren’t using the building during the day. We asked them if we could rent the front room, put a lock on it,

Park Slope Cooperative: Voting for Local and Organic with Dollars

and during the day, when they weren’t here, receive deliveries. Then on Saturdays we would have the co-op, sell things, and finish by late afternoon for their Saturday night activities.”

The co-op started out not wanting to ask people to preorder produce, but they found they had to. The space was small and without refrigeration there was no way to properly store perishables that were unsold.

The co-op operated entirely on volunteer labor for more than two years, but finally grew to the point

where they could hire Joe in June of 1975. He took control of fruit and vegetable buying and started buying local produce.

“We had been getting California romaine lettuce,” he explains, “but when I went to Hunt’s Point I saw that we could be buying local romaine. A few houses in the market had only local produce. But come December, of course, they’re not there! They’ve rented out their warehouse to their neighbor for grapefruits from Florida! But come late March or April, they’re back again. So we rented a truck for over $100 for one day and went to the Hunts

photo by Jack Kittredge

Allen Zimmerman and Julie Gabriel, two of Park Slope’s primary produce buyers, at the squash and pumpkin display.

Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Co-op

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 112

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Point market. The truck wasn’t refrigerated, but we went in the middle of the night so it was okay.”

Then in the fall of 1975 Joe was getting off a bus and noticed a butcher store going out of business. They wanted to sell all their equipment – including a walk-in cooler! It was a beautiful 10 by 10 tongue-in-groove structure, lined with cork for insulation.

The owner helped them get it out with his chain saw and they stored in in Joe’s parent’s garage over the winter until they could installed it in the spring of 1976.

Because of the cooler they could store produce and not ask people to preorder exactly what they needed. This brought in more people and the co-op could

be open more days. So they added Thursday and Saturday, and then, starting in 1978 or 1979 they opened up on Friday as well.

When the bottom floor became available the co-op was in a position to sign a lease for the whole building, including an option to buy at a set price to be exercised within 2 years. They renovated the downstairs space in 1979, moved into the whole building, and by the fall of 1980 they decided to buy the building!

“We started asking members for a $10 investment for the first time,” Joe remembers. “We got about $10,000, which is what we needed for a down payment on a $50,000 building. So we bought it. But this building is only 22 feet wide. So I said to our neighbor: ‘If you ever think of selling your building, we’re your neighbors and we might be interested.’ Sure enough, in 1988 we bought the second building and added another 22 feet. Then I went straight over to our other neighbor, who ran a rug cleaning business, and said: ‘Don’t forget, we’re your neighbors. If you ever think about selling your building, keep us in mind.’ Eventually, in 1999, after a six or seven year struggle during which we voted down buying the building and then reconsidered, we bought the third building and added another 40 feet of frontage. In 1978 we had about a thousand members. Now we have 15,000.”

Park Slope was originally a low cost place to live (it was even red-lined at one point and banks wouldn’t lend there, so some buildings were abandoned.) But it is very close to Prospect Park, close to the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, very close to the Botanical Gardens, close to the Brooklyn Museum, and close to 4 subway lines! So as the co-op grew, young people who didn’t grow up in Park Slope started moving in and renting apartments. Now any building there is worth over a million dollars.

The co-op draws customers from a large area, not just Park Slope. Joe reports that some of them pass many supermarkets on the way to the co-op. That is unusual behavior for a city dweller and speaks to the high quality, diversity of product, good prices, and values that members receive.

Park Slope Cooperative (yellow dot in center) considers anything coming from a radius of �00 miles to be local. Here is where their local suppliers are located.

Produce suppliers are green, red is for meat and poultry suppliers.

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Unlike some organizations that call themselves co-ops, Park Slope takes the principles of cooperative organization seriously.

Allen Zimmerman, the primary produce buyer, explains: “For starters, you have to be a member to buy anything here. Also, members have to work 2 and ¾ hours every 4 weeks. Since members usually will work the same jobs each time they work, they get experienced at doing that task. Collectively, this is a tremendous help. It amounts to about 75% of the work necessary to run the Co-op. Thus prices can be less. Studies show they are more than 20% less than at comparable stores.

“Some co-ops criticize us for our labor requirement,” he continues. “But they’re open to only those who can afford them. We’re open to anyone who is willing to save on their food by helping with the work.”

The member investment, which is the basis for the co-op’s capital, is $100. If you leave the co-op you get it back. There is also a one-time joining fee of $25 you don’t get back. But if you get income-based assistance through some program the co-op reduces the joining fee to $5 and the investment to $10. They also let anybody pay as slowly as $5 a month to build up the investment. They calculate that members are saving a lot more than $5 every week by buying there.

Membership meetings occur once a month, at which well over 200 members attend. The co-op offers work credits to come to meetings up to twice a year. There is also a newsletter in which members are encouraged to write letters. Generally, Allen says, when people have an issue with how things are run, the staff hears about it: “Remember, our members are members, not customers. They vote, and work hard for what they want. If we don’t have our fingers on the pulse, they have their fingers around our throats!”

Only about 2 or 3 percent of the co-op’s gross income comes in as food stamps, indicating not a lot of members are low income. Although it takes cash, food stamps, or debit cards, Park Slope will not accept credit cards. The cost of credit for the business accepting the cards is too high. The co-op is active in the community and hosts many class trips of elementary school kids visiting to see all the strange vegetables. Saturdays are the busiest, with long lines snaking throughout the store waiting to check out.

An important break for the co-op came when, in 1980 they I got a call from Finger Lakes Organic Growers Cooperative asking if Park Slope would like to get deliveries from them each Monday morning. Joe said: ‘Of course. That’s fantastic. Thank you for figuring this out!’

“Sitting here in the city,” he explains, “we don’t do vehicles. We’re not vehicle people. If you can find a place to park you probably have to pay hundreds of dollars a month to keep it there. A commercial truck on the streets of New York is illegal overnight. You get tickets! So we had been renting vehicles to pick up produce and it was a huge hassle.”

One other benefit that dealing with Finger Lakes Organics brought to Park Slope was that FLO really enforced standards among their farmers. “There were some who were lagging behind,” Joe recalls, “and the FLO managers would say: ‘No, I won’t take that. I’ve told you not to have any yellow leaves in the chard, and no random bunches. It’s ¾ pound minimum, not one bunch being a pound and a quarter and the next a half pound. This is the standard. Take it back to your farm and do the right thing!’”

“Quality always depends on the farmer,” agrees Allen. “When I started out as substitute produce buyer in 1988, organic had a lot to learn about quality. But as farmers got more experience the quality went up. When we got stuff from Robin Ostfeld and Lou Johns at Blue Heron Farm there was no reason to look inside the box except to admire it! But there were also local farmers who were more primitive. We just had to learn farm by farm who was better at it. The organic and local stuff is now more uniform and fits better in a store.

It’s one thing to throw stuff on a stand in a farmers market, but a store has to have more uniformity. Most farms are conforming to some kind of presentation that makes it easy for a store to handle its produce.”

One of the biggest farmers markets in New York is a few blocks from the co-op. Allen loves to go there to checkup on what is new and interesting – both farmers and produce. One of their larger distributors, the Lancaster Family Farm Co-op, actually found Park Slope by driving past on the way to the farmers market. They barely had enough business to come to the market, but with orders from the co-op they could pool produce from 20 farms and find an economy of scale.

Julie Gabriel has handled much of the produce buying with Allen for the last five years. She feels that there is a lot more local stuff, more variety, than there used to be. The quality is much better.

“But because there are more farmers and groups of farmers asking us to buy from them, we have to sometimes disappoint people. The more farmers there are the more we have to turn down and not buy all they would like us to. We have to juggle quality, price, relationships and loyalty.

“Joe and Allen had an early and close relationship with Amy Hepworth,” she continues, “which is why we buy so much from her. Her vegetables and berries are all organic. Finger Lakes Organic is probably our second largest supplier of local produce, although we are getting a lot now from the Lancaster Farm Cooperative. They are Amish and certified organic – even some of their apples. We get some produce from Canada. That usually comes through Albert’s Organics.”

Park Slope puts a very high priority on carrying local foods, as long as they can generate the volume necessary to get it delivered.

photo by Jack Kittredge

Members cut, wrap, price and label cheese in the co-op basement as one of many possible member jobs. The man in the Tshirt wearing a headband has been

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 1�“We define local as within 500 miles,” says Allen. “Half of that circle is the Atlantic Ocean. So now we’re talking about a semicircle with a radius of 500 miles. We think any farm in that radius can pick produce on one morning and have it to us the next morning. If you are living in the heart of the urban monster, you have to go a ways to get to the farms. Probably in Minnesota local is something you can hit with a rock! But here we have to have a bigger circle. So we think a day’s drive is a reasonable distance.”

“At one point in the 1970s,” says Joe, illustrating the point, “someone went on vacation in the Adirondacks and came back and said: ‘I met this honey farmer. Here is his card. He really wants to sell to us. If we buy $2000 of honey he’ll deliver to us. He has good prices and good honey.’ We called him up and he started delivering. We would store honey by stacking it up to the ceiling! But we would run out and order again.”

Then in the 1970s there was a federation of 15 co-ops called ‘The People’s Warehouse’. It didn’t last long, but through it Joe got access to local apple cider for the first time.

But the choices are not easy. Local is almost always more expensive. One of his current dilemmas is having to decide between $28 kiwi berries from Oregon or $38 ones from Pennsylvania.

“The reason we created a movement to support local food,” says Allen, “is that it is a challenge. You do need to say: ‘Okay, California lettuce is $20 a case and local lettuce is $28. But we’ll buy local.’”

Increasingly some local farms, especially big ones, can pump out both quality and price, he agrees, and cites Pedersen Farm in the Finger Lakes area as an example. When Pederson grows something he grows so much that no local or California farm can compete with him!

Joe, checking their inventory at the time of my visit in mid October, finds that the co-op has approximately 225 items of produce on the shelves.

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Of those, 153 are local. That is actually a record for them. Of course that ratio shifts throughout the year and this is just an autumn snapshot.

Organic food is also a high priority for Park Slope, of course. Of the 153 local items on the shelf at the time of my visit, Joe reports that 148 are organic.

“Of course we have a diverse membership in terms of economics. Not everyone can afford organic, so we buy some organic and some not of some produce. We’ll double market lemons, for example, or baby carrots.”

“I think somewhere between 75% and 80% of the overall fruit and vegetable volume is organic,” adds Allen. “Of course that is the members speaking with their dollars. When we got to the point that we were buying in 20 cases of organic kale and 1 of conventional, we dropped the conventional because we couldn’t keep it fresh.”

Normal food diversity is certainly evident at Park Slope Cooperative. High quality vegetarian and vegan options are important to many members.

There is not yet a lot of interest in ‘Nourishing Traditions’ dietary items like animal fat and organ

photo by Jack Kittredge

Bill Malloy, head of the co-op’s meat department, holds a brisket from Hardwick Beef in Massachusetts.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 11�

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meats, says Bill Malloy, meat case manager: “But I have heard from vegetarians who are switching to eating meat, and want to eat sustainable meat. They don’t want to eat meat from a factory farm that is detrimental to the environment and crating greenhouse gases. We have a lot of slow food people. Our meat comes from New England, New York and Pennsylvania. It’s all pretty much local. The beef and lamb is grass-fed and finished.

“Much like the produce aisle,” he continues, “we will sell a non-organic alternative which is more reasonably priced than organic meat. We buy two cows a week and have it cut and processed and packaged for us. Then we price it here. We also buy cuts from other farms like Hardwick Beef. We had a lot of brisket in for the Jewish holidays earlier. We lost a slaughter facility in the Finger Lakes region, so now these are from a plant in Pennsylvania. Our chickens we get from 7 different farms now.”

Cheese buyer Uri Weber says that there are many local cheeses becoming available now. “I work with

a company called the Pampered Cow that brings in a lot of the Hudson Valley cheeses. I also buy direct from a lot of smaller places. There is a lot of demand for cheese and it is hard to keep up with it. We sell upwards of 500 pounds of cheddar a week, upwards of 3 to 4 wheels of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese. There are people who request organic cheeses, but I talk to them about grass-fed European cheeses and they’re pretty happy with them. I make sure they are rGBH-free if I can. But some people aren’t willing to divulge information on where their milk comes from. There are a lot of Franch, British, and Croatian cheeses here, too.”

Cutting and wrapping cheese is one of the member jobs. Park Slope may be one of the last general grocery stores that actually cuts and wraps their cheese on site. They have the member labor and besides, there is no space for a cheese counter anyway!

Some interesting factoids about Park Slope:• They are open every day of every year. • About 22% or 23% of their business is produce, pretty much year round. • The co-op’s annual volume is $39 million in sales. • Park Slope has more sales per square foot than Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or WalMart. • The co-ops won an Energy Star award for saving so much energy. The biggest innovations are:- Off the grid air conditioning, run by natural gas. It is both more efficient and more community-minded as they don’t use power when everyone else is demanding it. - Changing all the lights so they are more efficient and use less energy. - Recovering heat from the refrigerators and using it to heat all their hot water. - Recovering cold air that spills out of the refrig-erator cases and channeling it back to reuse the cold.

The co-op is bursting with business, but can’t really expand. There is a Catholic church on one end,” says Allen, “and a fire department on the other. That is why it is so tight here! Besides, our own street can’t support much more than we’re doing now. Union Street can’t afford more trucks. So our strategy now is to help other people start food co-ops. We’re actively involved in helping 6 other communities in Brooklyn start them. We’ve also worked with people in England, Paris, and around the world. A lot of people visit us to learn more about how to do it.”

photo by Jack Kittredge

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Cooperatives: Their Economic

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Overview

Cooperative firms account for a significant portion of economic activity in U.S. agricultural and food markets, both as providers of key inputs and as marketing and processing agents for farm output. According to USDA statistics, marketing and input supply cooperatives account for about a third of

both total farm sector revenue and input purchases. Cooperatives play a key role in agricultural mar-kets not only because they account for a significant fraction of economic activity in this sector, but also because they are believed to generate a pro-com-petitive effect in imperfectly competitive markets. Cooperatives play other socially beneficial roles in the agricultural sector. They provide an opportunity for farmers to share risk and to control managerial decision-making for their direct benefit. Addition-ally, they offer a credence attribute—farmer owner-ship—which can be attached to farm commodities, thus providing additional value to some consumers.Cooperatives perform a wide variety of functions in agricultural and food markets. Often these functions are grouped into the two broad categories, “market-ing” and “supply.” Some marketing cooperatives are household names: Sunkist, Ocean Spray, Sun-maid, and Sunsweet, for example, have created national recognition with their branded products. These firms provide processing and marketing services to farm-ers, and also the necessary logistical support to ag-gregate farm supply. Other marketing cooperatives

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are much leaner organizations, providing only mar-keting services to assist farmers, get their product to market, to pool risk, or to negotiate sales as a group to a single buyer or a small number of buyers. Sup-ply cooperatives provide service and inputs to farm-ers to help them produce their goods. Many farmers purchase basic inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and farm chemicals from a cooperative. In other words, farmers collectively establish a firm to negotiate bet-ter terms of purchase for basic agricultural produc-tion inputs. Less common, but still widely observed, are cooperatives that provide information services (e.g., record keeping and performance evaluation) to farmers.

HistoryFormalization of group efforts among farmers into well defined and legally sanctioned cooperative business organizations occurred gradually during the mid- to late nineteenth century, in the U.S. Authors of early cooperative incorporation statutes modified standard stock corporation statutes to reflect Roch-dale operating principles. Passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 forced cooperative leaders to

further formalize and distinguish the cooperative business model. The Sherman Antitrust Act was de-signed to prevent groups of corporations from com-bining by granting their stock to a trust. With control of all the corporations vested in the trust board, the trust would then work to eliminate competition, cre-ate a monopoly, and thus raise prices. As indepen-dent farm businesses working together to enhance prices, farmer marketing cooperatives were subject to prosecution under the anti-trust laws that were established as a result of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In a quest to establish a unique form of organization that would be exempt from anti-trust regulations, numerous states created new “non-stock” coopera-tive statutes.

In addition, the Clayton Act of 1914 exempted from the Sherman Act those organizations (“agricultural or horticultural organizations instituted for the pur-pose of mutual help and not having capital stock or conducted for profit”). The Clayton Act created some confusion, however, because at the time many farmer cooperatives were still incorporated under older stock-based cooperative statutes. The Capper-

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Economic Impacts for Agricultural Sales and Marketing Cooperatives

Volstead Act was passed in 1922 to resolve this con-fusion and applied broadly to associations of agri-cultural producers, both capital stock and non-stock associations. In addition to anti-trust exemptions, farmer cooperatives have benefited from educational and research support from the USDA and from the establishment of the Farm Credit System.

Industry Niche

Cooperatives in the agricultural sector provide basic marketing and supply services, and are more preva-lent among farmers who cultivate crops than among those who raise animals (dairy being a notable ex-ception where cooperative firms hold a dominant market share). Marketing and processing services are typically organized around a single commod-ity. Supply services are restricted to basic variable inputs—agricultural chemicals, fuel and fertilizer, seed, and crop consulting services—and operate much like a “buying group,” except in the produc-tion of feed for animals. That is, farmers tend not to own the physical assets that are used to produce these inputs, but rather negotiate their purchase col-lectively. Less common, but still widely observed, are cooperatives that provide services (e.g., infor-mation services for record keeping, and processing services such as cotton ginning and walnut shell-ing). Cooperatives rarely produce farm machinery and generally are not involved in basic research to develop new production technologies.

Organizational Structure

Farmer cooperative are typically organized under state incorporation statutes, but sometimes they are also organized as limited liability companies when a need arises for significant investment participa-tion by individuals who do not use the firm’s ser-vices. More recently, some states have established

“hybrid” LLC/cooperative statutes that sanction cooperative organizations with greater outside par-ticipation than permitted in existing cooperative statutes (but that still maintain patron control). The National Conference of Commissioners for Uniform State Law (NCCUSL) recently issued the Limited Cooperative Association Act, which is intended to provide a uniform version of hybrid statutes for po-

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 120

Clements Law Office, LLC 9 Damonmill Square, Concord, MA 01742978.287.4901 www.clementsllc.com

Appeals and Litigation • Advice and Advocacy

“A griculture. . . is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1787

Clements_4.875x7.5.indd 1 1/10/10 12:07 PM

tential adoption across states that do not currently have one.

Farmer cooperatives typically require all members to be active farmers. Many cooperatives provide ser-vices to non-member farmers, though incorporation statutes typically place restrictions on the amount of non-member business. Some farmer coopera-tives are “open” in the sense that anyone who does business with the firm may also choose to become a member. Other farmer cooperatives are “closed” in that membership is rationed according to the avail-ability of processing or marketing capacity. Some farmer cooperatives elect boards of directors and make major decisions such as mergers and acqui-sitions or dissolution on a one-member/one-vote basis, while others make voting rights proportional to the level of service use for each member. Many farmer cooperatives proportionally “allocate” all or most earnings to patrons, but then retain up to 80% of these allocations for working capital and re-in-vestment. Firms that operate on such a basis pay pa-trons for the use of their funds in future periods with a formal “equity redemption” program. Most farmer cooperatives claim Subchapter T status for Federal tax purposes, which allows pass-through taxation. Only the patrons pay tax on earnings allocations, even if they are retained for use by the firm.

Population Discovery and Data Sources

The USDA’s Business and Cooperative Programs Unit within the Bureau of Rural Development con-ducts a periodic survey of cooperative business in the agricultural sector. Contact information is com-piled through a network of industry and government

contacts who make note of existing, new, and dis-solved cooperatives. The most recent year for which data are available is 2006. We rely entirely on this USDA data to conduct our analysis of economic impact. All governance data (no random sample) comes from survey work undertaken by the UWCC. The survey response rate for agricultural marketing and supply cooperatives was 35%.

Economic Impacts

We obtained data from 2,535 farmer cooperatives. Collectively, these firms account for over $40B in assets, nearly $120 B in sales revenue, and pay over $6B in wages. There are approximately 2.5M farmer memberships and 150,000 employees. From Table 4-2.1, by extrapolating to the entire popula-tion (2,547 firms) and adding indirect and induced impacts to this activity, agricultural cooperatives account for nearly $130B in revenue, more than 200,000 jobs, $8.9B in wages paid, and over $10B in valued-added income.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 21

by Julie Rawson

I am not sure when I first got interested in coopera-tive buying, as I don’t remember my parents ever doing it growing up. But it always seemed like such a no-brainer, the social aspect of it, the counter-cul-tural aspect of it and of course the savings that are gained from practicing cooperative buying.

I started my foray into coops when I was in college at the University of Illinois. There I lived in a co-operative house and we cooked cooperative meals, shared all the housework, etc. In 1977 I joined my first food coop, the Mission Hill Food Coop in Boston. Now, 33 years later, I still am a food coop member, at Tip Top Country Store in Brookfield, MA. That is where I got my “chops” on how coops really work. When we moved out to Barre in 1982 I was all set to go. I organized NOFA/Mass’ first seed ordering coop through Fedco Seeds in 1985 and then moved onto the bulk order around 1986. That still happens. I work with friends to put together bulk purchases of things like beef or fish straight from the Ocean, and when not involved with others tend to buy things in bulk to get the discounts.

When we started raising animals in 1982, Jack and I realized very quickly that accessing organic grain for them was not going to be easy. In those early years we bought grain from Bob Crowe of Inverness Farm in NY state and I worked with my brother who is a veterinarian to access mineral packages that we could add to the grain recipes to make them nutri-tionally complete recipes. I think we must have put the grain coop together around that in the mid 80s. We bought minerals from a company called Xtra Factors in Ephrata, PA http://www.manta.com/c/mm5nbh0/xtra-factors-inc. In those early years we made the minerals available through the NOFA Tri-State Bulk Order. The grain that we got from Bob was certified organic by NOFA-NY.

Slowly organic grain became more available and one of the early companies to manufacture it was Vermont Organic Grain Company. Our coop bought from them, but when their business fell on hard times the quality plummeted and we switched to Kreamer Feeds (Nature’s Best Products) in Kream-er, PA.

I don’t remember when we started working with Walter Anair of Horse and Buggy Feeds in Winchendon, MA, but it must have been around the time we went with Kreamer. This relationship has been one almost made in heaven. Walter and I confer on what is out there, share industry gossip, and he brings grain to our farm for our coop every 4-6 weeks during the heavy times. He gives us a 3% discount on the grain. I ask folks to order 2 weeks in advance of a delivery day and charge a 1% over-head fee for managing the coop. These days we set the delivery dates a year in advance, and always on a Thursday at 9 am. Walter arrives in the driveway with dog biscuits in hand for Jimbo, Franny and Zooey and all of our coop members come with their vehicles and checks in hand to unload and reload for each other. We share a ½ hour of conviviality and then all go about our ways.

Last winter, in response to customer demand for soy free feeds, Walter and I worked closely with Lakeview Organic Grain in Penn Yan, NY http://www.lakevieworganicgrain.com/ to put together a number of rations that were soy free. Along with the Kreamer Feeds, Walter offered Lakeview grains for layers, meat birds, hogs and turkeys. It seems that this industry is still on a learning curve with some successes and some failures, particularly for turkeys, in ration balancing.

Unlike in the mid 80s, for the would be purchaser of organic grains, whether they be premixed and ready to feed or component parts for the farmer/homesteader to mix on their own, there are a lot of choices out there now. It is important to product test and shop around until you find the ration that most serves your animals’ needs. Paying attention to your animals’ sense of well-being will give you clues long before slaughter when slaughter weight and texture and flavor of meat will tell more of the story.

How do the yolks look on eggs, and how is their flavor? Of course a certified organic animal must have access to pasture also, and all the extras that your livestock receive on pasture and homestead or farm raised extras will complement the grain that you choose.

I alluded to this earlier, but the best grain coop is one with clear rules and understandings about what is expected of coopers and what isn’t. Our grain coop has been around for many years and often folks come to me wanting me to be a store. That, of course, is an option for one who has that inter-est. How ours has evolved, and stayed sustainable for me the manager, is for people to order on time, to bring their questions regarding feed rations to Walter at Horse and Buggy or to check the Kreamer website, and to show up with check in hand and be ready to help unload at the designated time. This is cooping at its best. We all get to touch base with one another, we all save money, delivery is relatively convenient for all, and we have access to a high quality product for our animals’ health.

One final word on the affordability of certified organic grain. Many people who will eat organic produce and run the rest of their operation in a cer-tifiably organic fashion will say that organic grain is “too expensive” and they can’t afford it. It has been my experience here in Central Massachusetts that people will pay the difference that one needs to charge in order to have organic meat. Back before the early 90s when you fed conventional grain it might have had pesticide and herbicide residue in it. This, of course, is no light matter, but now when you buy conventional grains you are feeding GMOs to your animals and to yourself and your customers. The best way we can end the use of GMOs in farm-ing is to be strict in our refusal to buy them into our farms and homesteads. And in the end, this is for our health as people and our planetary health. Use

My Experience with Organic Grain Coops

A younger Jack fills home-made pig feeder with bags of organic grain from Bob Crowe

of New York’s Inverness Farm. After the right proportions of corn and soy are mixed together, he shovels a mineral mix into the

feeder and swirls it around. Studying the op-eration are Dan, Chuk, Ellen and Paul, also

younger.

the certifiably or certified organic resources. They are proliferating and the farmers who use these prac-tices in their grain growing need to be supported with our dollars.

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by Brian M. Henehan

There are a large variety of cooperative business approaches occurring in the food and agriculture system in the Northeast. There are very successful, existing cooperatives that operate up and down the food value chain. Various types of cooperatives have been formed by virtually all of the key players in the food value chain and at every level of the food and agriculture system. Cooperatives have been orga-nized by: farmers, brokers, distributors, processors, wholesalers, food service franchisees, retailers and consumers. One might ask why we don’t hear about all of these cooperatives? Given that cooperatives primarily exist to serve members, non-members aren’t always aware of their existence. Cooperatives are typically closely held by the members and are not publicly traded, which is another reason the pub-lic doesn’t always know much about them.

For example, a purchasing cooperative of Subway sandwich shop franchisees was formed less than fifteen years ago and has grown into a multi-billion dollar purchasing arm serving most Subway loca-tions across the U.S. and Canada. The cooperative is now responsible for procuring all of the Subway food, packaging, equipment and services for the US and Canada through negotiating price, supply, and distribution terms. In addition to negotiating the items themselves, the cooperative enters into contracts at all levels of the supply chain to bring cost efficiencies to Subway franchisees. Rather than several companies purchasing smaller quantities, the cooperative sets up one large master contract which results in a lower cost end product. After studying the potential opportunity, the cooperative https://www.ipcoop.com/en-us/2/Page.aspx?p=31 board of directors, which is comprised of franchise own-ers, decides if the investment is worth the return to franchise members. For more information see their website at http://www.ipcoop.com.

A large number of farmers in New York and New England market a significant share of their farm products through cooperatives. These farmer-mem-bers produce: juice grapes, cranberries, processed fruit and vegetables, fresh apples, dairy, field crops, and livestock for cooperatives with familiar names like Ocean Spray, Cabot, and Welch’s.

A majority of farmers in the region receive their loans from credit cooperatives as part of the Farm Credit System. Farmers and rural residents purchase their electricity through a number of successful ru-ral electric cooperatives in the Northeast. And so, the cooperative form of business plays a key role in moving the region’s farm products to consumers.

Many of these cooperatives were organized during the depression. Tough economic times can force farmers and consumers to create alternative busi-nesses to create economic value for members and for the rendering of mutual service. Now there is also increased interest in economic alternatives dur-ing these times of financial distress and political un-certainty. More new cooperatives are being formed to improve the economic and social well-being of members. Today, there are many resources available to those considering the formation of new coopera-tives as well as education about the cooperative model in general.

Resources and related websites:

The Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program http://cooperatives.aem.cornell.edu/A network of cooperative development centers across the U.S. - Cooperation Works www.coopera-tionworks.coop

The development center for NY and New England- Cooperative Development. Institute http://www.cdi.coop/

Working Together Works in the Northeast Food and Agricultural System

The New England Cooperative Loan Fund - http://cooperativefund.org/

A new educational resource through extension on Cooperatives http://www.extension.org/pages/Coop-eratives_Community_of_Practice_Description

The Northeast Cooperative Council (NECC), a non-profit aimed at serving the educational and informa-tional needs of cooperative members- http://coop-eratives.aem.cornell.edu/partners.htm#one

Brian M. Henehan is senior extension associate and program leader for the Cornell Cooperative Enter-prise Program and welcomes comments at bmh5@cornell.edu

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 23

by Jack Kittredge

Finger Lakes Organic Growers Cooperative (FLO) was established as a not-for-profit marketing co-op for small family farms in 1986 with the help of a grant from New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets. The co-op was organized to supply certified organic produce to natural food stores, co-op markets, processors, and restaurants in New York State.

FLO markets only certified organic produce, and all member farms agree not to sell their produce on their own to FLO customers. There is a one-time membership fee of $100 to join the co-op. Mem-bers are required to attend the annual meeting, have the right to vote, and to be elected to serve on the 11-member board. Board meetings are open to all members of the co-op.

In 1987 FLO hired a sales manager, bought a truck, and member farmers took turns driving it to deliver to accounts, mostly in the Ithaca, NY area. In 1988 they started sales and deliveries to New York City. In 1989 the co-op rented space at a local distribu-tor, Regional Access (RA), and hired them to make the deliveries. They were already going down to the city to pick up product -- pastries and ice cream and products like that -- and part of RA’s attraction to FLO was to not go down empty. In 1990 FLO began marketing in other parts of upstate New York. For 22 years FLO continued to arrange its own sales, but in 2009 it began a joint venture with Regional Access. Under this arrangement, called FLORA, the company does both the sales and the deliveries of FLO produce. In 2008, the last year it employed its own sales manager, FLO grossed about $200,000 in sales.

Janet Cawley, who works at Rose Valley Farm and is still the manager of FLO, served as the sales man-ager for 10 years. She recalls the early history. “Bob and Carol Stull, whose farm is right outside Ithaca, were very involved. Carol was the manager for a while, doing the sales. David Stern was involved in writing vegetable crop standards for the co-op. A lot of our customers are the same now as then. FLO managers found a lot of them.”

Back then FLO shipped to New York City once a week, on Sunday night. The midweek runs were upstate – North Country, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Regional Access had their own customers there for their other products, and FLO would sell to them as well. It was mostly co-ops – Potsdam Co-op, Syracuse Real Food, Lexington in Buffalo and Abundance Co-op in Rochester. Greenstar Co-op and Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca were key customers from the start and got deliveries twice a week.

The farmers would take their product to the RA warehouse in Trumansburg. There they would build up the pallets by customer, grabbing a few of these from this farmer and a few of those from that one. Once a pallet was full of that customer’s order, they would wrap it and write the buyer’s name on it and

Finger Lakes Organic Growers Cooperative: Going With the FLO

put it in the cooler. When RA moved to a new ware-house in Ithaca, FLO continued building up pallets there for a while, but finally RA offered to take over sales and build the pallets themselves. It was more efficient that way and they would have more control over the whole operation.

“We did a per box fee to RA for delivery back then,” Janet relates, “and FLO got a percentage to pay the manager and freight and bills. Then at the end of the year our Treasurer would see what profit we had left over and decide whether we could give some back to the farmers as a ‘patronage refund’ in proportion to their sales. That happened in February, after we had closed out the year.”

All FLO growers have to be certified organic. Most are NOFA certified, but at least one Amish farm uses Pro-Cert Organic Systems, Ltd., which does a lot of Canadian farms. Member farms vary in size from 4 acres up to Rick and Laura Pedersen’s 150 acres of certified organic produce. Some sell all their crops through the co-op, some have other markets as well. There is regular interest in joining FLO from new farmers. They are invited to come to a meeting where they discuss what they can grow. If it fits in with the co-ops needs, they are invited to join.

“So far it seems to be working,” Janet says. “We have a little over 20 farmers now. When people join they are in for several years at least. Sometimes re-ally small farmers join, but then they decide they are better suited for farmers markets. Regional Access doesn’t want someone who has two cases of this and one of that. They want people with ten cases of a product. But even the small farmers gain while they are with us -- with learning about the standards and talking to bigger farmers. Mostly the FLO growers are young people in their thirties. We need more fruit growers -- organic fruit is very popular!”

David Schoonmaker, who has been in FLO since 2003, tills 90 acres in Seneca County. “I’ve been farming since 1977,” he says. Our farm is the old-est organic farm that I know of. My father started farming organically in 1954. He was considered a weirdo! I think FVO was first with the certification. Anne Mendenhall and John Myers would come out and look us over. It was pretty informal. Then it got more involved. It was FVO first, which the buy-ers paid for, then I was with NOFA, then I started selling beets to Japan but the broker didn’t accept NOFA. So I was with OCIA for awhile, but that was a big mess so I went back to NOFA.”

David provides FLO with produce from six or seven acres, mostly beets, turnips (he loves Hakurei, a sal-ad turnip sold by Johnny’s), radishes, garlic, squash and beans, He grows a cash crop of wheat, soy and clover seeds on the rest of his land. He worked a full time job while farming until 2002. When he was ready to go full time on the farm, in 2003, he joined FLO.

He says marketing through FLO works very well for the farmers. “Twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we drop off our produce here. For Wednesday deliveries we call in on Sunday with what we have and then they call us back or Email us on Tuesday mornings with what is ordered. For Sunday deliveries we call in on Wednesday. We used to have to take the produce to the Regional Ac-cess warehouse near Ithaca. Now we bring it here to Rick’s. We used to have to build our own pallets for each account there. Now we don’t. We just put our stuff on pallets loosely and then it goes to Regional Access and they break it down for the stores. It used to be that we made the sales and they would ship for us. We would pay them a per box fee. Now they buy it and keep 20% on the item. FLO gets 3.75% to cover our expenses. We still have Janet as a man-ager.

“There are growing pains, of course,” he continues, “but I like it. Things are going pretty good. We can ask the price we want. If they can’t sell it, of course,

photo by Jack Kittredge

David Schoonmaker, FLO member, stands with his semi-weekly delivery of

radishes, beets and other root crops.

photo by Jack Kittredge

FLO operates out of the Pedersen farm in Seneca Castle, NY. Behind the brick farmhouse is the large red refrigerated warehouse that stores

the Co-op’s produce until it is picked up by a distributor, Regional Access.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 124

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we keep it. We can sell elsewhere, but need to meet our commitments. If I say I’ll have 100 boxes of squash for FLO I try real hard to have them. I like to keep a good relationship. Regional Access tells us what they can get for price. If there is an abundance, like on squash, the price can crash. Rick has a lot of tomatoes this year he can’t move. We have an an-nual meeting to try to balance out who is growing what so there is not too much of something and not enough of something else.”

Ken Leuze’s farm is Willow Grove, in Wayne County, about 6 miles from Lake Ontario, “We have muck,” he announces, proudly. “We farm about 15 acres of muck. It’s great for carrots. They come right up! I bet I could put 500 bags a week through FLO.”

Most of Ken’s carrots go to Park Slope Coop and Angelica Kitchen in Manhattan. “There have to be 30 stops Regional Access makes in the city now,” he says. “But that is where the money is. You have to sell it there. Price is no problem – they can charge whatever they need to in the city!”

Leuze also raises cabbage, kale, and other cole crops for FLO, as well as tree fruit – apples, pears, peaches and plums, all organic.

“We do most everything by hand,” he says. “It’s just me and momma and one other fellow working our farm. We use Surround for the curculio and neem for codling moth and insects that Surround doesn’t

work on. We spray just like a conventional farmer. We have a spray rig for that, but everything else is hand labor – thinning, trimming. We have about a thousand trees. This was going to be our big year. We have projection meetings every year and plan on what we’re going to grow (laughs). This year I figured I’d have close to 3000 bushels of apples. I ended up with about 200. It got warm early, things started pushing, the buds started moving out, and then all of a sudden it got down to 24˚ three nights in a row. That took care of pretty much everything – apples and peaches. They were so damaged from the cold they would start to grow and then fall off the tree. We thought we were going to have the crop of the year. They were hanging like grapes. Then all of a sudden, after a couple of weeks, they started dropping. The frost did that.”

Ken and his wife Karen prune their thousand trees all winter long. She does the bottoms and he does the tops. He likes trees on G7 rootstock. That is the next size up from M26 -- the last rootstock with which you have to use support. G7 gives a 9 or 10-foot tree.

Leuze believes that any tree that is dwarfed to the point that you have to stake it to get it to stand up is a pain in the butt. If you get 10 years out of such trees, you’re doing well. Then you have to go through and pull them.

“Now some people,” he says, “are down to plant-ing trees 18 inches apart! All on wire! Thousands of dollars worth of wire! I don’t mind pruning from a ladder. If we are going to have a good crop we’ll get pickers in. They don’t mind ladders if the trees are properly pruned.”

Willow Grove’s apples sell for $56 for a 35 pound case. “Of course the shipping and FLO’s percent comes off our $56,” Ken advises. “Still, that is not bad per pound. It makes it worth it when you get a halfway decent price. Like I said, everything is hand labor. You have to polish these to get the Surround off. If you don’t get it all off it leaves a haze. Some-times you’ll have to be out there in the middle of the night, polishing apples.”

photo by Jack Kittredge

Ken Leuze shows his beautiful carrots and cabbage. He also grows tree fruit – apples, pears, peaches and plums.

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Another cost to the farmer is produce boxes. New, colorful produce boxes can cost as much as $3.65 each. So many growers who are delivering hundreds of cases a year will recycle old boxes and slap on a FLO label.

David Stern and Janet market all their 10 to 12 acres of produce from Rose Valley Farm through FLO. They do a lot with brassicas – David planted a whole field to Red Russian kale. They also have chestnuts, blueberries and table grapes – Concord and Steuben.

Rick and Laura Pedersen, who have been farming in Seneca Castle for 30 years, have by far the largest farm in FLO. They farm 1500 acres in all, with 600 of them organic. About half of their land is in grain and soy, and half in vegetables. One hundred and fifty of those acres are in organic produce.

Rick was a newcomer when he started in FLO. So he ended up being given the crops to grow that no-body else was doing. Everybody does hard winter squash, so his mostly goes to processors. For FLO he raises cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, tomatoes, and broccoli raab, among other vegetables. But only a portion of his organic produce goes through FLO. He sells 250 tons of squash, for instance, to Hains for baby food.

“Some of our vegetables go to Wegmans,” Rick says, “or Whole Foods. I used to sell to Beechnut in Canajoharie. They used to take produce from all the local guys. But then a Swiss company bought them out – Hero. They got state money to put up a brand new plant and as soon as they got the plant put up they said: ‘We don’t need you local growers any more’ and started getting it aseptic from God knows where. Mexico or wherever.

“I’m different from most of the members,” Rick continues. “Most don’t have much or any hired la-bor. I’m at a larger scale. I have ten full time work-ers, year-round, not counting me or my wife. Then there’s a whole pile of seasonal people. The other farms can only do what they can do with one per-son. That’s fine. But I can do a different thing. I’m more for wholesale and processing and that sort of

thing. It has been my salvation to be diverse. Every year something fails, and they take turns. Hopefully they don’t all take the same turn! My pumpkins are not very good this year. Last year they were perfect! Last year the cauliflower wasn’t very good but so far this year it is okay. Tomatoes I got totally wiped out last year, this year I had a crop – a nice crop – but the market is flooded so you can’t sell them! I left half my crop in the field because I just can’t sell them. The heirloom price should be $25 or $30 retail for a case of 25 pounds, and it should get down to $18 to $20 to me. But at one point I had to go down to $9. At that point I said: ‘The hell with

this. I’m not doing it anymore. And I’m not going to grow them next year!’”

Rick would raise more soy and grain, for which the market is a little more stable, but is stymied by weeds. His acreage in corn and soy is already so large that he has trouble cultivating it all in the nar-row two week window available for his equipment to do the job. If it is wet during that time, the weed-ing doesn’t get done and then the crop suffers. He figures you can at least afford to weed vegetables by hand.

photo by Jack Kittredge

FLO operates at the Pedersen Farm in Seneca Castle, NY. Rick and Laura Pedersen own the largest farm in FLO by far, and it is equipped with a 32’ by ��’ refrigerated warehouse and

forklift equipment -- which makes loading so much easier. Here some of Rick’s cauliflower is unloaded from the pickup bringing it from the field.

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Pedersen mixes his own fertilizers (all of it is organ-ic now, including hog manure from his pig opera-tion) so it can be tailored to each crop, and has over-head irrigation everywhere he raises vegetables. He gets water out of 7 irrigation ponds. The couple had a big barn behind their house, but it burned and in 1993, to get some storage space for their vegetables, they built a 32 by 56 foot cooler in it’s place. This turned out to be an ideal facility for FLO to use to assemble their loads for RA.

The issue of produce standards is a controversial one. Although FLO has been instrumental in estab-lishing high standards for the uniformity and beauty of local produce being distributed from NY farms, those standards continue to evolve. This is especial-ly true for tomatoes.

“The tomato standard,” Rick explains, “is set by the greenhouse tomato. They are absolutely blem-ish-free. Obviously you can’t be as perfect as that if you’re growing in the field. You have to deal with the environment – rain, wind, mud, disease pres-sure, insects. You can even put in artificial light in a greenhouse. It’s tough to get field tomatoes past the rejection masters at the warehouse. They have to have everything perfectly blemish-free. I gave up on Wegmans a couple of years ago. They can kick a $10,000 delivery back for a couple of bad items.”

He is also concerned that the farmer gets so little of the final produce dollar. “A lot of the value in produce when it gets to the customer,” he says, “is trucking, packaging, labeling, and the markup, which is 100%. When you take all that stuff out and get back to the farmer, the farmer might not have had to be so cheap as it originally sounded. The grocery stores like to have at least 100% markup, or twice what they pay the farmer. Sometimes it is more, as much as 5 times what the farmer gets!”

It was just 7 or 8 years ago that the Pedersens be-gan their switch to organic growing. Part of Rick’s motivation was that he was sick and tired of major corporations like Monsanto and the plant breeders constantly getting in his pocket. He only grew 30” soybeans, for instance. But it got so he couldn’t buy bush beans anymore. The breeders all went for thin line straight beans, solely for the purpose of making

photo by Jack Kittredge

Rick Pedersen, whose farm warehouse is the collection point for FLO produce twice a week.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 27

growers buy more seed because they had to have a higher population to fill the field.

“Then they started adding all the GMOs to it,” he adds. “It got to where you couldn’t even buy a non-GMO bean anymore. I just didn’t want to be controlled that way. That’s part of why I wanted to be organic. Certainly the economics were part of it. Back then it was highly profitable. The profit has decreased in organic over what it was three or four years ago. And it’s better for the environment. If you do things like you are supposed to, with nutrition and rotations, your insects and disease just naturally go down. I would never have thought that 10 years ago. A lot of people who grow conventionally still don’t believe that! It’s a wide swing. You’re either all the way to the GMOs and beat the crap out of your ground, or 180 degrees away and doing it natu-

rally. It’s a whole different way of thinking.”

Pedersen, who feels that FLO farmers produce very high quality vegetables and fruit, would like to see more sales through the co-op. He realizes that there are a lot of bottlenecks in selling to New York City. “Getting in there is one,” he admits. “I call it the ‘produce mafia’ down there. You don’t just go down there and sell. Each of these guys has his own little fiefdom. The Hunt’s Point guys have everything all set up and they’ve been dealing with Florida, Texas and California and have their deals. Here comes New York with their 3-month season and they don’t even want to talk to you.”

But the Co-op can take produce farther than Rick would want to deliver, and in smaller quantities than any of the members can economically ship. There

are restaurants that would like stuff, but they only want a box of this and a box of that. By the time you calculate your fuel and your labor -- just in the de-livery time -- you’ve lost all your profit, he says.

Wegmans is the only customer Pedersen delivers to, and then only with high value stuff like asparagus. There are no Whole Foods stores anywhere nearby. They’re in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. Or-ganic is low volume when you get to the end user, he figures, and the little farmer just can’t go running around to all these little stores. So it’s better that a whole group of people consolidate all their different items so that each stop is a more profitable stop.

RA still gives FLO a small percentage for phone and Internet expenses. At the end of the year their book-keeper gives Janet a list of the total sales by farm, so they can still do a patronage refund if they have money left over. The members still make coopera-tive decisions about what they grow and who grows it. They still have a board that meets and discusses issues. They still do projections about what they are going to grow. FLO has its own label and a good reputation, as well as standards for picking and packing.

When the co-op has a new grower they like to have them team up with an experienced grower to help them along. Recently some Amish members have joined from down in Steuben County, around Prat-tsburgh and Avoca. They came up and talked with David Stern, who went down to their farms. They are using FLO standards and are doing quite well.

“We have tried to figure out why we haven’t become really big,” Janet offers. “Like Tuscarora in Penn-sylvania, or Deep Root in New England. I don’t know how big they are, but Albert’s Organics buys from Deep Root. FLO was a small time operation when I joined it and that is what I’m comfortable with. Maybe what they would have to do to get a lot bigger is hire a manager with a business back-ground. But there is a lot of competition out there now. Cooperative markets usually buy from farmers right beside them. There are clusters right around towns with coop markets. So we would only be able to supply the odd thing like daikon, if no one is growing that, or the burdock root.

“I think Regional offers us a lot,” she continues. “They have a larger customer base than we have. People ask for things, particularly fruit, and if they can add that on to an order it is nice. They like to know what we have and if they can offer it to cus-tomers. Having us in-house gives them more con-trol. But we’re a small percent of their entire busi-ness. It is wonderful that Regional Access is able to pick up our stuff. I can’t say how great that is after ten years of building pallets! That gets old. I’m just overjoyed they want to do it.”

photo by Jack Kittredge

Janet Cawley, FLO manager until FLO’s joint venture with Regional Access.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 128

by Erbin Crowell

On December 21, 1844, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers opened a humble grocery store in the north of England. The offerings of the store were not impressive, being comprised of butter, flour, oatmeal and some candles. The vision of the Pioneers, on the other hand, was audacious at a time of dramatic economic upheaval. Often cited as the founders of the modern co-operative movement, the members of the co-op envisioned a new way of do-ing business that was rooted in community and put the control of enterprise in the hands of the people who used its services. Key to the growth of the co-operative model was the establishment by the Pioneers of a set of principles that have guided the movement ever since.

At a time when access to nutritious food was limited and adulterated products were common, the most urgent need was for pure, wholesome and affordable food. But the vision of the Rochdale Pioneers en-compassed more that just retailing. Their goal was a transformation of the economy, and early co-opera-tors also set about the development of agricultural and manufacturing co-ops to supply their stores and support employment, and housing co-ops to provide shelter. The co-op at Rochdale operated continu-ously until 1991 and is now merged with the Co-operative Group, a national co-op comprised of 5.5 million members across the UK and, reflecting the broad economic vision of the Pioneers, operating a family of businesses from food retailing to farming, travel agencies to financial services, gas stations to automobile dealerships, and healthcare to funeral care.

Early co-ops enabled people to better meet their needs through member-owned enterprises that were firmly rooted in their local communities. But the

The Neighboring Food Co-op Association:Collaboration for a Thriving Regional Economy

growth of the movement also had another important result. As these stores grew, other merchants began to alter their own practices in response, creating rip-ples of change that reached across the economy. As co-ops have spread around the world, the movement has found many different expressions and has been a catalyst for the transformation of the economies around them.

True to this legacy, food co-ops in our region have been pioneers and innovators, promoting natural

foods, supporting organic agriculture, and helping to build the Fair Trade movement. In addition to creating economic relationships that reflect their values and serve member needs, co-ops have also influenced the mainstream food system. As they demonstrated demand for natural, organic and fairly traded products, these goods soon began to appear on the shelves of conventional grocery stores and even multinational, investor-owned supermarkets.

The commonalities between co-operative principles and values and those of the Fair Trade movement have supported collaboration with movements for trade justice. In the last few years, food co-ops and organizations such as the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) have been active par-ticipants in dialogs around the shared challenges of family farmers and farm workers in our own coun-try and those in the developing world. The National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) and co-ops in our own region, including Berkshire Co-op Market, Franklin Community Co-op and Honest Weight Food Co-op, were founding members of the Domestic Fair Trade Association, which seeks to bring the principles of the international Fair Trade movement to bear on agriculture here at home (for more information, visit www.thedfta.org).

Food co-ops have also been leaders in strengthen-ing local economies, supporting local producers and rooting wealth and infrastructure in our com-munities. And as “buying local” becomes more mainstream, co-ops are collaborating with other stakeholders in the food system to ensure that re-localization contributes to change that is also just, participatory and fair.

Stronger TogetherAt the same time, food co-ops have not always been proactive in telling their story, in working together

photo courtesy of Erbin Crowell

One of the more than 20 co-ops involved in NCFA, the Upper Valley Food Co-op serves

Vermont’s White River Junction area.

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to measure and promote their impact, and in lever-aging their shared strength. With this in mind, Brat-tleboro Food Co-op first convened a group of co-op managers and board members in 2004 to explore closer collaboration. In 2007, participants at a sub-sequent gathering in Vermont approved the Middle-bury Manifesto, a document establishing what was then called the Connecticut Valley Neighboring Co-ops and expressing the desire to “further the ideals

of democracy, cooperation, autonomy and education as enshrined in the International Cooperative Prin-ciples”. The document goes on to state the intent of participating co-ops to “reorient the economy from one dedicated to maximizing individual wealth to one calculated to advance the common good,” to “promote regional autonomy in food production and other goods essential to human existence.” An overarching goal was to “provide occasions for col-lective action to build a cooperative economy in our geographic region”.

Building on this momentum, a representative steer-ing committee was established with organizational support provided by the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) and the Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE). The group then em-barked on a process of scenario planning in which it explored potential outcomes of recent trends in the economy, culture and politics of the region. What might our region’s economy look like in 2020? How could food co-ops work together with like-minded organizations and networks to create more resilient communities as we look toward a post-pe-troleum economy? How could we avoid duplication of effort in order to support other initiatives, focus on our core strengths and advance a shared vision for the future?

A central focus for the group was the development of the co-operative economy in our region. But par-allel to this process of deciding where we wanted to be in the future, we needed to understand where we were now.

Measuring Our ImpactThe members of the NFCA are member-owned, democratically governed community grocery stores

ranging in size from large, multiple storefront retail-ers with thousands of members to smaller markets with just a few hundred. Most of these co-ops have been in operation for more than 20 years though some, such as the Putney Food Co-op and the Co-op Food Stores (Hanover Consumer Co-op), have been active since the 1930s and ‘40s.

Most of the food co-ops in our region emerged dur-ing the 1970s and ‘80s, as people worked together to access healthy, organic, and bulk foods, and began to advance new ideas such as Fair Trade. Food co-ops also supported the early development of farmer co-ops such as Deep Root Organic Co-op, a regional supplier of organic produce, and worker co-ops such as the Fair Trade pioneer Equal Exchange. Area food co-ops have also been early examples of eco-nomic relocalization. The Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op in Hardwick, VT, for example, was founded

photo courtesy Erebin Crowell

The Putnam Food Co-op features photos of local growers over their produce case.

photo courtesy Erebin Crowell

Hardwick Vermont’s Buffalo Mountain Co-op

helped stimulate the town’s food activism.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 130

in 1973 and has been quietly laying the groundwork for more recent activism that has put this town on the national map of local foods activism.

In 2008, the NFCA took a major step in gaining a better understanding of the economic impact of co-ops in the region. With support from the Brattleboro and Hanover Food Co-ops, independent economic analyst Doug Hoffer was hired to undertake a study of member co-ops in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut to collect and analyze data about their impact on the regional economy. The study revealed compelling data, including that the 17 co-ops of the NFCA had a combined mem-bership of 64,000 people and aggregate annual sales exceeding $161 million. Further, these co-ops also had a dramatic impact in the regional economy, in-cluding:

Support of Local Economies• Median revenue for member co-ops was $3 mil-lion and the average was $9.5 million. The median growth rate of co-ops in the network over the previ-ous three years was 14%.•Member co-ops purchased more than $33 million in local products in 2007, including $10 million in fresh farm products, $18 million in locally-processed foods and $5 million in other products. (For the purposes of this study, “local” was defined as being sourced within the state or within 100 miles.)

Stable Employment and Services• $28.6 million in employee wages, with the average wage being 18% higher than the average for food and beverage stores in the same states.• Co-ops had lower staff turnover (36%) when compared to supermarkets (59%) and more staff employed fulltime (62% compared to 43% in super-markets).• Taken together, member food co-ops in Vermont would be among the top 25 employers in the state.

Support of Local Government and Infrastruc-ture• including $7.3 million in sales, excise, and other taxes, $434,000 by employees, and $500,000 in prop-erty taxes.

Further analysis, using data from the U.S. Com-merce Department and input-output software (IM-PLAN), enabled an estimate of “multiplier effects”, including indirect impacts such as the circulation of money in the local and regional economies. Co-ops buy from farmers, wholesalers, and service provid-ers who spend some of the money locally for their business inputs, including payroll, equipment, sup-plies, utilities, and taxes. Some of the wages paid to co-op employees and to workers down the supply chains are spent locally as well. These are called “induced” effects.

For example, the $161 million in sales by member co-ops in 2007 generated an additional $118 mil-lion from indirect and induced economic activity, resulting in a total of $279 million in direct and indirect impact. In terms of employment, including full-time, part-time, and self-employed, money cir-culating in the regional economy resulted in 1,049 jobs in addition to the 1,240 direct jobs provided by

member co-ops. Total compensation for these 2,263 jobs is estimated to be $75 million. According to this model, the direct, indirect, and induced fiscal benefits of the co-ops equal $13.7 million in tax rev-enue for host states. (For a copy of this study, please e-mail the author at erbin@nfca.coop.)

Since this study was completed, the NFCA has continued to grow. Together, the now more than 20 member food co-ops operate 26 storefronts, have a combined membership of over 82,000 individu-als, employ 1,425 people and have annual revenue of $185 million. While this growth is partly due to additional co-ops joining the organization, further analysis shows that individual co-ops have been growing even during this challenging economy. For example, if we remove the data from new members, we find that between 2007 and the end of 2009 the 17 co-ops included in the original study grew about 8% in revenue, 4% in employees, and 17% in mem-bers.

Some examples of these trends include Brattleboro Food Co-op, which is in the process of an ambitious expansion aimed at better serving the community and includes affordable housing in its plans, and the Co-op Food Stores of New Hampshire, which has recently opened a new location in nearby Vermont. Meanwhile, new stores such as River Valley Market in Northampton, MA, have opened their doors in just the past few years. And new food co-ops are in various stages of start-up across the region, from Fiddleheads Food Co-op in New London, CT, to the Old Creamery Co-op in Cummington, MA.

Envisioning the FutureAnalysis of our economic activity has helped our individual co-ops to better understand and commu-nicate their impact in the region, and to reach out to organizations with similar goals. More importantly, perhaps, it has encouraged our association to articu-late a vision for the future and to begin to use its shared strength to advance that vision. In beginning this process, we soon realized that our impact in the region — while impressive — only represented a beginning when considering the potential of a co-operative economy. A study by the University of Wisconsin, for example, found that there are more than 29,000 co-ops in the U.S., operating across industries and services, with more than 500 in the NFCA’s membership area of western New England (http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/impact.html). Recent reports have also shown that co-ops have been more stable during the recent upheavals of the global economy, offering tools for communities seeking more stable employment, services and infrastruc-ture. (See, for example, Birchall & Ketilson, “Resil-ience of the Cooperative Business Model in Times of Crisis”, International Labour Organization, 2009. A pdf may be downloaded at www.ilo.org.)

Recognizing our shared impact, the NFCA has identified further analysis across co-op sectors and throughout regional co-op supply chains as a future priority. The Northeast is home to many successful farmer co-ops and credit unions, as well as worker co-ops that have begun to work together through networks such as the Valley Alliance of Worker Co-ops. Additionally, we have recognized that we

might also draw lessons from places around the world where co-operatives play a vital role in re-gional economies.

One source of inspiration is Emilia Romagna in northeast Italy. Italy is known as the home of the Slow Food movement, and this region is home to vibrant artisanal food traditions such as Parmi-giano-Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, local pasta dishes and cured pork products. Agriculture is central to the regional economy and is dominated by family farmers and their co-operatives, and small producers. Italy also has more co-ops per capita than any other country in the world, and the contri-bution of co-ops as locally rooted, multigenerational economic assets is enshrined in the Italian Constitu-tion, which acknowledges “the social function of co-operation as a form of mutual aid devoid of all private speculative intent.” Coop Italia, a federation of regional food co-ops, is the leading retailer in the country, bucking a global trend in which this sector is dominated by multinationals such as Wal-Mart.

Emilia Romagna has a particularly vibrant co-operative sector and in this region of 4.3 million people, there are about 7,500 co-ops active across the economy, including retailing, agriculture, manu-facturing, social services, and credit. Ten percent of the workforce is employed by co-ops, unemploy-ment rates are extremely low, and the standard of living is among the highest in Europe. Central to the impact of the Italian co-operative movement is the intentional and strategic manner in which economic development is coordinated both within and across sectors. For example, every co-op in Italy contrib-utes 3 percent of its annual surplus to funds for co-operative development.

Energized by the power of such examples and re-flecting on our own histories, we turned toward the future. As our network expanded beyond the bounds of the Connecticut River Valley, our name evolved to the “Neighboring Food Co-op Associa-tion”, reflecting Wendell Berry’s assertion that “a viable community is made up of neighbors who cherish and protect what they have in common.” With the guidance of its steering committee and the support of a project manager, our association en-gaged in a dialog around desired outcomes for our work together.

The result of this process is a shared vision of a thriving regional economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system. Recognizing the con-tribution of co-ops to strong, resilient regional econ-

photo courtesy Erebin Crowell

The Co-op movement has grown stronger through the willingness of members to hear each other out and try to find solutions that work for everyone.

NFCA Member Food Co-op LocationsVermont Brattleboro Food Co-op, Brattleboro Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op, Hardwick City Market (Onion River Co-op), Burlington Co-op Food Stores, White River Junction Dottie’s Discount, Brattleboro Hunger Mountain Food Co-op, Montpelier Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, Middlebury Plainfield Food Co-op, Plainfield Putney Food Co-op, Putney Rutland Food Co-op, Rutland South Royalton Food Co-op, South Royalton Springfield Food Co-op, Springfield Upper Valley Food Co-op, White River JunctionMassachusetts Berkshire Co-op Market, Great Barrington Green Fields Co-op Market, Greenfield Leverett Village Co-op, Leverett McCusker’s Co-op Market, Shelburne Falls Old Creamery Co-op, Cummington, MA River Valley Market, Northampton Wild Oats Market, WilliamstownNew Hampshire Concord Co-op Market, Concord Co-op Food Stores, Hanover & Lebanon Kearsarge Co-op Grocer, New London Littleton Food Co-op, LittletonConnecticut Fiddleheads Food Co-op, New London Willimantic Food Co-op, Willimantic

For a map of member co-ops, please visit www.nfca.coop.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 31omies, we envision collaboration among a variety of co-operative enterprises. Our approach to achieving this vision is to actively reach out to likeminded organizations including food system activists, eco-nomic development agencies and farmers’ organiza-tions. For example, the NFCA has opened dialogs with NOFA-VT and other state chapters, organiza-tions such as Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) and Vermont’s Farmer to Plate initiative, as well as farmer co-ops in the region. The NFCA has also become a charter affiliate mem-ber of the New England Farmers Union (NEFU), recognizing the need for farmers and consumers to collaborate in supporting sustainable farming and rural communities, and in making our voice heard before policy-makers.

Regional SourcingFood co-ops in our region have served as labora-tories for new ways of thinking about food, from organic and fairly traded goods to systems for the distribution and retailing of bulk products. More recently, co-ops in the region have also served as important incubators for new local products. “We’re the kind of place local entrepreneurs bring their new products for test marketing,” Annie Gaillard of Buf-falo Mountain Food Co-op says in a recent article for Cooperative Grocer. Many member co-ops work closely with producers in their area to share infor-mation and plan production for the growing season.

As part of our effort to contribute to a healthy, just and sustainable food system, the NFCA has been working to identify products that are feasible to grow and process in our region but are currently unavailable or difficult to source on the local or regional levels. “Local” is defined by the NFCA as being sourced from within the state or 100 miles from the point of sale. Some member co-ops choose to use a more restrictive definition. “Regional” is defined as the New England states plus New York and adjacent areas of Canada. The NFCA’s area of membership currently includes Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Our goal is to begin to work together with farmers, pro-ducers and likeminded organizations to begin to fill these gaps, developing sources for products in a manner that advances our vision.

In January of 2010, NFCA member City Market (Onion River Co-op) in Burlington, VT, under-took a store-wide analysis of local product gaps – determining products that are feasible to grow in Vermont but where a local source is currently unavailable. Using this list as a starting point, the NFCA sourcing committee compared notes among member co-ops in the region to select the most com-mon, high volume gaps. This reduced list of items was then sent out to the broader co-op membership.

NFCA members were asked to identify the sourcing priority of these items from high to low. The items selected as highest priority for sourcing work in-cluded dry grains (e.g. oats and popcorn), dry beans, single-serving yogurt, frozen fruits and vegetables, and chicken (chicken was eventually removed from the list due to variations in tracking).

Member co-ops were then asked to run sales move-ment reports for the 2009 calendar year on those products. We also surveyed member co-ops to find out what price premium they’d be willing to pay for products sourced on a regional level. The NFCA is now sharing this preliminary data with agricul-tural agencies and food system advocates, farmers and their organizations, and community economic development groups across the region. Our goal is to begin a dialog on how we might work together in the future and we will be collecting feedback and contacts in hopes of building understanding of shared goals and identifying areas where we might work together with likeminded organizations.

A key question is how can we collaborate with farmers and food system advocates to support pro-duction, processing, marketing and distribution infrastructure that will be rooted in our region and accountable to our communities over the long term.

Looking ForwardThe modern co-operative movement was launched in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. In re-sponse to economic upheaval, dislocation of local economies, concentration of wealth and control, and globalization, people began to work together to create a viable economic alternative that would be based on member ownership, democratic control, and meeting community needs.

In the wake of more recent economic challenges, in-terest in the co-op business model has increased dra-matically. Once largely ignored by the mainstream press, food co-ops have gained attention in the news media and among community development activists and organizations.

Across the region there are efforts to establish new food co-ops oriented toward economic democracy and relocalization. There is also a growing recogni-tion that co-operative enterprises – including food co-ops, farmer co-ops, credit unions and worker co-ops – have been remarkably stable in the current economy. In addition to their advantages as mem-ber-owned, democratically-controlled enterprises that are guided by member priorities above the accumulation of private profit, co-ops bring some distinct strengths to the movement for relocalization and the regional economies. For example, food co-ops: • tend to develop local skills & assets rather than importing them into the region, creating leadership and professional development opportunities.• are able to assemble limited financial resources to create vital community enterprises (most food co-ops in the region are based on member shares of less than $200).• have a low business failure rate and tend to be long-lived, resulting in lasting economic and social infrastructure.• are member-owned community economic institu-tions that are difficult to move or buy-out.• create regional efficiencies through the pooling of purchasing power and other economic activities.• support vibrant, participatory and engaged com-munities.

As a result of these factors, food co-ops — and co-ops in general — contribute to a more stable food system, infrastructure, employment & services, and economy.

Looking forward, the NFCA is working to demon-strate the role of co-operative enterprise in building more vibrant and resilient communities, supporting the growth and development of our member co-ops and the launch of new efforts, and reaching out to farmers and their organizations and likeminded groups such as NOFA to advance our shared goals of a healthy, just and sustainable food system. In doing so, we hope to build on the extraordinary vi-sion of generations of co-operators, linking their ideals with the imagination of our members to ad-dress new challenges and opportunities as we build a thriving regional economy.

Statement on the Co-operative Identity

Definition: A co-operative is an autonomous as-sociation of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democrati-cally-controlled enterprise.

Values: Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their found-ers, co-operative members believe in the ethical val-ues of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.

Principles: The co-operative principles are guide-lines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.

1st Principle: Voluntary and Open Membership. Co-operatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimi-nation.

2nd Principle: Democratic Member Control. Co-operatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and wom-en serving as elected representatives are account-able to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels are also orga-nized in a democratic manner.

3rd Principle: Member Economic Participation. Members contribute equitably to, and democrati-cally control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the common prop-erty of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transac-tions with the co-operative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4th Principle: Autonomy and Independence. Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organiza-tions controlled by their members. If they enter to agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.

�th Principle: Education, Training and Informa-tion. Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, manag-ers, and employees so they can contribute effec-tively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation.

�th Principle: Co-operation among Co-opera-tives. Co-operatives serve their members most ef-fectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, region-al and international structures.

7th Principle: Concern for Community. Co-op-eratives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.

For more information, visit: www.ica.coop

For more information on the NFCA, please visit www.nfca.coop.

Erbin Crowell is executive director of the Neigh-boring Food Co-op Association and serves on the board of the Domestic Fair Trade Association and

the National Cooperative Business Association. He wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the many food co-op staff and board members, and past proj-

ect manager Eric DeLuca, to development of the NFCA community and vision. He may be contacted

at erbin@nfca.coop.

$15 for a US address, or$20 for a foreign address

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 132

by Jack Kittredge

Representing 1624 farm families in 34 states and 4 provinces of Canada, and projecting 19% growth to gross $630 million in sales this year, Organic Val-ley is a historic success story in the long tradition of farmer co-ops. Having built themselves a brand new state-of-the-art headquarters in La Farge, Wisconsin

Organic Valley: America’s Largest Organic Farmer Co-op Has Faced Tough Decisions

only six years ago, they now find that they have to add another three-quarters of an acre of space to the tune of $6.1 million just to keep up with their growth. For 22 years now the organization has been adding farmers and farm products to its mix. The co-op sells only organic products, among which now are milk, yogurt, soy, cheeses, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce and juice, sold under the Or-

ganic Valley label, and a full range of organic meats sold under the Organic Prairie label.

The co-op was organized in 1988 by a handful of farmers in Southwestern Wisconsin’s Coulee Re-gion. (A coulee is a geological term referring to a

photo courtesy Organic Valley

Organic Valley and CROPP CEO George Siemon

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 33drainage zone. The word is used in Wisconsin for the metropolitan area around La Crosse, which was a part of the “driftless area” or Paleozoic plateau where Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois meet. The area is “driftless” in the sense that it avoided glaciation in the last Ice Age, thus having no glacial “drift” or the rock debris that litters much of the Northeast.)

George Siemon (current CEO of Organic Valley) met with 6 other area farmers in January of 1988 and organized the Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool, or CROPP, a marketing co-op devoted to col-lectively marketing organic vegetables. Soon dairy products were added under the “Organic Valley” la-bel and the co-op became the number one source of organic milk in the nation!

As a cooperative, CROPP’s participating farmers are members who democratically vote to control the organization. There are elected regional committees, as well as a national board of directors, who make overall co-op decisions. Organic Valley has also managed to avoid the Achilles’ heel of farmer co-ops: undercapitalization. It requires members to in-vest a total of five and a half percent of their annual gross income from Organic Valley back into the co-op. Dairy farmers can do this by paying the equity requirement up front, deducting $.50 or $1.00 per hundredweight from their payroll check beginning when they join the co-op, or delaying payment for a year and then beginning a $1.00 per hundredweight deduction to meet their equity requirement. The co-operative pays 8% annually on the investment, and a farmer leaving the co-op gets this equity back.

The mission of the Cooperative is “to offer sustain-able markets to family sized organic farms through organic production”. They admit that defining a family farm is difficult because family farms are different depending on what products they produce or in what region the farm is located. Today’s fam-ily farm is generally much larger than the farm of 20 years ago due to changes in machinery, lifestyles and the loss of other family farms. But the co-op has settled on a basic definition: a family farm is one where the family members provide the primary workforce and the farm is their livelihood.

Dairy Products and Regional Labels Organic Valley currently has 1331 dairy farmer members with an average dairy herd size of 76. Each farm is visited by co-op staff on a regular ba-sis. The organization has a network of producers and processing plants across the United States. Presently they have different regional milk cartons that use organic milk from that region. A distinct icon of the region (a covered bridge was on the New England label, for example until that label was merged into Northeast Pastures) under the Organic Valley logo identifies the region’s uniqueness. These regions include Northeast Pastures, Heartland Pastures, Texas Pastures, Rocky Mountain Pastures, Pacific Northwest Pastures and California Pastures. The co-op has a strict policy to only use milk from the region where it is produced, which is as close to the processing plant as possible. On rare occasions, however, they will bring in milk from the surround-ing region, or outside the region if need be, to have a continuous supply of organic milk.

Eggs

Organic Valley currently has 76 egg farmer-owners, some with two different egg barns to offset produc-tion cycles. Flocks range from as few as 700 hens to approximately 16,000, with an average flock of ap-proximately 5,000 birds. Co-op staff regularly visit farms to check on air quality, access to the outdoors and other Organic Valley requirements that exceed the National Organic Standards. Co-op farmers are generally required to provide 1.75 square feet per bird indoors and five square feet per bird outdoors.

Policy on 100% Production from Cooperative Members

As a farmer cooperative, Organic Valley’s goal is to have members supply 100% of co-op production. Under special conditions, however, the organiza-tion will use a small amount of non-member, USDA certified organic production. This non-member pro-

duction must also comply with identified additional production standards. These exceptions to the mem-ber-only supply goal average approximately 1% or less of the group’s overall supply. Additional Farm Standards

Each cooperative “pool” of production, like egg farmers or dairy farmers, may develop standards and policies that go above and beyond the USDA National Organic Standards or other legal require-ments. These CROPP-specific standards and poli-cies clarify requirements for materials allowed on member farms, help assure high product quality standards are being met and assure animal hus-bandry goals are being met. All members who join the cooperative sign a membership agreement and pledge to abide by these additional standards. Trained staff members conduct farm audits on spe-cific standards to assure compliance.Pasture PolicyPasture is a foundation principle in organic livestock production. The co-op requires a pasture plan to be part of the farmer-member’s overall Farm Plan, and on file with our cooperative.

Access to OutdoorsThe National Organic Program (NOP) requires ac-cess to outdoors for all livestock, with temporary exceptions due to weather, environmental or health concerns. Cooperative standards have specific re-quirements for each species. In the egg pool, mem-bers are required to provide a minimum of 5 square feet per bird outdoors and to maximize pasture for the birds.

Farm MaterialsA material allowed by USDA in organic produc-tion but not allowed in the CROPP cooperative program is Oxytocin. This is a hormone-stimulating synthetic that is used widely in milk production to aid in calving and therapeutic uses. Organic Valley has elected to not allow this “hormone mimicker” in organic milk so they can truthfully tell consum-ers their products are “produced without synthetic hormones.”

Antibiotics While antibiotics are not allowed in organic produc-tion, their use is encouraged for treating sick ani-mals rather than allow the animal to suffer. If used, the animal cannot return to organic production. The cooperative maintains the ability to review mem-bers’ certification and if it determines that antibiot-ics are improperly used, or an animal is allowed to suffer, that member may be terminated. There are two minor exceptions where trace amounts of anti-biotics are used as a preservative. Those exceptions are vaccines for young animals and artificial insemi-nation, both of which the co-op feels are invaluable tools that aid in animal well being.

Replacement AnimalsAfter entering organic dairying, Organic Valley requires farmer-members to raise all of their future milk cows on their organic farms, organically from the day they are born. If the animals raised on a farm are not adequate for the organic farm plan, then the farm can purchase only other organically raised replacements, or dairy animals transitioned in the new herd process.

Food SafetyThe co-op has a unique “premium and deduct pro-gram” in place which significantly rewards or penal-izes based upon level of quality. A co-op committee peer reviews quality and has the ability to suspend farm product pick-up, if necessary, until quality im-provements are made.

Ingredients in Organic Valley ProductsThe co-op produces products as naturally as possi-ble with a minimum of additional ingredients. When they do add ingredients, it is because of consumer demand or government regulation. An example would be calcium added to orange juice.

Prices and Profit Sharing

Over the last 20 years, Organic Valley pay price pre-miums ranged from 25% higher when the co-op was founded to, in recent years, 50-100% higher than conventional pay prices. In addition, when the co-op meets its profit goals, they share the wealth: 45% of profits go to farmer-members, 45% to employees, and 10% to co-op community support programs. The community giving funds are divided equally between two committees—one of farmers and one of employees—with each group dedicating their funds to new projects or initiatives undertaken by volunteer or non-profit organizations. Farmers Advocating for Organic (FAFO)

Dedicated to protecting and safeguarding the or-ganic marketplace by investing in organic research, education and advocacy, the money for FAFO grants consists of voluntary contributions from CROPP farmer/ members. FAFO funds are distributed by a committee of nine CROPP farmers from all over the country. In 2008, 77% of CROPP farmers contrib-uted to the fund, and the committee was able to pro-vide $568,529 in grants to 30 different projects.

Methane

In recent years the dairy industry has come under scrutiny regarding the effects of methane on climate change, because methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Organic Valley is partnering with local extension and university personnel to determine the viability of small scale manure digest-ers and anticipate feasibility studies on some co-op farms. Additionally, they are working with Stony-field Farm on a project to reduce methane from cows.

photo courtesy Organic Valley

180 people attend an eary CROPP organizational meeting in February of 1988 in the courthouse at Viroqua, Wisconsin.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 134On-farm Energy

In the past few years the co-op has began to look deeper into what really qualifies as “sustainable fuel.” They wanted to identify non-food, non-GMO, organic oil seed crops to use as candidate bio-fuels and have established a system for farmers to grow, harvest, press, convert and run a variety of contend-ers without ever leaving the farm.

The co-op has so far invested two seasons growing and researching camelina (a small false flax) and sunflowers. Both of these crops have shown strong promise in test fields. For example, farmers are see-ing not only a high yield of oil (80–110 gallons per acre) but also 1200–1500 pounds of feed meal per acre as well. Feed and fuel are produced in one pro-cess from the same field. Even in these early stages, this approach is helping farmers cut both their fuel and feed costs.

Organic Valley completed a mobile biodiesel sys-tem in 2008 and successfully created biodiesel from crops of sunflowers and camelina to power some vehicles and equipment which are now used for demonstrations on farms and at events.

Recycled Content

CROPP has consolidated corrugated carton needs with one company, realizing cost savings because of the increased volume in business and is also able to create cardboard cartons to ship packaged products that contain a minimum of 81% recycled content --72% of which is post-consumer waste. Controversial Issues

Despite its values, innovations and cooperative structure, three decisions made by Organic Valley over the years have proven controversial among a number of consumers and raised questions about the inherent differences between cooperatives and private companies. All three decisions appear to be based on the operating requirements of a dairy busi-ness functioning at a national scale and would have been the same whether the business were a co-op or a private corporation. These three decisions were: 1) to ultra-pasteurize some of their milk,

2) to amend the Organic Foods Production Act in order to overturn the Harvey decision, and

3) to prevent member dairies from actively selling raw milk.

Ultra-pasteurization

Pasteurization is the process of heating a food, usu-ally liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food. The process was named after its creator, French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. The process was originally conceived as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring.

There are two main types of pasteurization used today: High Temperature/Short Time (HTST) and Ultra-High Temperature (UHT or ultra-heat treated). In the HTST process, milk is forced between metal plates or through pipes heated on the outside by hot water, and is heated to 71.7 °C (161 °F) for 15–20 seconds. UHT processing holds the milk at a temperature of 135 °C (275 °F) for a fraction of a second. Milk simply labeled “pasteurised” is usually treated with the HTST method, whereas milk la-beled “ultra-pasteurised” or simply “UHT” has been treated with the UHT method.

Pasteurization is the main reason for milk’s extend-ed shelf life. High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurised milk typically has a refrigerated shelf life of two to three weeks, whereas ultra-pasteurised milk can last much longer, sometimes two to three months. When ultra heat treatment (UHT) is com-bined with sterile handling and container technology (such as aseptic packaging), it can even be stored unrefrigerated for 6–9 months.

Ultra-pasteurization means that enormous quanti-ties of milk can be processed much more quickly than any other pasteurization (or safety regulation) process. The milk is also shelf-stable for several months. On the other hand, many consumers feel the treatment changes the taste and texture of the milk. They feel the high heat inactivates many of the flavor components in raw milk and adds its own

cooked flavor. The process also affects whey pro-teins that contribute to the thick creaminess of dairy.

Organic Valley uses HTST pasteurization for all its regionally branded gallons and half-gallons of organic milk. The cooperative was built on the con-cept of regional milk production. But they began to offer ultra pasteurized milk and cream in 1998 in response, they say, to strong consumer demand. Many people, both consumers and retailers, prefer the longer shelf life offered by the UHT process, and they have also received some consumer feed-back stating a preference for the taste of the ultra pasteurized milk.

The longer transit time for milk in the national pool, and the fact that organic milk is less in demand than conventional so often sits on a shelf longer before being sold, also make the business advantages of milk treated with UHT clear: less spoilage and waste.

Ultra pasteurized Organic Valley milk is offered in non-regionally branded half gallons, as well as quarts and aseptic (shelf stable) liters and 8 oz. single-serves. Note that both varieties are avail-able in half gallons. The process used to pasteurize the milk is printed on both the gable top and on the

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 3�

front of the package. The ultra pasteurized milk is clearly defined as “Ultra Pasteurized.” Traditionally pasteurized (HTST) regional milk is defined simply as “Pasteurized” and includes a moniker for your region below the logo; e.g. “Heartland Pastures,” “Northwest Pastures,” etc. Organic Valley says that, in terms of nutritional value, the primary changes that occur in pasteuriza-tion include a negligible loss of vitamins A, C and B, and Folic Acid.

Amending the Organic Foods Production ActIn 2005, the US First Circuit Court ruled in favor of Maine blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey. He had sued the National Organic Program alleging that multiple provisions of the National Organic Program Final Rule were inconsistent with the Organic Foods Pro-duction Act of 1990. In brief, the court found that:

• nonorganic ingredients not commercially avail-able in organic form but used in the production of items labeled “organic” must have individual reviews in order to be placed on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances;

• synthetic substances are barred in the processing or handling of products labeled “organic”; and

• dairy herds converting to organic production are not allowed to be fed feed that is only 80% organic for the first nine months of a one-year conversion.

When the Harvey decision came down many small organic farmers and consumers were jubilant, feel-ing that the loose standards promulgated by the NOP were finally being addressed. But this third court finding delivered a blow to Organic Valley’s supply situation. Although the law clearly said 100% of feed must be organic, the USDA had al-lowed transitioning farmers the 80% exemption be-cause of the high cost of organic feed, and many had taken advantage of it. When it was yanked out from under them, many dairy farmers felt they could not continue in the organic program.

“All of a sudden they were facing 4 times the cost,” explains George. “Most were producing their own forage, and buying in grain. Under the 80/20 rule, the grain was the 20% of the ration that was conven-tional. After Harvey all that grain had to be organic. For some that meant paying four times as much for feed.”

As a result Organic Valley found itself supporting the OTA in its controversial effort to amend the OFPA in the fall of 2005. While not asking for a return of the 80/20 rule, the dairy part of the amend-ment allowed transitioning farmers to feed their own transitioning feed during the third year as organic, avoiding a four-year transition. The amendment was passed without serious debate or public notice and both the substance and the manner of handling this amendment bitterly divided the organic industry.

Siemon was not happy to be involved in this, and wanted to prevent such an event from happening again. In order to avoid it he felt two things needed to be done.

“First, we need to educate the consumer,” he said at the time. “We need to talk about the quality of the food but also about the kinds of farms it comes from. We need consumers who care about keeping family farms alive, who want to buy locally and support farmers markets and CSAs. I’ve served on the NOSB, we talk about these issues on our prod-uct packaging panels, we regularly put money into consumer education.

“Second,” he continued, “farmers need a face in Washington DC. We may not think its necessary, but if you are not at the table, someone else will be. Farmers need their own voice. We have tried to help farmers get organized, supporting groups like NODPA. We’ve put aside money to deal with this. It’s hard, but things in this country are controlled from Washington DC. Without their own organiza-tion, farmers will be left out.”

Since this division among the organic forces of 2005, Organic Valley has been following up on both of these directions.

Preventing Members From Actively Selling Raw Milk

On May 26, 2010 Organic Valley/CROPP explained the board’s raw milk decision:

In March of this year, Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative’s Farmer Board of Directors endorsed a statement supporting the legalization of raw milk in the state of Wisconsin that was sent to Governor Doyle. This was in keeping with the cooperative’s long standing support of consumer choice. So why in May did the CROPP Board vote to not allow its farmer-owners to sell raw milk? Is this a reversal of the position? The raw milk issue at CROPP is one of the most deeply debated topics tackled by the cooperative in its 22 year history. The debate has been active on the membership, board, committee and management team levels for well over a year now, with the hope for a win-win solution. During this year volumes of information—research studies, illness cases, legal precedents, nutritional information and so on were brought forth. Each side was convinced that the information they brought to the table would sway the other side. It is correct to say that we are deeply familiar with both sides of the issue… and we are still divided. So why did the Board finally vote to not allow its members to be in the raw milk business? The synopsis below may help explain the decision: • Most CROPP farmer-owners drink raw milk and

many believe in its benefits. The decision is not because we are “against raw milk.”

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• An unknown minority of our 1600+ dairy farmers sell raw milk as a side business. Some simply sell small quantities to neighbors, while others market it more actively.

• Raw milk is growing in popularity and is truly a local product. We believe consumers should have the choice to purchase it directly from the farm and consume it expediently.

• CROPP’s mission is to serve its farmers. We do this by being in the business of selling pasteur-ized organic milk under our brand, Organic Val-ley. This is a complex endeavor. Our model is to have regional milk going to regional markets. Our board wants its farmer-owners to stay focused on our model.

• Since our founding in 1988, when a farmer-owner signs up to become a member, they agree to de-liver all of their milk to the cooperative, with the exception of milk used for calves and their own families. This policy simply requires that members uphold that agreement.

• We have encountered challenges in managing our milk supply. When the cooperative counts on and plans for a farmer’s entire supply, but then the amount of milk delivered is unexpectedly less due to raw milk sales, this creates difficulties in supply management and planning, which affects all of the cooperative’s farmer-owners.

• We are taking a cautious approach in order to keep our cooperative and brands strong for future generations of organic family farmers.

• At the request of the membership at the co-op’s most recent annual meeting, the farmer board wanted to end this drawn out raw milk debate, and they took the more conservative route to prohibit the farmer-owners from being in the raw milk business. This decision will require all our farmer-owners who sell raw milk to choose one business or the other. This may end up being a boon for the raw milk movement in the states where it is legal. The Cooperative cannot condone the sale of raw milk in the states where it is illegal.

• CROPP Cooperative is not against raw milk. We have let our farmers sell raw milk on the side for two decades. We have gone through a well vetted, inclusive process. It is now time for us to stand by our board's decision.

• We are currently working on policy implementa-tion plan and timeline for our farmer-owners.

So what do these decisions suggest about coopera-tives? To me it is that they are ultimately in business and succeed or fail according to the same rules as other businesses: Do you serve the demand? Do you do it efficiently with your resources? Do you end up making money for your owners? Whether your company is owned by a sole proprietor, a group of peers with equal votes, or stockholders based on their investments, it seems that it ultimately has to act in certain ways if it wants to survive.

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 39

by Erbin Crowell

Founded in 1986, Deep Root Organic Co-op was growing and marketing organic vegetables on a re-gional level before it became a national trend. Now, with demand for fresh, healthy, regionally-grown produce on the rise, the co-operative is connecting more consumers with their farmer members. As sustainable food system advocates explore systems for the distribution of produce, Deep Root’s nearly 25 years of experience has demonstrated the poten-tial of the co-op model to support the viability of family farms. Based in Johnson, VT, Deep Root is made up of nineteen members, including farmers across Vermont and the eastern townships of Qué-bec. The co-op serves wholesale customer across the Northeast, including food co-ops and main-stream grocery stores.

Chris Poshpeck, who joined the co-op as general manager in 1998, links members with distributors and retailers across the Northeast and beyond. On a weekly basis, farmer members send him a list of what they’re harvesting — everything from toma-toes, cucumbers, corn, peas and fennel to several varieties of lettuce, kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, and collards — and Chris in turn contacts buyers to negotiate orders and arrange delivery.

Deep Root members offer a broad range of products year-round. But thanks to the northern climate, the co-op may be best known for root crops such as car-rots, parsnips, beets, rutabagas, burdock, and black radish, and a large variety of winter squashes. More recently, the co-op has also begun offering a line of fermented and packaged spiced carrots, grated beets, onions with miso, and sauerkraut.

Deep Root’s sales have grown from around $50,000

Deep Root Organic Co-op: Growing Co-operation

in its early days to more than $3 million dollars in 2009. The co-op’s products can be found in the produce sections of food co-ops across the region, including Brattleboro Food Co-op (VT), Willimantic Food Co-op (CT), City Market Co-op (Burlington, VT), River Valley Market Co-op (Northampton, MA), Putney Food Co-op (VT), and Springfield Food Co-op (VT), as well as a growing number of mainstream grocery stores such as Whole Foods Market. Sales continue to grow, but the co-op is clear in its purpose as a member-owned and con-trolled enterprise. “We’re not here to accumulate money,” says Chris. “We’re here to help our mem-bers be more successful.”

Recent efforts to build more sustainable regional economies have focused on systems for the effi-cient and effective aggregation and distribution of produce from family farmers. Being organized as a co-op enables Deep Root members to focus on their individual farms, while negotiating with buyers and marketing their products as a group. By pooling their production, members can also provide a more reliable source of high quality, diverse produce to their customers, while benefiting farmers. And be-cause the co-op is farmer-owned, it is rooted in the region and accountable to its members, rather than to the priorities of external owners or investors.

Deep Root is always looking for new ways to strengthen their members, such as improved value-added and distribution systems. As co-op member Tony Lehouillier, of Foote Brook Farm in Johnson, VT, points out, “We can do a lot better with a little more control over our destiny.”

A line of credit from the Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE), a regional loan fund for co-ops, has helped Deep Root manage the seasonality of the

produce business. And with an additional loan from CFNE, the co-op recently completed the construc-tion of a warehouse facility in Johnson, VT. This building will allow the co-op to have more control over the storage and distribution of its products. It also provides much needed office and meeting space for the growing co-op and its employees.

You can help support the co-op by asking for their products where you shop. For more information on Deep Root Organic Co-op, member farms and their products, please visit their website at www.deeproo-torganic.com.

An earlier version of this article was published by the Cooperative Fund of New England. For more

information, please visit www.coopfund.coop.

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A Complex OperationAfter a bracing plunge in the frigid Arctic Ocean, a family of four in Barrow, Alaska could enjoy a warming plate of roast organic vegetables from their Full Circle Farm box. It is a complex operation that brings these vegetables from the soil to this north-ernmost town in the United States.

The origins of the items in a box vary seasonally, but on average 65% of produce sold is purchased by Full Circle from other farms. Source farms vary in size from dozens to hundreds of acres. “We try to source as locally as possible,” explained COO Frank Paganelli. For crops unavailable in Washing-ton State, Full Circle may purchase from dozens of certified-organic farms in California, the Pacific Northwest, Mexico, or tropical areas like Hawaii and Ecuador. Farms are listed and routinely featured in the weekly Full Circle newsletter.

“We try to tell their story. We think a fundamental part of our mission is to support local farmers,” said Paganelli.

Once produce has been harvested, it is processed and moved to a distribution center south of Seattle where it is custom-packed into boxes. Each cus-tomer is offered a basic set of items based on avail-ability. Using an online e-commerce platform or by phone, subscribers can then customize their basic box and/or specify additional items they would like included. Boxes destined for Alaska may be shipped to a facility in Anchorage and supplemented with any Alaskan product the subscriber has requested.

Completed boxes are loaded onto pallets and pro-cessed for transport. Local deliveries are made us-ing Full Circle’s own fleet of delivery trucks, while long-haul transport is outsourced to trucking and airfreight companies.

Full Circle offers home delivery to Anchorage and Western Washington from Everett to Olympia. Oth-er subscribers must collect produce at one of hun-dreds of designated pick-up sites. In Alaska’s rural communities like Barrow, one host subscriber may pick up a dozen boxes on the unpaved runway of the local airport and distribute them from home.

Eating in SeasonWithin Seattle’s local food movement, Full Circle has inspired debate about what it means to eat lo-cally.

“Some Seattle residents believe passionately about eating locally and are not deterred by the winter months,” reported Alex Moore, program manager at the Seattle-based non-profit Cascade Harvest Coalition, “Other consumers, myself among them, begin to round out our local diet with products from California as root vegetables begin to dominate the year-round CSA menu.”

Full Circle Farm: Organic Produce

Delivery Service A Threat or Boon to Local Farms?

by Stephen A. Sherman

Bright sunshine, an October treat in the Pacific Northwest, has lured cyclists from bustling Se-attle to the unhurried country roads of Carnation, Washington. A small, hand painted sign on Route 203 points down Northeast 8th Street to Full Circle Farm.

Resting just across from the farm’s greenhouses is an early model Allis-Chalmers cultivating tractor. Rows of greens and late season crops extend beyond the red barn to the hills of the Snoqualmie Valley.

The quiet property belies the 12,000-member pro-duce delivery service at the heart of Full Circle Farm’s operations.

Full Circle is one of a new breed of farm-based businesses generating admiration and controversy in the western United States. In a radical departure from traditional Community Supported Agriculture, farms like Full Circle and Capay Organic in Califor-nia supplement their own certified-organic produce with that of other producers to fill boxes year-round for thousands of subscribers. At Full Circle, sub-scribers can be found as far away as Arctic Alaska.

The model offers the popular CSA-style box scheme to those who do not wish to eat exclusively what is in season locally. “People want peaches and nectarines in months when they’re not available in Washington,” said Frank Paganelli, Chief Operating Officer at Full Circle.

From CSA to “Farm-to-Table”Full Circle Farm began in 1996 as a small CSA in North Bend, Washington. After splitting from their partner in 2000, farm founders Andrew Stout and Mary Munroe moved Full Circle to Carnation and expanded the business rapidly. In order to provide a year-round CSA program, Full Circle started supplementing their own winter and storage crops with items grown on organic farms further south. The farm began letting customers specify some of the items in their boxes. Long-haul trucking and air transport allowed the farm to ex-pand its delivery area throughout Alaska and the Puget Sound region.

“What Andrew Stout has pioneered,” said Paganelli, “is extending [the CSA] model into a more custom-ized approach.”

Today, Full Circle employs about 140 people and earns over $11 million in annual sales. In addition to its subscription program, the company sells at farmer’s markets and to retail outlets in and around the Seattle metropolitan area. Approximately 7,000 of its subscribers live in Washington State, and about 5,000 live in Alaska. Full Circle subscribers can now add other grocery items like organic meats, artisan cheeses, and specialty chocolates to their produce boxes at additional cost. Paganelli states Full Circle has outgrown the CSA label, and the farm now refers to its service as a “Farm-to-Table” program.

Moore believes Full Circle’s model allows access to “second tier” customers who would be otherwise uninterested in a traditional CSA. “Several local entrepreneurs, like Dan Hulse of Terra Organics and Andrew Stout of Full Circle, have taken the CSA model to a new level of growth and profitability. By sourcing wholesale and integrating vertically they have been able to both increase margins and crack open a whole new tier of consumers – those who value the convenience of home delivery,” he wrote in an email correspondence.

Alaskan CriticismThe process of expanding the traditional CSA model into an international system of organic produce delivery has been controversial in Alaska. Susan Willsrud is co-founder and farm director at Calypso Farm and Ecology Center outside of Fairbanks. She has seen her non-profit suffer from competition with Full Circle’s service. This year, she had trouble for the first time filling her CSA of 70. Four former shareholders explicitly stated they were switching to Full Circle.

In the greater Fairbanks area, Calypso Farm pro-motes concepts like Alaskan food security, food miles, and eating seasonally. Willsrud says that Full Circle’s presence undermines the educational work of her organization. Though it operates in a similar manner to her own CSA, Willsrud sees Full Circle’s service as an “industrial organic” choice because of the transport distance of its produce and the size of its source farms.

Eating local is not an easy choice, she asserts, and often means an altered diet in exchange for benefits to community and environment. “The important part of CSA is that the community is invested in a local farm and that the CSA builds local food security,” she said. “It hurts the local food economy here, because regardless of what [Andrew Stout] is in-tending, the choice is between a local CSA and Full Circle.”

Full Circle Farm is aware of the criticisms of Alas-kan growers like Willsrud, but COO Frank Paganelli disagrees. “We offer different products,” he main-tains, “She offers a locally-grown CSA product. In Alaska, we try to source from local farms, but we primarily have to bring produce from out of state.”

“They’re probably one of the worst things that’s happened to the local farmer’s market” said Arthur Keyes, owner and operator of Glacier Valley Farm in Palmer, Alaska. Keyes saw sales at his market stand decline in 2007 and 2008. Customers he knew by name told him they were buying less produce be-cause of their Full Circle boxes.

Keyes currently operates Glacier Valley CSA, a produce delivery service in Alaska of 100-200 mem-bers. He sources only from his own and other farms in Alaska as long as the season allows and then switches to out-of-state organic farms. A Future in the Northeast?Keyes’ assessment of Full Circle’s role is grim.

“If the Northeast ever gets an operation like this, local farmers at the farmer’s market will get hurt,” he said.

Though no farm-based model similar to Full Circle exists in our region, Boston Organics provide or-ganic produce and groceries to subscribers in the Boston metropolitan area. Customers lose some of the benefits of a traditional CSA in exchange for convenience, selection, and often lower cost. As the local and organic markets continue to expand in the Northeast and across the country, the question will be if consumer demand can support both types of produce delivery.

Frank Paganelli provided an example as to where he sees Full Circle within the larger organic movement. A consumer can get a stalk of organic celery from Amazon.com’s grocery delivery service, from a Full Circle Farm box, or from a traditional small-scale CSA.

“We might have some overlap,” he said, “but by and large we have a different value proposition.”

photo courtesy Steve Sherman

In addition to its 12,000 member subscrip-tion program, Full Circle sells to retail out-

lets like Whole Foods Market.

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 41

the weekend of the conference to do all manner of tasks required for the smooth operation of the event – everything from raising and lowering the flaps on the exhibit tent, to staffing the t-shirt sales table, to orienting conference goers as they arrive at UMass. Chuk Kittredge, who has served as entertainment coordinator on the Summer Conference Committee, is now also serving as volunteer coordinator, and he is planning to organize volunteers this year into teams responsible for specific tasks. The idea is to give our volunteers the chance to take fuller ownership of the work they do at the conference and be able to not only do their tasks but also manage them more independently. If you’re interested in work exchange, be sure to sign up early. You can contact Chuk at chukkittredge@hotmail.com.

Plans are also in the works to make a variety of subtle changes to the conference based on evaluations. We learned that we can improve the placement of camp sites to avoid possible noise complaints, and we learned that the placement of the entertainment, which took place outside for the

Summer Conference continued from page 1

that place pretty images of birds outdoors on the consumer packaging. “They should put pictures of their operations on the label,” he said. “Any lies hurt us all,” he added. The board, impressed and sympathetic, and especially respectful, of the farmers who traveled to testify, committed to refine their proposal by their next meeting for strict stocking densities and other benchmarks that will assure organic livestock production meets the letter of the law and consumer expectations. On organic hops, the NOSB voted unanimously “to require organic beer to include 100% organic hops beginning January 1, 2013.” Organic hops producers and brewers turned out a strong contingent arguing in favor of the resolution during two days of public hearings on various organic issues. The NOSB also decided not to proceed with efforts to raise the profile of the “made with organic” label that is part of the USDA organic system. Retailer and consumer groups strongly encouraged keeping the current organic labeling regime, and testified that more prominence for the made with organic label could lower consumer demand for products made with 95-100% organic ingredients. “We were concerned that a more prominent front label message concerning made with organic ingredients, including the proposal for language that would say the products were ‘certified to USDA standards’ would have created a cheaper ‘organic light,’ actually jeopardizing the continued growth of truly organic products, said Will Fantle, Codirector for The Cornucopia Institute. Perhaps the most divisive issue was Corn Steep Liquor and determining whether or not the fertilizer component (for nitrogen) was a synthetic or non-synthetic material. Members of the NOSB representing various food industry and commercial concerns were anxious to remove any clouds over its future use and ensure that Corn Steep Liquor

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would remain a part of organic production. But the NOSB, after considerable debate, ultimately decided to seek additional technical information to make a more informed decision, possibly at its next meeting. The fertilizer debate pretty much split clearly across a divide of agribusiness interests on the board and other members who work for nonprofit organic groups. The NOSB also removed roadblocks to the use of organic yeast, an issue that had been debated for a number of years. Yeast’s unique characteristics had led it to be considered a nonagricultural non-synthetic substance. It is now been categorized as an agricultural product. The board elected Tracey Miedema (of Earthbound Farms) as its next chair, over Jay Feldman (of Beyond Pesticides), and Joe Dixon (of Whole Foods Markets) as vice-chair. The spring 2011 meeting of the NOSB will take place in Seattle, Washington on April 26-29.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 142first time in 2010, may need to be shifted in order to moderate noise levels and make a welcoming space for everyone to hang out.

We also continue to improve the layout of the program book, and our management of the new Summer Conference Auction. And we continue to seek out new talent and pioneering creativity for our workshop presenters. (See below).

We also have two new members of the committee. One is Mel Shaw, a long-time conference attendee and a farmer in Dover, MA. She has the responsibility of soliciting food donations, planning the menu, sourcing ingredients for the local meal,

and being the primary liaison with UMass staff on all issues food related. If you have a good lead on a source of food donations, contact her at mel.q.shaw@gmail.com.

Another new person on the Committee staff this year is Siedeh Rezaei-Kamalabad, a work exchange volunteer for the past two conferences. She will serve as Registration Co-Coordinator, working closely with Kathleen Geary to process your registrations and tell you what you need to know about each detail pertaining to your registration.

PS – For those who attended the workshop series led by our 2010 keynoter, Sally Fallon, we posted

by Larry Siegel

Full disclosure here: among my responsibilities in my former life was to push numbers around. And, while nothing else from that former life persists, I continue to push around numbers, especially if they relate to matters agricultural. Say what you will about numbers (they are rather drab) they do serve one unequivocal purpose: they quantify. When I ask a fellow grower or farmer how potatoes fared, he or she invariably responds with “it was a good year” (or a so-so year or a lousy year). Nothing is simpler than the determination of quantified potato performance. It is pounds harvested as a ratio of pounds planted (9:1 for me this lackluster year, al-most twice that last year).

That being said I generally embark on one mini-trial or another over the course of the growing season

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to our website a group of recipes she gave us titled “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.” You can find them here:http://www.nofasummerconference.org/pdfs/BLDRecipes.pdf

Call for Workshops

Every year the NOFA Summer Conference recruits creative and enthusiastic presenters for workshops for adults, teens, and children. In November 2010, the call for workshop proposals for the 2011 Conference – complete with a Workshop Proposal Form – will be sent out to previous workshop presenters and the ever growing list of presenter prospects that I am building. It will also be posted on the website: www.nofasummerconference.org.

The conference features workshops for adults on a full range of topics: Alternative Energy and the Environment; Animal Husbandry; Crop Specific workshops; Farm Economics and Management; Farming and the Community; Farm Tours; Food and Family; Food Preservation and Cooking; Fruits, Nuts, and Trees; Garden and Greenhouse; Herbs and Flowers; International Agriculture; Land Care; Marketing; Nutrition and Health; Of the Spirit; Politics and Policy; Practical Skills; Soil Fertility; Social Justice; and Urban Agriculture. If you would like to submit a workshop proposal contact: Ben Grosscup at ben.grosscup@nofamass.org or call at 413-549-1568. There will also be a Children’s Conference (ages 2-12) and a Teen Conference (ages 13-17), which explores many themes in common with the adult workshops in a manner that is appropriate for each age. If you want to submit a proposal for the Children’s Conference, contact Valerie Walton aallspice@aol.com or (978) 689-0716. If you want to submit a proposal for the Teen Conference, contact Jenn Caron at jennc69@gmail.com or (978) 544-5646. The sooner you submit your proposal, the better. We need your workshop proposal submitted by December 31, 2010. The vast majority of decisions on accepting workshops will be made by the end of January 2011.

All workshop presenters receive free conference registration and a $50 honorarium for presenting a 90 minute workshop.

Interested in Sponsoring?

If you want to sponsor or advertise your business and gain excellent exposure for your products and services, including a logo and website link placement on the NOFA Summer Conference website, see this link to last summer’s sponsors: http://www.nofasummerconference.org/sponsors.php.

Larger level sponsors also receive exhibit space and registration. Businesses and farms are also welcomed to simply exhibit and advertise in the Program Book. For more information, contact Bob Minnocci at bob@nofamass.org or 617-236-4893.

in addition to my long-serving role as trialer for FEDCO Seeds and Moose Tubers. This year’s trial involved garlic and a determination of yields as a reflection of spacing. A four-foot wide, twenty-four foot long bed was divided into four quadrants, the difference being the number of rows within the four feet (from five to eight). In all cases, the cloves were set six inches apart in the row and averaged one half ounce in size, not atypical of the garlic I plant.

The results were not striking but interesting none-theless and are summarized in the chart below. The eight-across quadrant provided the lowest return per amount planted and the smallest bulbs but the highest total yield and the largest monetary return.

I have planted all my garlic eight-across this fall but have divided the bed into quadrants representing cloves of different sizes. Stay tuned.

Garden Notes

NOFA-NY has announced that the National Institute for Food and Agriculture recently granted funding through the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program for an initial phase of a one-year pilot project has three goals. • NOFA-NY will offer a beginning farmer workshop track at their annual conference (held in Saratoga Springs from January 21-23, 2011) and will be providing scholarships to qualified beginning farmer applicants. • NOFA-NY will provide opportunities for expe-rienced farmers to provide relevant and valuable learning experiences to beginning farmers. • NOFA-NY will support on-farm practical educa-tional opportunities and social events for beginning farmers to learn new skills, to forge supportive friendships and to create lasting working relation-ships with other beginning farmers.Stay tuned at www.nofany.org or by contacting Ra-chel Schell-Lambert at (585) 279-1979 x 511.

NOFA-NY Awarded One-Year Beginning Farmer & Rancher Grant

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 43

Book ReviewsIt’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not-so) Simple Lifeby Keith Stewart with illustrations by Flavia Bacarella, published by Marlowe and Company, New York City, $18.95, 323 pages.

reviewed by Larry Siegel

I have a soft spot for those highly-educated, urban folks who have experienced an epiphany and dramati-cally changed their style of living (perhaps because I’m a highly-educated, urban folk who experienced an epiphany and dramatically changed my style of living). Keith Stewart fits the bill precisely, climbing down from the corporate ladder and re-inventing himself as an organic farmer. (A successful organic farmer, I might add, at least in respect to the bottom line and, ap-parently, job satisfaction.) He seems to have succeeded as a writer as well, as these collections of essays illus-trate. Disparate though they be, they all revolve around life on the small farm, with the joys and the hardships receiving equal billing.

There are snippets of practical information, since some of the essays relate directly to production on the farm (garlic, potatoes, mesclun, tomatoes), but most of the essays do not. Some pay homage to the critters, both domestic and wild (chickens, barn swallows, porcu-pines, rabbits, cattle, beaver, and, especially, dogs for whom Stewart has a close attachment). A fair number are concerned with peddling the product. Since Stew-art does his peddling at Manhattan’s Union Square Greenmarket, it can get decidedly more complicated than setting up a card table at the end of the driveway. Still others address matters of economics, a subject often avoided by the organic community (How many years did it take The Natural Farmer to devote an issue to farm economics?). These essays were well thought out, and, in their own way, as practical of advice as how to plant garlic. And Stewart is not so occupied at thinning the carrots that he does not have time to mull over some of the larger issues of the day, be they political or social or environmental.

The book is illustrated throughout by Flavia Bacarella’s wood-cuts, though I have the impression that the re-productions do not do justice to the originals. A nice touch, I thought, was the inclusion in the acknowl-

edgments of the names of all the farm workers over the course of the twenty-one year history of the farm. None of this takes place without them.

Regardless of the subject matter, all of these essays have the stamp of personal experience and deeply-held convictions, the reflections of one person who took the time to reflect. It is reason enough for me to recom-mend this book to others.

Gemmotherapy: The Science of Healing with Plant Stem Cellsby Roger Halfon, MDpublished by Healing Arts Press, Rochester, VT copyright 2005 by Traditions Trajectoiretranslated 2010 by Inner Traditions International120 pages; $8.47 on Amazon: ISBN: 1594773416

reviewed by Julie Rawson

Gemmotherapy, according to the author, is the medici-nal use of plant buds and young shoots. It harnesses the healing power of trees and shrubs at the peak of energetic activity in their annual cycle, capturing pow-erful nutrients, vitamins, plant hormones, and enzymes. Gemmotherapy is primarily aimed at draining the body of toxins and acts by gently stimulating and promot-ing elimination. The potency of these plant “stem cells” also enables gemmotherapy remedies to treat far more ailments than just those for which these plants are prescribed in traditional herbalism. This therapy can be used to treat many common conditions, such as asthma, osteoporosis, kidney stones, and anxiety, and is especially effective at alleviating allergies. An adjunct to both traditional herbalism and homeopathy, gemmo-therapy offers an all-natural path to detoxification and healing with no side effects.

This book is an easy read. It is well-organized. Though I thought the explanation of gemmotherapy and its his-tory was a little light, it did the job of laying it out there for a person who wants to do more research and thor-oughly understand the principles behind it. What I did like about the book is that it is really a very accessible reference book that offers the neophyte student of gem-motherapy a guide for how to proceed and which plants to choose to work with.

I know a fair bit about herbs, fruits, and vegetables and their healing properties, but nothing about trees and woody bushes and how they can be used for enhancing human health.

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 144This book explains how gemmotherapy harnesses the vital energy of plant buds for detoxification and rejuve-nation. It catalogues the uses and healing properties of 34 tree and plant buds. It also catalogues more than 30 common ailments with in depth protocols for their rem-edies. It provides resources for obtaining the remedies and preparation guidelines.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool anti-drug person – be they over or under the counter or on the grocery shelf. I enjoyed reading about a very old approach to healing that I can add to the therapies I turn to when one of my family members is in need of a rebalancing. And for the price, one can hardly go wrong to get a copy of this book. It is heartening to know that natural therapies are taking on more and more credence. As with the move toward organic by the general populace, a reinvestment in these old and simple and cheap therapies is going to do nothing but good, in my opinion, for the health of us all.

Saving the Seasons; How to Can, Freeze or Dry Al-most Anythingby Mary Clemens Meyer and Susanna Meyerpublished by Herald Press, Scottsdale, PA; 2010208 pages; $24.99, ISBN: 9780836195125

reviewed by Julie Rawson

Enhance your Produce and Forage’s true energy content.

The foundation for High Brix Produce & Forage. Customized based on your soil test reports.

The highest producing Cows get a healthy start as Calves!

The book includes 4 main sections. • Guide to the Harvest includes a cataloguing of each

fruit and vegetable with a description, when it is in season and recommended preserving methods. It also gives the page numbers of all the recipes for that item.

• The Canning Section is broken down into a how to, tomatoes, fruits, vegetables, meats, soups, herbed vinegars, pickles and relishes.

• Freezing is broken into general info, vegetables and herbs, fruits, meat, poultry and fish, and baby food.

• Drying breaks out into basics, fruit, vegetables, herbs, and meats.

Additionally there are indices on Troubleshooting and Helpful and Inspirational resources

I am a food preservationist from birth. My mother and grandmother used to write letters to each other in the summer time with each boasting about how many packages of frozen peas they did, or strawberry jam jars. My sister to this day reports to me on how many canned tomatoes or jars of sauerkraut she has put up.

I still have vivid memories from when I was a small child of a kitchen full of corn and the table loaded with green beans – all for us to tip and “French.” My worst food preservation memory was of me as a teenager standing at the sink using a bobby pin to pit sour cher-

ries so they would be in perfect shape for mom’s frozen cherries.

The aspect of this book that most grabs my attention is the beautiful photographs. My food preservation “bible” Stocking Up is mostly text, so this aspect is quite enjoyable.

This book is reasonably thorough. It can be used as a reference guide, which I feel is essential in a book of this type. For example, the freezing chart on page 141 completely and concisely lists vegetables and their blanching time. I learned something here. Blanching in steam takes 50% more time than blanching by immer-sion in boiling water. And I learned that steam blanch-ing is ideal for broccoli, greens and other delicate vegetables. Each section – canning, freezing, drying – shows one example with step by step instructions and pictures. It is ideal to learn how to preserve food in the presence of one who does it, but this is the next best option for those who don’t have the live person as a resource.

There are some great tomato product recipes. As we move toward more processed farm products we will find these useful. I also enjoyed the short write up on herbed vinegars.

Disappointments for me with the book included the tre-mendous use of sugar in all of the jam, jelly and spread recipes. Also I was hoping for some use of alternatives like agar powder for jams. Lacto-fermentation was not listed or explained at all. As we move into an age of wanting more live food and less sugary food in our diets, I think the author missed the boat. Overall, I felt the book was a bit too conventional in approach. For my preserved food I want it to be as unadulterated as possible with the goal of highest nutritive value in the finished product. I left this book not trusting that the author was keeping that as her highest priority

Pastures of Plenty; The Future of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Conservation in New Englandby John E. CarrollNew Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station Publi-cation #2340 (2009)$15 soft coverIllustrations and book design by Karen Busch Holman

reviewed by Larry Lack

John Carroll’s lively, optimistic, wide ranging and comprehensive look at the future of agriculture in

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Back Issues!Current issues ($5@) :

86 Organic Farms and Money85 Farms & Gov’t Regulations84 Alternative Animal Feed83 Crop Nutrient Density

Collectors Copies ($8@) :82 Localization & Org. Farms81 Microbes and Human Health80 Building Organic Soil79 Organic Mulches77 Online Marketing of Organics76 Manure & Organic Farming75 Labor on Organic Farms74 Climate Change & Org. Ag.73 Organic Minor Fruit72 Water and Agriculture71 Globalization & Agriculture70 Organic Potatoes69 Is Organic Better?68 Who Owns Organic?67 Organic Fine Dining

A limited number of back issues of are available for sale.The current issue and the last four issues cost $5.00 each, postpaid. Earlierissues (collectors copies) cost $8.00 each, and are subject to availability. Yes, I would like a back issue of . Please send me theissue(s) circled to the left. I have included the total as a check made out to“The Natural Farmer”. (Add $2 per issue if foreign address).

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northern New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont) makes a convincing case that this region, now largely dependent on food shipped in from far away, can--and soon will--produce much more of the food that is consumed here.

This colorful and attractive publication differs significantly in format from that of most USDA research reports. Clearly a labor of love, Pastures of Plenty draws its inspiration from a host of alternative food, agriculture and conservation writers and visionaries, perhaps most of all from Aldo Leopold, whose understanding of the importance of land and exposition of a “land ethic” helped launch what eventually evolved into the modern conservation and environmental movements.

Carroll’s homage to Leopold, though, is just the starting point for this eclectic com-pendium.

The central focus of Pastures of Plenty is on the potential for a revival of grazing (specifically, intensive, rotational grazing on pasture) as the cornerstone of a new, more efficient, sustainable and productive agriculture for our region. But Carroll’s book makes its case by presenting the ideas and actions of alternative food and agri-culture advocates and reinterpreting them in the context of present day northern New England.

Included among those whose writings and programs Carroll cites and discusses are Joel Salatin, Fred Kirschenmann, Masanobo Fukuoka, Andre Voisin, Sir Albert How-ard, Wes Jackson, Borealis Bread’s Jim Amaral, New Hampshire’s Trauger Groh (one of the founders of Community Supported Agriculture), Vermont’s Bill Murphy (“It’s a lot better to just let the livestock go to the feed and spread their manure them-selves”) and a score of other food and ag luminaries whose thoughts are skillfully blended in support of Carroll’s thesis that northern New England is ideally situated, ripe and ready for the emergence of a new agriculture that is diverse, ethical, environ-mentally sound, local, mainly organic and marketed directly to a savvy new genera-tion of eaters who increasingly care about how their food affects both them and their communities.

Pastures of Plenty includes useful background on the history of New England agri-culture--how mixed farms and livestock grazing were replaced by industrial mono- cropping and confinement production of livestock—and includes chapters on grazing and grasses, the soils of northern New England, the key role Carroll sees for dairying in this part of the world, breeds of cattle and other animals suited to northern New England, direct marketing and “relationship agriculture”, and the role land grant uni-versities hopefully will play in encouraging the reorganization of agriculture and the revival of family farming in our region.

Strikingly illustrated with Karen Busch Holman’s evocative and lively watercolors of farm scenes and animals, Carroll’s text has the feeling of a heartfelt celebration of farming that, while obviously drawing much from conservation biology and the agri-sciences, is also fed by insights gleaned from literary and even musical sources including Wordsworth, Wendell Berry, Garrison Keillor, Beethoven (specifically his “Pastorale” Symphony) and Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics for a song by Kurt Weill.

In addition to the threads of alternative agriculture and food philosophy that Car-roll weaves together from his wildly inclusive kaleidoscope of sources, Pastures of Plenty assembles and presents important new information about our region’s soils. It includes five pages of detailed maps based on the soil studies of New Hampshire soil scientist Sidney Pilgrim and his colleagues in the Natural Resource Conservation Service. These maps, one of each of the four states of northern New England and one

of the entire four state region, indicate by green shading which soils have “High Po-tential for Grassland Agriculture”.

Nearly a quarter of New Hampshire’s area is shaded green, indicating soils that have this potential, as is roughly half of Maine and, surprisingly, roughly half of Massa-chusetts as well. Vermont, where pastures and dairying still anchor a viable statewide family farm based economy, leads the region for soils that are suitable for pasture grass production: green shading covers fully 90 per cent of that state’s area.

These impressive maps are supplemented by Sidney Pilgrim’s notes on the identity and characteristics of the various grazing-appropriate soils found in various parts of the four northern New England states, after which Carroll points out that Pastures of Plenty presents “what is likely the first effort, at least in modern times, to map the (soils) of central and northern New England for the purpose of identifying…the best and highest potential grazing soils in the region.”

Carroll shares some relevant information about himself, mentioning his New York City upbringing as the son of an accountant for the International Harvester Company. “It is truly ironic”, he says, “that my own career and work is critical of the large scale industrial model of agriculture”—that system that the Farmall tractor (and the other products of his father’s employer) made possible.

In his prologue Carroll mentions how a “prescient” 1979 New Hampshire study of food security, “Who Will Feed New Hampshire’s Residents Five, Ten, Fifteen Years From Now?” gathered dust on university shelves through nearly thirty years of American consumer and academic apathy, a result, he says, of “cheap food, fueled by cheap energy (and) full supermarket shelves at the lowest food prices in the world.”

There are some weaknesses, I think, in Dr. Carroll’s thesis about the imminent re-naissance of a pasture-based eco-agriculture. His approach in Pastures of Plenty is so inclusive and enthusiastic that sometimes he seems intent on including almost too many streams of evidence and support. A bit of editorial tweaking and a solid index of his varied sources might be able to corral his wide-ranging vision without reducing the impact of this book’s important message.

Professor Carroll’s optimism about the future of food and agriculture in our region is infectious and well justified in this unique report, and he can’t be blamed if his most likely readers are likely to be those who already agree, or are predisposed to agree, with what he has to say. He may, however, want to consider a few questions. For one, it may be useful to ask whether his predictions about a future for farms and food that’s focused on grazing and dairying may be challenged by current diet trends and a younger generation who are eating less meat and dairy and turning in substantial numbers to vegetarian and vegan fare.

And, perhaps more important, if, as Carroll believes, more young people will be drawn to more holistic, ethical and sustainable ways of farming, how will they get access to the land they’ll need? As Carroll is no doubt aware, secure access to pro-ductive land can be a serious barrier to farm entry for young people who aren’t lucky enough to inherit farmland from their folks.

Perhaps this question needs more answers before the prediction from urban planning critic James Howard Kunstler that appears at the close of Pastures of Plenty (and is repeated in large letters on its back cover) can come to full fruition. “Agriculture”, Kunstler tells us, “is going to come back to the center of American life in a way that we couldn’t imagine.”

This caveat aside, Pastures of Plenty certainly gives readers many reasons for imag-ining the dimensions and encouraging the emergence of a new New England agricul-ture, one that can and--as this book helps us understand--must be planted on the sure foundations of our region’s fertile soils and the productive farms and pastures these soils, if they are cared for carefully, can sustain.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r W i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 14�

ConnecticutCT NOFA Office: P O Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, phone (203) 888-5146, FAX (203) 888-9280, Email: ctnofa@ctnofa.org, website: www.ctnofa.orgExecutive Director: Bill Duesing, Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, 203-888-5146, 203 888-9280 (fax), bill@ctnofa.orgOffice Manager/Webmaster: Deb Legge, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, deb@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146NOFA Project Coordinator, Organic Land Care Program, Clara Buitrago, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, clara@organiclandcare.net, 203-888-5146CT NOFA Program Coordinator, Teresa Mucci, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, teresa@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146President: James Roby, P.O Box 191, 1667 Orchard Road, Berlin, CT 06037, 860-828-5548, 860-881-8031 (C), robysorganic@yahoo.comVice President: Elizabeth Fleming, 54 Four Mile Road, West Hartford, CT 06107-2709, 860-561-4907, elstrfleming@yahoo.comTreasurer: Michelle Hartel, 41 Angeli Court, Berlin, CT 06037-4083, 860-829-0749, michjelleahartel@comcast.netSecretary: Chris Killheffer, 112 Bishop Street, New Haven, CT 06511-7307, 203-787-0072, Christopher.killheffer@yale.eduFarmers Pledge Program: Contact the office. Organic Land Care Program Manager: Ashley Kremser, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, akremser@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146Organic Land Care Accreditation Manager: Clara Buitrago, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, clara@organiclandcare.net, 203-888-5146Bookkeeper: Marion Griswold, PO Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, marion@ctnofa.org, 203-888-5146

Massachusetts President: Lynda Simkins, Natick Community Organic Farm, 117 Eliot Street, South Natick, MA 01760, (508) 655-2204, lsimkins.ncorganic@verizon.netVice President, Leslie Cox, Hampshire College Farm, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 530-2029, lcox@hampshire.eduSecretary: Elizabeth Coe, 13 Hickory Hill Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230, (413) 528-6567, treecoe@gis.netTreasurer: Danielle Andrews, 85 Day St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, 617-524-1320, dandrewds@thefoodproject.orgExecutive Director: Julie Rawson, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046, julie@nofamass.orgAdministrative Director: Kathleen Geary, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005, (978) 355-2853 (Mondays & Thursdays, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm), email anytime to: info@nofamass.org Webmaster: David Pontius, 26 School Street, Northfield, MA 01360, (413) 498-2721, webmaster@nofamass.orgWinter Conference Coordinators: Cathleen O’Keefe, 122 State Street, 1st floor, Northampton, MA 01060 (413) 584-6786, bulkorder@nofamass.org, and Michal Lumsden, PO Box 157, Monterrey, MA 01245, (413) 528-8016, michal@nofamass.orgNewsletter Editor/Public Relations Coordinator: Mindy Harris, 110 Kodiak Way #2825, Waltham, MA 02145, (310) 663-0054, mindy@nofamass.orgNOFA Summer Conference Coordinator: Ben Grosscup, 67 North Whitney Street, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 549-1568, ben.grosscup@nofamass.orgWebsite: www.nofamass.orgBaystate Organic Certifiers Administrator: Don Franczyk, 1220 Cedarwood Circle, Dighton, MA 02764, (774) 872-5544, baystateorganic@earthlink.net, website: www.baystateorganic.org

New HampshireNOFA-NH Office: 4 Park St., Ste. 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, info@nofanh.orgWebsite: www.nofanh.orgCo-President: Lauren Chase-Rowell, 156 Stevens Hill Road, Nottingham, NH 03290, (603) 463-7538, laurenchaserowell@gmail.comCo-President: Essie Hull, 115 Baptist Road, Canterbury, NH 03224, (603) 783-4782, seedhead@essenceofthings.com

Co-President: Jack Mastrianni, 277 Holden Hill Road, Langdon, NH 03602, (603) 835-6488, jamastrianni@yahoo.comVice President: Joan O’Connor, PO Box 387, Henniker, NH 03242, (603) 428-3530, joconnornh@yahoo.comTreasurer: Paul Mercier, Jr., 39 Cambridge Drive, Canterbury, NH 03224, (603) 783-0036, pmercier01@comcast.netHerbal Network/Newsletter Editor: Maria Noel Groves, 4 Park St., Ste. 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 268-0548, nhhn@nofanh.org or editor@nofanh.orgOffice Manager: Eleanor Moyer, 4 Park St., Ste. 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, eleanor@nofanh.org.Business Manager Barbara Sullivan, 72 Gilford Ave, Laconia, NH 03246, (603) 524-1285, barbara@nofanh.orgBulk Order Coordinator: Jennifer Quinlivan, P.O. Box 92, Strafford, NH 03884, (603) 269-0063, (603) 731-1182, jenq@worldpath.netWinter Conference Coordinator: Tameson O’Brien, 4 Park St., Ste. 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 300-6920 winterconference@nofanh.orgOrganic Certification: Vickie Smith, NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food, Division of Regulatory Services, Caller Box 2042, Concord, NH 03301 (603) 271-3685, vsmith@agr.state.nh.us, www.agriculture.nh.gov

New JerseyExecutive Directors: Michelle (Shelly) Glenn, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, 908-371-1111 x 2, m.glenn@nofanj.organd David Glenn, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, 908-371-1111 x 3, david.glenn@nofanj.orgPresident: Donna Drewes, Municipal Land Use Center, TCNJ, PO Box 7718 McCauley House, Ewing, NJ 08628, (609) 771-2833, drewes@tcnj.eduVice President: Stephanie Harris, 163 Hopewell-Wertsville Rd., Hopewell, NJ 08525, (609) 466-0194, r.harris58@verizon.netTreasurer: David Earling, Gravity Hill Farm, 22 River Road Titusville, NJ 08560 (609) 737 8860 dee@solecap.comSecretary: Marcia Blackwell, Blackwell’s Organic Gelato, 323 Liberty St., Long Branch, NJ 07740, (732) 229-8899, marciablackwell@comcast.netSupervisor, Organic Certification Program: Erich V. Bremer, NJ Dept. of Agriculture, 369 S. Warren St., Trenton, NJ 08625-0330, (609) 984-2225, fax: (609) 341-3212 erich.bremer@ag.state.nj.usAdministrative Coordinator: Connie Deetz, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, (908) 371-1111 x4, cdeetz@nofanj.org Education and Outreach Coordinator: Joanna Dillon, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, (908) 371-1111 x5, jdillon@nofanj.orgWebsite: www.nofanj.orgPhone: (908) 371-1111Fax: (908) 371-1441

New YorkNOFA New York Offices: NY Office: 249 Highland Ave, Rochester, NY 14620, Phone: 585-271-1979, Fax: 585-271-7166; Certified Organic, LLC Office: 840 Front St, Binghamton, NY 13905, (607) 724-9851, fax: (607) 724-9853, Website: www.nofany.org Executive Director: Kate Mendenhall, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166, Kate@nofany.orgOrganic Certification Director: Carol King, (607) 724-9851, fax: (607) 724-9853, certifiedorganic@nofany.orgAssistant Director: Lea Kone, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166, Lea@nofany.orgEducation & Outreach Coordinator: Matt Robinson, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166, Matt@nofany.orgBusiness Manager: Michelle Prohov, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166 Michelle@nofany.orgFarmer Educator: Robert Perry, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166 Robert@nofany.orgFood Justice Coordinator: Kristina Keefe-Perry, (585) 271-1979, fax: (585) 271-7166, Kristina@nofany.orgBeginning Farmer Coordinator: Rachel Schell-Lambert, (585) 271-1979, fax:(585) 271-7166, Rachel@nofany.orgNewsletter Editor: newsletter@nofany.orgPresident: Scott Chaskey, Quail Hill Community Farm, PO Box 1268, Amagansett, NY 11930-1268,

(631) 267-8942, schaskey@peconiclandtrust.orgVice President: Gunther Fishgold, Tierra Farm, 2424 State Rte 203, Valatie, NY 12184, (888) 674-6887, gfishgold@tierrafarm.comTreasurer: Karen Livingston, 2569 Rolling Hills Rd, Camillus, NY 13031, (315) 672-5244, delv11@yahoo.comSecretary: Jamie Edelstein, 3745 Allen Rd, Cato, NY 13214, (315) 427-8266, wylliefox@earthlink.net

Rhode IslandPresident: Erik Eacker, Ledge Ends Produce, 830 South Road, East Greenwich, RI 02818 (401) 884-5118, ledgeends@cox.netVice-President: Nicole Vitello, Manic Organic, PO Box 425, Portsmouth, RI 02871 (401) 480-1403, nvitello@equalexchange.coopSecretary: Dave Binkley 53 Hilltop Drive West Kingston, RI 02892 (401) 667-0585, binkled@amgen.comTreasurer/Membership: Dan Lawton, 247 Evans Road Chepachet, RI 02814, (401) 523-2653 dlawton33@hotmail.com NOFA/RI, 247 Evans Road Chepachet, RI 02814, (401) 523-2653, nofari@nofari.orgwebsite: www.nofari.org

VermontNOFA-VT Office, PO Box 697, 39 Bridge St., Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-4122 NOFA, (802) 434-3821 VOF, Fax: (802) 434-4154, website: www.nofavt.org, info@nofavt.orgExecutive Director: Enid Wonnacott, enid@nofavt.orgFinancial Manager: Kirsten Novak Bower, kirsten@nofavt.orgNOFA VT Education Coordinator & VT FEED Director: Abbie Nelson, abbie@nofavt.orgDairy & Livestock Administrator: Sam Fuller, sam@nofavt.orgDairy & Livestock Advisor & Policy Advisor: David Rogers, dave@nofavt.orgDairy & Livestock Advisor: Willie Gibson, willie@nofavt.orgCommunity Food Security & Direct Marketing Coordinator: Jean Hamilton, jean@nofavt.orgOffice Assistant and Share the Harvest Fundraiser Coordinator: Becca Weiss, becca@nofavt.orgOffice Manager: Barbara Richardson, info@nofavt.orgOutreach Coordinator: Caitlin Gildrien, Caitlin@nofavt.orgVegetable & Fruit TA Coordinator: Wendy Sue Harper, wendysue@nofavt.orgWinter Conference Coordinator: Olga Boshart Moriarty, olgamoriarty@gmail.comVT FEED Administrative Manager: Elizabeth McDonald, libby@nofavt.org VOF Administrator: Nicole Dehne, nicole@nofavt.orgVOF Certification Specialist: Cheryl Bruce, cheryl@nofavt.orgVOF Certification Specialist: Gregg Stevens, gregg@nofavt.orgVOF Assistant: Laura Nunziata, laura@nofavt.org

NOFA Interstate Council* indicates voting representative* Bill Duesing, President, Staff, Box 135, Stevenson, CT, 06491, (203) 888-5146, fax, (203) 888- 9280, bduesing@cs.comKimberly A. Stoner, 498 Oak Ave. #27, Cheshire, CT 06410-3021, (203) 271-1732 (home), Email: kastoner@juno.com* Leslie Cox, Hampshire College Farm, Amherst, MA 01002, 413-530-2029, kcix@hampshire.eduElizabeth Obelenus, 22 Keyser Road, Meredith. NH 03253, (603) 279-6146, elizabeth@nofanh.org* Jack Mastrianni, Treasurer, 277 Holden Hill Road, Langdon, NH 03602, (603) 835-6488, jamastrianni@yahoo.com* Steve Gilman, Ruckytucks Farm, 130 Ruckytucks Road, Stillwater, NY 12170 (518) 583-4613, sgilman@netheaven.com* Elizabeth Henderson, 63 Benton St., Rochester, NY 14620, cell: (585) 764-8471 elizabethhenderson13@gmail.com* Dan Lawton, 247 Evans Road Chepachet, RI 02814 (401) 949-1596 dlawton33@hotmail.comDavid Glenn, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844 908 371 1111 david.glenn@nofanj.org

NOFA Contact People

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rW i n t e r , 2 0 1 0 - 1 1 47

Thanks for joining and helping support organic agriculture!

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Give a NOFA Membership! Send dues for a friend or relative to his or her state chapter and give a membership in one of the most active grassroots or-ganizations in the state.

Connecticut: Individual $35, Family $50, Business/Institution $100, Supporting $150, Student/Senior $25, Working $20Contact: CT NOFA, Box 164, Stevenson, CT 06491, (203)-888-5146, or email: ctnofa@ctnofa.org or join on the web at www.ctnofa.org

Massachusetts: Low-Income $25, Individual $35, Family/Farm/Organization $45, Business $75, Supporting $150Contact: NOFA/Mass, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005, (978) 355-2853, or Rebecca@nofamass.org or join on the web at www.nofamass.org

New Hampshire: Individual: $35, Family/Farm: $75, Business/Organization: $150, Supporting: $250, Sustaining: $1,000, NH Basic $25*Contact: Barbara Sullivan, 4 Park St., Suite 208, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 224-5022, barbara@nofanh.org

New Jersey: Student/Intern $20*, Individual $40*, Family/Farm $70*, Business/Organization $150*, $10 additional per year for subscription to The Natural FarmerContact: 334 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, (908) 371-1111 or join at www.nofanj.org

New York: Limited Membership $20*, Gardener/Consumer $40, Family/Farm/Nonprofit Organiza-tion $50, Business $115, Lifetime $1,000Contact: NOFA-NY, 249 Highland Ave., Rochester, NY 14620, Voice (585) 271-1979, Fax: (585) 271-7166, email: info@nofany.org, www.nofany.org

Rhode Island: Student/Senior: $20, Individual: $25, Family $35, Business $50 Contact: Membership, NOFA RI, c/o Dan Lawton, 247 Evans Road, Chepachet, RI 02814, (401) 523-2653, nofari@nofari.org

Vermont: Individual $30, Farm/Family $40, Busi-ness $50, Sponsor $100, Sustainer $250, Basic $15-25* Contact: NOFA-VT, PO Box 697, Richmond, VT 05477, (802) 434-4122, info@nofavt.org

*does not include a subscription to The Natural Farmer

NOFA Membership

CalendarThursday, Dec. 9: New Entry Sustainable Farming Project’s Farmer-to-Farmer Conference, Sturbridge, MA, for more info: www.farmer2farmer.org

Thursday, Dec. 9: NRCS workshops on EQIP and CIG programs, Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ, for more info: www.nofanj.org.

Saturday, Dec, 11 & Sunday, Dec. 12: Meat Processing Workshop “The Whole Hog,” Brown Boar Farm, East Wells, VT, for more info www.nofavt.org/upcoming-events-calendar/

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011: Direct Marketing Conference, Vermont Technical College, Randolph, VT, for more info www.nofavt.org/upcoming-events-calendar/

Wednesday, Jan. 12 – Friday, Jan 14 and Tuesday, Jan. 18, and Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011: 10th annual NOFA/Mass 5-day Accreditation Course in Organic Land Care, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. for more info: Kathy Litchfield, kathy@nofamass.org, (413) 773-3830 or online at www.organiclandcare.net

Saturday, Jan. 1�: NOFA/Mass Winter Conference, Worcester, MA, for more info: wc@nofamass.org or www.nofamass.org

Tuesday, Jan. 18, Wednesday, Feb. 2 & Wednesday, Feb. 1�, 2011: “Organic Crop Protection: Insect, Disease & Weed Management” workshops, Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, Berlin, VT, for more info www.nofavt.org/upcoming-events-calendar/

Friday, Jan. 21 – Sunday, Jan. 23: NOFA-NY Winter Conference, SaratogaSprings, NY, for more info: (585) 271-1979 ext. 509 or visit our website at www.nofany.org.

Saturday, Jan. 29 & Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011: NOFA-NJ Winter Conference - Regenerative & Resilient Food Systems: Sowing New Seeds, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, for more info: www.nofanj.org.

Saturday, Feb. 12 – Monday, Feb. 14, 2011: NOFA Vermont’s 29th annual Winter Conference, University of Vermont in Burlington, for more info: Olga Moriarty at olgamoriarty@gmail.com or: http://nofavt.org/annual-events/winter-conference

NOFA Videos

1001 Whole Farm Organism Dairying 1 Jack Lazor1002 Whole Farm Organism Dairying 2 Jack Lazor1003 Keynote Sally Fallon Morell1004 Hardy, Delectable, Pest-free Fruit Lee Reich1005 Farmers Rights Pete Kennedy1006 Red Fire Farm Tour Ryan Voiland1007 Keynote Catherine Murphy1008 Biodynamics: What’s it All About? Mac Mead1009 Backyard Winter Vegetables Danielle Andrews1010 Small Grains Cliff Hatch

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* Nicole Vitello, Manic Organic, PO Box 425, Portsmouth, RI 02871 (401) 480-1403, Nicole@manicorganic.biz * Enid Wonnacott, 478 Salvas Rd., Huntington, VT 05462 (802) 434-4435, enid@nofavt.orgKirsten Novak Bower, 65 Wortheim Ln., Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-5420, kirsten@nofavt.orgDavid Pontius, Webmaster, 26 School Street, Northfield, MA 01360, (413) 498-2721, Email: webmaster@nofamass.orgJack Kittredge and * Julie Rawson, The Natural Farmer, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, Jack, tnf@nofa.org, Julie@nofamass.orgMarion Griswold, Bookkeeper, 30 Hollow Rd., Woodbury, CT 06798, (203) 263-2221, marion@ctnofa.org

Interstate Certification ContactsNicole Dehne, nicole@nofavt.org, PO Box 697, Richmond, VT 05477, 802-434-3821, 802-434-4154 (fax)Carol King, 840 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905, (607) 724-9851, fax: (607)724-9853, certifiedorganic@nofany.orgErich V. Bremer, c/o NJ Dept. of Agriculture, PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ 08625, (609) 984-2225 erich.bremer@ag.state.nj.us

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