Podcasts about midwest organic

In this episode, Olivia interviews Dr. Jean Contina, Research Director with the Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center. Tune in as they discuss the Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center Field Day coming up in august!   Episode Links:  • Registration: https://rodaleinstitute.org/midwest-organic-center-field-day/ 

Joyce E. Ford and Jim Riddle have worked tirelessly on organic agriculture policy in the state of Minnesota, nationally, and internationally. This week, Ron Kroese talks with the long-time organic farmers and sustainable farming advocates from Winona, Minnesota, who share their numerous accomplishments, stories of colleagues they've worked with throughout the years, how they got started in the organic field, and what's next for organics. For more than 30 years, Jim has been an organic farmer, gardener, inspector, educator, policy analyst, author, and avid organic eater. Joyce started her career as an organic vegetable farmer in the 1970s. The couple helped organize the Winona Farmers Market, where Jim was a founding chair of the Winona Farmers Market Association. Joyce and Jim also helped start the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA). In that capacity, they co-authored the IOIA inspector curriculum manuals, and co-developed IOIA's inspector training program and projects such as organic system plans and record keeping templates for organic certification. Joyce has trained organic inspectors for the IOIA and was the first inspector to monitor pipeline construction on organic farms, enforcing Minnesota Agricultural Impact Mitigation Plan's Organic Appendix. She served as IOIA's Ethics Committee chair for many years. Jim served as chair of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Organic Advisory Task Force and was instrumental in passage of Minnesota's landmark organic certification cost-share program, which now is a farm bill program that provides 75% reimbursement for organic certification costs nationwide. In addition, Jim worked for the University of Minnesota as Organic Outreach Coordinator and as Organic Research Grants Coordinator for Ceres Trust. He served on the Leadership Team for eOrganic, the national Extension Community of Practice for organic agriculture and on the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He was the steering committee chair for the Organic Farmers Association when it was newly formed in 2016. Jim is former chair of the USDA National Organic Standards Board and a leading voice for organic agriculture. Joyce co-authored the Organic Trade Association Good Organic Retailing Practices (GORP), and the certification chapter in Organic Dairy Farming published by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). Joyce served on the MOSES board of directors for 6 years. More recently, she served 3 years on the Steering Committee to develop a Healthy Food Charter for Minnesota and volunteered to assist Winona County in developing a county Food Charter, a policy action plan to help get healthy foods accessible. Joyce has worked for the International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) and has served on its Accreditation Committee that administers accreditation for organic certification and other sustainable labels. In 2013, Joyce and Jim were awarded EcoFarm's Stewards of Sustainable Agriculture. They currently operate Blue Fruit Farm, a certified organic perennial fruit farm, where they grow blueberries, black currants, elderberries, aronia berries, honeyberries, and more. The interview was conducted on Feb. 14, 2018. Additional links this episode: National Sustainable Agriculture Oral History Archive (video link) Organic Farmers Association International Organic Inspectors Association Winona Farmers Market

In today's episode, Rick and Sam are joined by members of Wisconsin Women in Conservation: Dr. Esther Shekinah is a Research Agronomist at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute; Jennifer Nelson works with Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services (MOSES); and Val Dantoin is a Conservation Coach for Wisconsin Women in Conservation. These inspiring women join us today to share their work, describing the challenges and successes the organization has faced thus far and its focus on community, the greater good, and sustainable farming. Finally, they share their hope for the future of sustainability and involvement by women of all ages as part of the solution for the challenges we face. Dr. Esther Shekinah is a Research Agronomist at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute with more than 20 years of sustainable agriculture research experience in both India and the US. In addition to leading the Wisconsin Women in Conservation team, she is researching cover crops and industrial hemp with the goal of developing production practices that encourage diversity in organic cropping systems. Jennifer Nelson works with Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services (MOSES), facilitating farmer education and farmland access. With her partner, she co-owns Humble Pie Farm in Plum City, Wis., growing Certified Organic bedding plants, produce and flowers. Jennifer has managed and been on the board of multiple farmers' markets in the Midwest. Val Dantoin is a Conservation Coach for Wisconsin Women in Conservation. Val's Full Circle Community Farm is located outside of Green Bay. They focus on grazing, permaculture, riparian buffers, wetlands, organic, pollinator habitat. Valerie is a farmer-teacher who models her 240 acre farm after the workings of natural eco-systems. She has B.S. in bacteriology, a Masters Degree in Agronomy and an all but dissertated Ph.D. in land resources. Valerie developed and teaches 20 courses in the Sustainable Food & Ag Systems program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Sam Scinta is President and Founder of IM Education, a non-profit, and Lecturer in Political Science at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Viterbo University. Rick Kyte is Endowed Professor and Director of the DB Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University. Music compliments of Bobby Bridger- “Rendezvous” from "A Ballad of the West"

This episode provides a sneak peek of the first three episodes of the new season of the "In Her Boots" podcast, hosted by Tiffany LaShae. Produced by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES),  the re-boot of this popular podcast highlights the stories of Black and Brown women who traditionally have not had a platform to share their voices. Learn about the life and work of other women in agriculture through their conversations with new host Tiffany LaShae. Details at https://mosesorganic.org/in-her-boots-podcast/

Today, we dig into how we can support more women farmers to engage in leadership throughout their community. Listen to Lauren Langworthy of Blue Ox Farm as she shares her story of running for District Director seat within the Wisconsin Farmers Union. We discuss the importance of asking women to run for roles like these and why the potentially uncomfortable nature of a contested elections isn’t inherently a bad thing. Lauren and her husband, Caleb, own 153 acres in Wheeler, Wis. Their farm centers on a rotationally-grazed 200-ewe flock of sheep, small beef herd, hay, and wooded wild areas. When she isn’t in the fields, Lauren is the Program Director at MOSES--the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service, and on the executive board of Wisconsin Farmers Union.

Lisa Kivirist, an old hand at this whole Rootstock Radio thing (listen to her other episode here!) is still involved with supporting, empowering and connecting women farmers through Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and serves as a Senior Fellow, Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Minnesota. Recently, Lisa has also redoubled her efforts around cottage food activism in Wisconsin. Fighting for people to be able to sell low-risk foods, like cookies for instance, that they make in their own kitchens is really common sense to Lisa. "what we're talking about is actually the 'oldest' newest thing," she says, reminding us that before commercial kitchens were even a concept people sold goods they'd cooked in their home kitchens almost exclusively.

Janaki Fisher-Merritt owns Food Farm with his wife, Annie Dugan, and operates it with his parents, John and Jane Fisher-Merritt, and long-time employee Dave Hanlon. Located in Wrenshall, Minnesota, 25 miles southwest of Duluth, Food Farm raises about thirteen acres of vegetables, and sells them over an extended season by storing crops in their high-tech root cellar. In 2010, they were selected as the Organic Farmers of the Year by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. Food Farm was started by Janaki’s parents in the late 1980s. Janaki shares the story of the farm’s development in the late 1980s and early 1990s, how they developed a market for local food and CSA in their area, and Janaki’s gradual assumption of responsibility and eventual ownership of the farm. In addition to 200 summer CSA shares and a significant amount of wholesale sales, Food Farm packs about 150 CSA shares all winter long. We dig into Food Farm’s amazing root cellar, which combines traditional techniques with modern technology to create a facility that is practical and efficient. Janaki walks us through the development of their root cellar, the creation of a second-generation version, and the nuts and bolts of how they keep storage crops fresh into March and beyond. Janaki also explains their wood-heated transplant production system, and the steps they’ve taken to make that energy-efficient in a climate where heating bills in March can be much more outrageous than on the average Minnesota vegetable farm. We also delve into Janaki’s involvement with his local non-farming community through the school board and a film festival, and how having something outside the farm – including, recently, a couple of children! – has enriched and balanced Janaki’s life, and the life of his family. Perennial support for the Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously provided by Vermont Compost Company and BCS America. Pictures, show links, and more at farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/foodfarm.

The In Her Boots Podcast celebrates the collaborative spirit of women farmers, sharing ideas and inspiration with each other, championing women farmers cultivating the sustainable and organic agriculture movement. Brought to you by the award-winning Rural Women’s Project, a venture of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). Some episodes are “main dishes,” slightly longer and digging deeper into these women’s history and start-up stories. Others are “side dishes,” shorter segments that focus on a specific topic from a female farmer lens. These episodes are hosted by Lisa Kivirist, founder and coordinator of the Rural Women’s Project. A farmer herself, Lisa runs Inn Serendipity Farm and B&B with her family in Wisconsin and is the author of Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers. The audio engineer is Liam Kivirist of Techsocket.net. This podcast was made possible through support from North Central SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education). This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under an On-Farm Research/Partnership Project award number ONC15-006 through the North Central Region SARE program. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Harriet Behar. She is a specialist with the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service ( MOSES) talks about what you need to know about the organic certification process.

Guest Harriet Behar, Organic Specialist, Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education ServiceMOSES