By Tim King In 2024, 82% of American households purchased organic produce, according to an impact report issued by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program last year. The report states that the percentage will continue to increase and that demand has “consistently outpaced domestic production capacity” for organic. TOPP was founded by the U.S. Department
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin A new community garden initiative in Van Buren, Maine, cultivates not just food but also relationships. In a town where residents rarely gathered, fresh vegetables and beehives now bring people together. Luke Dyer, Van Buren’s town manager, and others involved in community revitalization call it placemaking: creating public spaces to grow and
By Holli Cederholm For painter Katherine Noble Churchill, riding horses is part of the artistic process. While her work is categorized as impressionistic realism — and therefore true to life — Churchill does not paint portraits. “I like to paint things that are moving quite a bit,” she says. A wave washing over a seal,
By Holli Cederholm On a given day, Alice Slater wakes, kicks up the fire in the woodstove, sets a kettle to boil, and makes tea. She might play an instrument, sing a new song, or send an email about an upcoming contradance she helps organize. Then, she heads outside to get moving: chopping firewood, cutting
By Jennifer Wilhelm Building community is something farmers Valerie Woodhouse and Eli Hersh of Honey Field Farm in Norwich, Vermont, take seriously. From hosting engaging onsite events to creating a supportive work environment for their farm crew, making their farm a place where people gather to celebrate organic growing is a top priority. And a
By Tim King Nearly a quarter century ago, Jim Hanna, who is now the executive director of the Cumberland County Food Security Council, met with a group of newly arrived Americans to discuss their food security needs. These new community members from Somalia were Muslim and had dietary needs that Hanna was unfamiliar with at
By Jordanna Feely and Rebecca Rundquist Much like food banks, firewood banks are designed to meet a basic human need: in this case, it’s warmth during the cold season. Firewood banks can provide a safety net for people in Maine who rely on heating their homes with wood but find themselves suddenly unable to access
By Tim King The Kearsarge Food Hub, in Bradford, New Hampshire, will celebrate its 10th year in 2025. Since its founding as Sweet Beet Farm a decade ago it has been transforming the concept of what a food hub is. Many food hubs center their activities on being what the United States Department of Agriculture
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Possibilities greet customers as they step into Replenova Farm’s store and take-out counter on busy Route 136 in Durham, Maine. And they change with the seasons. In the summer, there are cucumbers to pickle, jars of fresh local strawberry jam ready to be slathered onto a slice of freshly baked bread, and
By Martha Leggat, Growing to Give Education Coordinator If you arrive at Growing to Give early enough on a summer morning, you’ll find a quiet moment to savor the brilliant purple amaranth, the 6-foot-tall sunflowers, and the dahlias of every color and variety. You’ll observe contrasting rows of companion-planted vegetables filling the garden beds and
