2008 “Can We Go Organic?” Videos Are Up!

13Jun10

Join Canadian Organic Growers as we explore how organics is making a difference. Who is making this vision real and how can you be part of it ? What is your role? Hear farmers, researchers, local food security advocates and community organizations discuss the state of Canada’s food system and share their positive vision for the future

Filed under: Agriculture, business, Conferences, Food Distribution, Toronto   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, bartering, carbon, climate change, community, development rights, farmer, farming, Food, global warming, labour rights, land trust, local, markets, multiplier effect, organic, Toronto, trading, transport, video, Wal-Mart

How to Start Farming through Apprenticeships

04May09

Part of the lure of organic farming is the challenge of working in a ‘field’ that requires skill, knowledge, and passion. Apprenticing is an age old method of learning your trade from a master; absorbing wisdom acquired through years of observation and experience. This primer, for those thinking of a career in organic farming, will introduce you to students well on their way to becoming organic farmers as well as a WWOOFER who has traveled the world through organic farming

Filed under: Jobs/Careers, Toronto, Training   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, apprenticeship, career, farmer, farming, job, Training, voluntary, wwoofing

ALARMING: SWAT Raids Ohio Farm Co-op!?!

19Dec08

On Monday, December 1, a SWAT team with semi-automatic rifles entered the private home of the Stowers family in LaGrange, Ohio, herded the family onto the couches in the living room, and kept guns trained on parents, children, infants and toddlers, from approximately 11 AM to 8 PM.
The team was aggressive and belligerent. The children were quite traumatized. At some point, the “bad cop” SWAT team was relieved by another
team, a “good cop” team that tried to befriend
the family. The Stowers family has run a very
large, well-known food cooperative called Manna
Storehouse on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years.

Filed under: Agriculture, Policy and Law   |  5 Comments
Tags: aggression, coop, cooperative, enforcement, farmer, Food, freedoms, industrial, industry, law, legal, private, rights, search, seizure, system

Urban Farming Internship

18Dec08

Do you want to learn to grow your own food, or take a step towards becoming a farmer? The Cutting Veg organic farm offers season long part-time farming interships, in which you can immerse yourself in the world of organic agriculture.

Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Local Agriculture, Organic Agriculture, Skill Development, Soil Management, Training   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: apprentice, development, farmer, farming, horticulture, internship, learning, management, skill building, Soil, Training

New Rules Blast Organic Livestock Farmers!

07Dec08

Unfortunately, it has taken the groups that represent organic farmers over 30 days just to understand the true meaning of the complex USDA draft rule and to develop the many needed and major revisions. While the draft rule that the USDA presented would effectively clamp down on factory farm scofflaws, it would also probably put out of business the majority of all family-scale livestock farmers in the United States. This is unacceptable.

Filed under: Agriculture, Food Safety, Organic Agriculture, Policy and Law   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, business, department, family, farmer, industry, livestock, organic, regulation, regulatory, USDA

Genetic Engineering in Your Food – Things You Need to Know

06Nov08

What in the world are we eating? As we shop the grocery store aisles or peruse the menu at a restaurant, we are becoming more and more aware that we really don’t always know what we’re eating. A big unknown is whether or not our food has been genetically engineered. Over and over again, polls show that consumers would dearly love to have genetically engineered food labelled, but governments have backed away from mandating labels. So what’s a consumer to do?

Filed under: Ethics, Food Sovereignty, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), GMOs, Policy and Law, Science, Society   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, cultivation, deception, dna, farmer, farming, Food, gene, genetic engineering, gmo, label, lmo, monsanto, regulation, seed, transparency

Growing for Nourishment, Nourishing the Future [Conference]

19Oct08

If you care about the foods you eat, how visionary farmers grow for quality and the enormous benefits of organic then this conference is for you. And it’s time to accept the science that proves the benefits of organic food and it’s time to ACT on what we know. Share the vision, the science of organic growing.

Filed under: Conferences, Events   |  2 Comments
Tags: activism, canadian, Carlos, change, chapter, conference, consumer, EU, european, farmer, Food, growers, Leifert, organic, qlif, research, Toronto, union, visionary, wine