Want to eat healthier, support the local economy, meet some new friends?  Check out the festivities for Local Foods Week.

View the story and video follow the link below:

Columbus Farmer Has Unique Crop | Ohio News Network (ONN).

This market is unique in that it welcomes organic (non-certified) gardeners, who produce smaller quantities of product.

Read the details at:  Farmers wanted for New Central Ohio Farmers Market « Farmers’ Market Management Network.

Thursday, January 13:
Ohio Neighborhood Harvest:  Demonstration of, and Best Practices for Creating Fruit and Vegetable Oases in Food Deserts
Public meeting with Kara Martin, Expert for National Healthy Corner Stores and hosted by the Center for Farmland Policy Innovation at The Ohio State University and made possible by a 2010 Ohio Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant and is part of the Ohio Food Policy Council’s Ohio Neighborhood Harvest.  Ms. Martin will discuss healthy food retailing as an economic development tool to increase community access to healthy foods.  She will discuss the challenges of healthy food retailing, share exemplary projects from across the country, and address opportunities for policy and system changes.  The purpose of this event is to give local organizations and individuals interested in healthy food access and opportunity to learn from a topical expert who has worked in corner stores across Seattle.  The event is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will be held in room 105, Agricultural Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road on the OSU Campus.  A reception will follow the event. The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required by January 6, 2011.  To register send an e-mail to Jess Gambacurta (gambacurta.1@osu.edu).  To learn more, visit CFFPI’s project page – http://cffpi.osu.edu/oases.htm

Tuesday & Wednesday, January 25 & 26:
2011 Ohio Farm Management Conference sponsored by Ohio State University Extension and OSU’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at the University Plaza Hotel, Columbus, OH.  Six general sesssions are offered covering topics such as employee management, farm transition planning, the perception of agriculture, and agricultural and environmental policy.  Registration is $75 per person and $60 per additional employee or family member paid before January 7 (after Jan. 7 the fee is $125/person and $100 per additional employee or family member.  Registration includes meals, conference proceedings, and conference parking.  For additional information and to register, visit:  http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/2011-ohio-farm-management-conference/ or contact John Yost at 740-335-1150 or via e-mail:  yost.77@osu.edu

Saturday & Sunday, February 19 & 20:
The 32nd Annual Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) Conference – Inspiring Farms, Sustaining Communities featuring keynote speakers, Klaas and Mary-Howell Martens, organic farmers since 1993 and owners  and operator’s of New York’s only dedicated organic feed mill and organic seed operation and Joan Dye Gussow author of several books, including This Organic Life and most recently, Growing Older.  For more information, including the schedule and a listing of workshops and to register, visit:  http://www.oeffa.org/conference2011.php

On-Going 8 Week Program in Several Locations Starting in January 2011
The Southern Ohio New and Small Farm College is an 8-week program that introduces new and seasoned farmers to a wide variety of agricultural production topics to help them diversify and explore new enterprises and new markets.  The program teaches participants how to set goals, plan, budget, and where to find resources available to help start a small farm operation.  The course will layout how to manage financial and farm records.  Extension educators will illustrate many different enterprises that can be profitable on land as small as one acre.  A bus tour is included to visit are farms and to see first hand how small farm life works and to assist in making contacts with practicing farmers in the area.  Previous Southern Ohio New and Small Farm Colleges have helped 420 individuals representing 338 farms from 43 Ohio counties improve economic development of their small family owned farms.
Registration is $150 per person and $50 for each additional family member.  Registration is limited to the first 50 participants per location.  Registration fee includes resource materials, a soil test, refreshments and a bus tour.  For more information, contact Tony Nye at 937-382-0901 or e-mai:  nye.1@osu.edu or visit:  http://clinton.osu.edu/events/2011-small-farm or http://clinton.osu.edu/events/2011-new-and-small-farm-college-classes

Announcements

Job Opportunity – Center for Closing the Health Gap
The Center for Closing the Health Gap in Greater Cincinnati is seeking a Community Health Program Coordinator.  The Center is a nonprofit organization leading the effort to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities in Greater Cincinnati through advocacy, education and community outreach.  For more information, visit:  http://www.closingthehealthgap.org or e-mail:  ClosingTheGap@uchealth.com

Job Opportunity – OEFFA is currently accepting applications for two positions:
Organic Educator. http://www.oeffa.org/documents/OrganicEducatorFeb.2011FINAL.pdf

Bookkeeper/Office Manager.  http://www.oeffa.org/documents/Bookkeeper-OfficeManagerDec2010.pdf

Fellowship Opportunity – Master’s or Ph.D. Level Studies in Rural Sociology and associated fields of sociological inquiry, including Environmental/Natural Resource Sociology, Sociology of Agricutlure and Food Systems or Development Sociology at The Ohio State University

Please consider or forward this announcement to prospective graduate students as appropriate regarding an opportunity for Master’s or Ph.D. level studies in Rural Sociology and associated fields of sociological inquiry, including Environmental/Natural Resource Sociology, Sociology of Agriculture and Food Systems or Development Sociology.  The Rural Sociology specialization in the School of Environment and Natural Resources is seeking high quality applicants for at least three fellowship worthy candidates.  Qualified students may also be considered for teaching and research associateships depending on school and faculty needs.

Fellowship awards are for one and possibly multiple years and include stipend, tuition and fees, with additional years of support possible via teaching or research associateships.  Fellowship awards are available beginning in Fall, 2011.  To be considered for a fellowship, applications for graduate study are due by January 15, 2011. Contact Amy Schmidt (Schmidt.442@osu.edu or 614-292-9883) for guidance regarding submission of an application and contact Jeff Sharp (sharp.123@osu.edu or 614-292-9410) for further detail about graduate studies in Rural Sociology.  See http://senr.osu.edu/ for more information about the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State and http://senr.osu.edu/Future_Graduate_Students/Rural_Sociology.htm for information specific to the rural sociology specialization.

Graduate studies in Rural Sociology offers in depth training in the core fields of rural sociology, including the Sociology of Agriculture and Food Systems, Environmental and Natural Resource Sociology, and Development Sociology.  Additional faculty strengths exist in topical areas such as rural crime and community sociology.  Studies also include training in sociological theory, research methods and statistics.  An additional strength of this program is its close association with other social scientists in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (including faculty trained in decision-science, public policy, and law) as well as natural scientists with expertise in the environmental sciences, soils, wildlife, water quality, etc.   Recent students in Rural Sociology have explored topics related to local food systems, water resource management, animal welfare, sustainable agriculture, rural poverty, gender and development, and immigration.  Students and faculty engage in research both within the U.S. and in different global settings with research emphasis spanning theory, applied work, public-sociology, and policy.  Recent graduates have taken positions in both academic and applied settings (such as government agencies and nongovernmental organizations).

Under the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, retired or retiring owners or operators with expiring CRP contracts can receive up to two additional annual rental payments if they sell or lease the CRP land to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers who are interested in bringing the land into production using sustainable grazing or crop production methods, including transitioning to organic.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition » Archive » USDA Introduces Online Farm Link Tool for Beginning Farmers.

We are building a map of urban farms.  If you know of a farm that is in an urban (or suburban) area and sells direct to consumer, restaurants or stores, please comment and let others know about them.

Support the Next Generation of Sustainable and Organic Farmers and Ranchers!

Tell USDA to Stop Delaying Implementation of the CRP Transition Option
for Beginning and Minority Producers!

Change happens at the transition.  An aging farmer population, a new generation of farmers desperate for access to land, 4.2 million acres of land about to come out of the Conservation Reserve Program, and a growing consumer demand for  food grown by sustainable and organic producers, together present a tremendous opportunity to transform our food system.

In the last Farm Bill, the sustainable agriculture community successfully created a new program-the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Transition Option- that offers incentives to land owners enrolled in the CRP to sell or lease the land to beginning and minority producers using sustainable or organic farming practices at the end of the CRP contract.

USDA is planning to delay implementation of the CRP Transition Option for at least two years.

SIGN OUR PETITION

Tell USDA we can’t waste this opportunity.

Background

The CRP Transition Option provides incentives for CRP landowners who do not intend to extend their CRP contracts or re-enroll land back into the CRP to transfer (rent or lease) the land to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers who are willing to return the land to production using sustainable or organic grazing, cropping, or mixed cropping-grazing systems.  In return for the preference shown to beginning or minority farmers or ranchers, the landowner will receive an additional two years of CRP rental payments.  The CRP Transition Option is already fully paid for through mandatory dollars in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Unfortunately, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) plans to hold up the implementation of the new CRP Transition Option in order to conduct a multi-year environmental impact statement (EIS) review on CRP policies in general.  While the proposed EIS is relevant for the general CRP, it is inappropriate to include the Transition Option since the land is leaving the program.  Importantly, the EIS would delay CRP Transition Option implementation for at least two years which is when most CRP contracts are set to expire (over 4.2 million acres in just 2009 and 2010), thus wasting taxpayer dollars and an important environmental opportunity.

What you can do: Ask USDA to stop delaying implementation of the CRP Transition Option by moving the Transition Option out of the EIS and immediately issuing a rule to implement the Transition Option.  Ask USDA to also actively promote the Transition Option to beginning and minority farmers and ranchers and to owners of the over 4 million acres that is about to leave the CRP.  Sign the petition today!