February 7–March 4, 2021 A Month-long Series of Online Events Artwork by Emily C-D
Welcome! February 7–March 4, 2021, online
Honor, Energize, Inspire orters,
Dear Friends & Supp
ces T! Given circumstan -V FA O N at us of l virtual Much love from al r Conference will be te in W r ou , ic em nd us from caused by the pa ysical distance keep ph t le t no ll wi we t ovement for this year. Bu ity, strengthen the m un m m co ild bu to ng continui , and learn and organic food system d an st ju , al ic og ol an ec celebrate together. incredible you to join us for an e vit in we 7, ry ua br es Starting Fe different opportuniti y an m th wi ts en ev This month-long series of movement building. d an g, in er th ga , ng ion for our for online learni a year-long celebrat of ff -o ck ki e th be )! series will also T was founded in 1971 -V FA O (N y ar rs ve 50th anni urish gether to grow and no to rk wo we as us in Vermont. We hope you’ll jo food system here in e bl na ai st su d an t a just, verdan With gratitude, ive Grace Oedel, Execut
Director
Registration Information Your registration for the conference gives you access to all conference events, including Sherri Mitchell’s keynote speech, two featured panel discussions, 20 workshops and roundtables, and special engagement opportunities. You will also receive post-conference access to video recordings of the keynote, panels, and workshops. Suggested general registration for members: $80 Suggested general registration for non-members: $100 Sliding scale options: $30, $50, $ 75, $100, $125, $150 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous or Person of Color): Free of charge We believe that all voices must be present and represented for our movement to be whole. Our sliding scale registration fee is an effort to create more equitable access to this event. The true cost of putting on this virtual conference is over $100 per person. Please pay the amount that fits your budget. Paying more than the suggested $80/$100 member/non-member rates will help support the conference registration fees for someone who is unable to pay that cost. Thank you! NOFA-VT offers free registration for our annual Winter Conference to anyone who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC). NOFA-VT provides this offering in an effort to actively work toward dismantling systems of racism that have historically disadvantaged BIPOC and continue to do so today. We do not intend for cost to be a barrier to participation. If you are unable to pay the minimum ticket price of $30, please contact Livy at livy@nofavt.org, 802-434-7153.
Registration now open Go to nofavt.org/conference to sign up! If you need assistance registering, please contact Becca in our front office: becca@nofavt.org, 802-434-4122.
Conference Schedule From February 7 through March 4, in lieu of our in-person conference, we are planning a series of online events with many different opportunities for community building, learning, and connection through workshops, speakers, film, and more.
Speakers & Panels
Workshops & Roundtables
Conference Welcome & Keynote Speaker Sunday, February 7 3 pm
Digital Marketing Intensives Monday, February 8 9–11 am & 1–3 pm
Featured Panel Discussions Sundays, February 14 & 21 3 pm
For the most up-to-date information, including dates, times, full workshop descriptions, presenter bios, and more: nofavt.org/conference
Commercial Producer Workshops Tuesdays, February 9, 16, 23, March 2 2:30–4 pm Homesteader & Gardener Workshops Tuesdays, February 9, 16, 23, March 2 6–7:30 pm Policy & Food Systems Workshops Thursdays, February 11, 18, 25, March 4 11:30 am–1 pm Changemaker & Policy Roundtables Wednesdays, February 10, 17, 24 Fridays, February 12, 19, 26 noon–1 pm
Speakers & Panels Keynote Speaker
Sherri Mitchell
Sunday, February 7, 3 pm • Sherri Mitchell-Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset is a Native American attorney, teacher, activist and changemaker who grew up on the Penobscot Indian Reservation. She is the author of Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living SpiritBased Change, a convener of the global healing ceremony Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island and the founding director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection of Indigenous land, water and religious rights, and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. Sherri works at the intersection between Indigenous rights, climate change and conscious evolution. She currently speaks and teaches around the world.
Featured Panel Discussions Collective Wisdom: Elders and Longtime Leaders of the Organic Movement Sunday, February 14, 3 pm • Panelists: Dave Marchant, Riverberry Farm; Grace Gershuny; Suzanne Long, Luna Bleu Farm, more panelists TBD, facilitated by Will Stevens, Golden Russet Farm • This panel discussion was created in acknowledgement that the organic food and farming movement has been built through the daily hard work and dedication of so many amazing people. Join us for this discussion to celebrate the collective knowledge and wisdom of our elders, hear about their challenges and triumphs, and imagine ways we can apply their past lessons learned towards a thriving future. Future Scouting: Innovative and Emerging Leaders for our Vermont Agricultural Future Sunday, February 21, 3 pm • Panelists: Abbie Corse, The Corse Family Dairy; Amber Arnold & Naomi Moody, The SUSU commUNITY Farm; Jenna Baird, Baird Farm; Marita Canedo, Migrant Justice; Taylor Mendell, Footprint Farm • This panel discussion looks to the future, building on the lessons of the past through innovations and systems thinking. This discussion will raise up the voices of some new and emerging womxn leaders helping to build Vermont’s agricultural future, including farmers, movement builders and leaders from all aspects of food and farming.
Workshops & Roundtables Digital Marketing Intensives
Homesteader & Gardener Workshops
Monday, February 8
Tuesdays, 6–7:30 pm
From Direct-to-Consumer to Digital Marketing Mieko Ozeki, Radiance Studios
Climate Resilience on the Homestead Jon Turner, Wild Roots Farm
Amplifying and Advancing Your Brand Through Social Media Mieko Ozeki, Radiance Studios
The Fermentista’s Garden: Hands-On Fermentation Demonstration Nancy VanWinkle, Nomadic Roots Kitchen
Commercial Producer Workshops Tuesdays, 2:30–4 pm Building On-Farm Soil Health with Cover Crops Becky Maden, UVM Extension Hoophouse Growing Success in the Shoulder Seasons Ryan Fitzbeauchamp, Evening Song Farm
Seed Starting Systems at Home Carolina Lukac, Vermont Community Garden Network Vermicomposting for Homesteaders and Gardeners Rhonda Sherman, North Carolina State University
Online Sales & Marketing: Lessons Learned from the Quick COVID Pivot Julie Rubaud, Red Wagon Plants; FM Muñoz, My Name is FM Consulting Stronger Together: Cooperative and Alternative Models for Farms and Food Businesses Agrarian Commons; Brush Brook Community Farm; Humble Hands Harvest ; additional panelists TBD
For the most up-to-date information including assigned dates of each workshop:
nofavt.org/conference
Changemaker & Policy Roundtables Wednesdays & Fridays, noon–1 pm
Policy & Food Systems Workshops Thursdays, 11:30 am–1 pm Advancing BIPOC Land Access in N’Dakinna Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, Every Town Project, Vermont Land Trust, NOFA-VT, Vital Communities The Cows Don’t Milk Themselves: Milk with Dignity & Farmworker Rights in the Time of COVID Migrant Justice Organizing to Win: Building Community Power for Systems Change Hayley Jones, Shaina Kasper, Community Action Works; Stuart Blood, Energy & Climate Upper Valley Participatory Capacity Building for an Inclusive Organic Movement Jennifer Taylor, Lola’s Organic Farm, Organic Farming Association; A-dae Romero-Briones, First Nations Development Institute
Community Food Access: Growing for Each Other Chief Don Stevens, Nulhegan Band of Coosuk-Abenaki Nation; Jake Kornfeld, Farm at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps; Sammy Levine, ShiftMeals; Andrea Solazzo, Vermont Foodbank; Shane Rogers, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Farm Stress and Emotional Well-being on the Farm Allen Matthews, Farm First The Organic Farmers Toolbox: Resilient Farming Practices for Climate Change Aaron Parker, Edgewood Nursery; Jono Neiger, Regenerative Design Group Soil Health Policy in Vermont: Changemaking from the Ground Up Cat Buxton, Grow More, Waste Less; Caroline Gordon, Rural Vermont; Maddie Kempner, NOFA-VT The State of Organic Andrew Bahrenburg, Office of Senator Leahy; Steve Etka, National Organic Coalition; Nicole Dehne, NOFA-VT
More Ways to Engage & Connect Film Screening and Q&A Panel Gather: A Fight to Revitalize Our Native Foodways All conference attendees will have the opportunity to stream the film Gather from home all month long. Tune in for a Q&A discussion with the filmmaker and a panel of Indigenous activists, chefs and scientists featured in the film on Monday, February 22, 6:30–8 pm. Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide. Gather follows Nephi Craig, a chef from the White Mountain Apache Nation (Arizona), opening an indigenous café as a nutritional recovery clinic; Elsie Dubray, a young scientist from the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation (South Dakota), conducting landmark studies on bison;
and the Ancestral Guard, a group of environmental activists from the Yurok Nation (Northern California), trying to save the Klamath river.
NOFA-VT Book Club On Thursday, January 21 from 6:30–8 pm, please join us to discuss Sherri Mitchell’s important book, Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change. This is a great way to get ready for Sherri’s keynote and to connect with fellow NOFA-VT members during these socially distant times. Sign up at nofavt.org/conference.
Raffle for a Local Food Basket Enter for a chance to win a local and organic foods basket from Vermont producers including some NOFA-VT swag! Buy tickets when you register for $10 each. Proceeds benefit NOFA-VT’s Farm Share Program which provides half-priced CSAs from local farms for limited income Vermonters.
Share your Winter Conference Story We know how many special personal and professional connections are made at the Winter Conference. During this unique year, we want to hear from you
so we can share these stories with our wider community. Share your story from the past 39 years of the annual winter conference or 50 years of NOFA-VT when you register, or by visiting nofavt.org/nofa-love.
Card Connection Looking to connect in a special way with other conference participants? Join the Card Connection. You will receive the name and address of another attendee and a writing prompt to send a snail mail card to another participant. You will also receive a letter from someone else! Opt-in when you register for the conference at nofavt.org/conference.
T-shirts Show your support for NOFA-VT by purchasing an organic cotton T-shirt featuring artwork by Emily C-D. Visit nofavt.org/conference for more details and to place an order in our online store. $25/shirt, includes shipping. T-shirts will be shipped in March.
Ask Grace Q&A All throughout our 50th anniversary year of 2021, we’ll be celebrating curiosity and connection with Ask Grace. Submit a question for NOFAVT’s Executive Director Grace Oedel, when you register, and we might just read it live on air!
Discount on Books from Chelsea Green Conference participants will enjoy a 35% off discount from Chelsea Green Publishing during the whole month of the conference. Based in White River Junction, Chelsea Green’s wide array of publications cover farming, gardening, homesteading, community resilience, and so much more!
For the most up-to-date information: nofavt.org/conference
Thank you to our sponsors CULTIVATOR
NOURISHER
NURTURER
GROWER
PLANTER
PRODUCER Banner Greenhouses Co-operative Insurance Companies Deep Root Organic Co-op Greenvest Philo Ridge Farm USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program Vermont Farm to Plate Vermont Grass Farmers Association UVM Extension
Additional funding is supported by Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement, USDA AMS FMPP under Award Number AM200100XXXXG122, USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28584. USDA and the University of Vermont are equal opportunity providers and employers.
NOFA-VT Membership MEDIA SPONSOR
GATHERER Bee’s Wrap Black Dirt Farm Cabot Creamery Co-operative Nourse Farms, Inc OMRI Real Pickles Shelburne Farms The Maine Potato Lady The South Royalton Market Vermont Land Trust Vermont Economic Development Authority Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Wellscroft Fence Systems, LLC
We grow an economically viable, ecologically sound, & socially just Vermont agricultural system. Being a NOFA-VT member means that you are helping to strengthen local, organic agriculture in Vermont. You are supporting programs and services that support farmers, inform consumers, and advocate for policies that build the organic food movement in Vermont and nationally. NOFA-VT is where you can go for information and education about all things organic. Your membership also includes many financial and educational benefits like discounts on seeds, compost and agricultural books, our quarterly newsletters and more! Become a NOFA-VT member or renew your membership at www.nofavt.org/join
Return Service Requested
NOFA VERMONT PO BOX 697 RICHMOND, VT 05477
Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Permit No. 37 Richmond, VT
Join us for an incredible month-long series of events with many different opportunities for online learning, gathering, and movement building. We can’t wait to see you there!
February 7–March 4, 2021