Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Changing seasons….

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Londa Nwadike

As the seasons are changing here in Vermont with more summer-like weather arriving, the season of my life is changing also. I have greatly enjoyed my time here in Vermont, largely because of working with great people such as those reading this blog post! (By the way, my apologies to those of you that also read the UVM Extension New Farmer blog and have read a similar post from me, but I wanted to make sure I shared this info with anyone interested.) I have learned a great deal from all of you and want to thank you all for your support during this season of my life here in Vermont!

However, with the passing of my father 2.5 years ago, the arrival of our first child 1.5 years ago, and the anticipated arrival of our second child in October, I really felt the need to move closer to my family (in South Dakota). So, I will be leaving UVM Extension at the end of June to start a similar position in Extension Food Safety with Kansas State and the University of Missouri in Kansas City. We will now be less than a 7 hour drive from my family (which is not much in the Great Plains states :)), rather than 28 hours of driving as we are currently.

It sounds like UVM Extension will have someone fill the position on some sort of interim basis while they decide how to fill the position on a long term basis. I dont have any details to share on that yet, so in the interim, these are some food safety resources that you can utilize if you have food safety questions:

– There are a number of fact sheets on various food safety topics ranging from farmers market vendor safety to selling prepared foods on the farm to meat licensing requirements. They are all available in the Publications section of the UVM Extension Food Safety website.

– In the Resources section of that same website, there are a number of links available, including links to the State regulatory agencies and other state resources, some regional food safety websites, as well as federal food safety information. There are also links to audio files, video clips, and webinars on various food safety topics, ranging from food safety regulations, best practices (GMPs) for food safety in value-added foods to food labeling.

– There is also a great deal of food safety information from various agencies in Vermont available on the Vermont Food Safety Task Force website. On the website you can learn more about the task force, find food safety training opportunities in Vermont, read the latest food safety news from the state and national level, and access a number of great resources. These resources include templates for processors and producers to develop Good Manufacturing Practices and related food safety plan materials, lot tracking templates and information, state, regional, and national website links, potential funding resources, and consumer food safety information. The website also contains links to food safety regulations, information on the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and meeting information of the Food Safety Task Force.

– If you are interested in the safety of home food preservation or other consumer food safety issues, more information is available on the UVM Extension website.

– Any questions on fresh whole produce safety? More information is available from UVM Extension’s Produce Safety pages.

Thanks to all of you for all your support during this beautiful season of my life here in Vermont, and thanks for your understanding as we transition to our next season in Kansas City!

Posted in Culture and Society, General info | Comments Off

New England’s Food Future

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Linda Berlin

I find it’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of work and lose sight of the future that we are striving to achieve. I am constantly checking things off of my to-do list, measuring my accomplishments by my ability to subtract more tasks than I add! I know this is the life that so many of us lead.

In contrast, taking some time for a mental trip into the future can be important for keeping the fire burning in the day-to-day realm. Last week I attended a meeting in Portland, Maine designed to help all attendees focus on the future of our regional food system. Although it was a bit tamer than a science fiction movie, it certainly made me think twice about the world we are hoping to create, and some paths we might take to get there. Most importantly, I considered what might be the role of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture in helping to actualize parts of this vision which focused on the year 2060.

The (still a work-in-progress) vision was drafted by a team of people who had done some actual calculations that accounted for how many people we might have in our region in 2060, the likely impacts of climate change, and other significant variables. It was also built on the assumptions that we would be striving to achieve healthier eating, “smart growth” in both urban and rural areas, energy conservation, environmentally sustainable farming methods, a commitment to forest conservation, and a right to healthy food for all. Given the current state of affairs, it’s easy to get cynical about this ideal, but good to put it on the table!

Here are some highlights of the vision that would support the region providing 50% of the food that a population of 17 million might consume:

· The assumption that healthy food, fair wages, safe working conditions, and the ability to enjoy one’s food culture are fundamental human rights. This would require significant policy changes.

· A tripling of the land in agricultural production. This would still allow for sweeping forest protection.

· New England cows fed mostly on pasture and hay.

· An assumption that Midwestern feed grains will still be imported into the region.

· Some grain for human consumption produced in New England, but not a large amount.

· Consumption of more nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables and fewer “empty calorie” foods.

· A reduction in fish intake to match the amount that can be caught in New England waters. This assumes that the fisheries will be restored to their former abundance.

· A consideration of what foods can best be produced locally, regionally, and globally.

The vision is designed with multiple scenarios that each account for a range of assumptions. For example, one scenario, called “regional reliance,” assumes that food available at the global level is scarcer and more expensive, requiring us to rely heavily on regionally produced food.

Although many participants at the Maine meeting were not prepared to adopt the vision, we agreed it provides lots of opportunity for thoughtful discussion and a meaningful look at how the decisions we make today might affect the our food future. Check it out!

Posted in Facts & Figures, General info | Comments Off

Female Farming Force

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Kirsten Workman

As a female who has been involved in agriculture for going on 14 years now, I have reached the point in my life (and my career) that I don’t notice so much my gender as I move through the world of farms, farmers, and farming. There was a day that I felt I had to prove my ‘toughness’ and never accepted an offer of a male counterpart to carry something, open something, or make my life easier. This often included my husband when we owned and operated our own farm in Washington State (but don’t tell him that I admitted that out loud). As one farmer said to me once as I unloaded my one millionth fifty-pound bag of winter rye seed off his trailer, “You always have to be the toughest _____ on the block, don’t you?!”

I have always worked primarily with a demographic of farmer who fits right in with the USDA Ag Census as the ‘average farmer.’ That is to say, a white male with an average age of 57 years old. I have always been treated with respect and never felt like being a ‘female’ was an issue. I have been called ‘honey’ and ‘sweetie’, but at this point in my life I take that as a compliment. There is, however, another (younger and more feminine) side to the hard work of farming.

My husband, Paul Feenan, runs the Food & Farm Program for Vermont Youth Conservation Corps in Richmond, VT. Besides being a food security initiative to grow fresh vegetables, eggs and pastured chickens for food insecure Vermonters, they also hope to train, inspire and develop highly motivated leaders in the food system arena through their Agriculture Leadership Apprentice program. Paul, my two young children and I live there at The Farm at VYCC, so I get daily interaction with the farm and the farm Apprentices. Since the program has started, by far the most interest Paul has received from young people interested in the apprenticeship and simply working on the farm has been from women. In the last 18 months, he has hired several of them and I have observed the interaction of a group of young women, often just graduated from college and exploring their career options as they encounter the reality of farming. They are mostly getting their first taste of truly hard work, and for some of them their first opportunity to do things never taught to them…swing a hammer, drive a tractor, butcher an animal, fix a tiller, make a plant grow, and be asked to ‘figure it out’ on their own.

One young woman, a high school student working on the farm for a week with her classmates as their Senior service project, confided in my husband while she had a power drill in her hand that no man had ever trusted her with a tool like that before. As Paul recanted this story to me over dinner that night, I came to a realization that through no intention of his own, he is providing young women (and men) with opportunities and experiences they may never have had the chance to experience otherwise. I have watched him teach young women to drive a tractor and cultivate a field, use a very sharp knife to humanely slaughter a chicken she raised up from a baby chick, move a herd of cows to the next green pasture, grow a bumper crop of tomatoes from a seed to a seedling to a ripe tomato and then can them to keep all winter, and even how to artfully arrange a flower bouquet. I can’t help but imagine what these experiences will bring to these young women’s future career paths and lives in general. Whether they decide to be a farmer, an extension agent, an advocate, a nutritionist, or even a banker…they will all have a context of leadership and hard-work that will prove its value to them time and time again. I too was blessed with a boss early in my career who dropped me off with a fencing crew my first week of work to ‘help’ build fence for a farm. Much to the crew’s chagrin, they eventually let me get my hands and my boots dirty…and I’ve been better for it ever since. I look forward to seeing the leaders that emerge from this program, and am happy to see them changing the face of agriculture each in their own way.

Let me not forget to mention the really great men who have worked on the farm (a shout out to Will, Matt, Jeremy, Tucker, and their fearless leader Paul).

But here’s to the female farming force at The Farm at VYCC:

Olivia Bulger

Heidi Lynch

Caelan Keenan

Moriah Haffenreffer

Megan Lubetkin

Nicole Mitchell

Maegan Brown

Casey Kettering

Here’s a link to a great video that Ag Leadership Apprentice, Megan Lubetkin produced for the farm this spring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB54OB2uzaA

See more pictures like these at the farm’s Facebook Page