Category: Keynotes

Keynote

2009 Farmer to Farmer Conference Keynote Speech Prof. E. Ann Clark challenged Farmer to Farmer participants to design systems that will make their farms more perennial and sustainable. By E. Ann Clark, Professor, University of Guelph, Ontario The premise of Ann Clark’s keynote speech at the 2009 Farmer to Farmer Conference was that agriculture, including

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Celebrating Women Farmers and Gardeners Locally and Globally

Heather Spalding, MOFGA’s deputy directory, introduced Deb Soule at the 2013 Fair. Soule talked about the contributions women have made to organic agriculture. English photo. Deb Soule is an herbalist, biodynamic gardener, teacher and author of the newly released book How To Move Like a Gardener: Planting and Preparing Medicines from Plants. In 1985 she

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Cooperating with the Future

George Siemon, CEIEIO of Organic Valley Cooperative, told Fairgoers that a cooperative serves a community of owners, not a rising stock price, allowing the cooperative to focus on service. Photo courtesy of Russell French. By George Siemon One of the nation’s foremost organic agriculture advocates for nearly two decades, George Siemon is best known for

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Keynote Andre Leu

Organic farming and gardening can feed the world, said André Leu: “For a fraction of the cost of developing a few GMOs, we could use that money for education and training, and we could take that 800 million [food insecure] people out of poverty within two to three years.” English photo. André Leu, president of

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Keynote Ben Falk

Ben Falk called for a billion new gardeners to create healthy, food-producing ecosystems. English photo. Ben Falk, founder of Whole Systems Design LLC and author of “The Resilient Farm and Homestead,” has been testing resilient water, food, heating and medicinal systems in the context of land regeneration at the farm and homestead scales for more

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Keynote Shannon Hayes

Shannon Hayes talked about the division – and reuniting – of consumers and producers during her keynote speech at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. Blending storytelling, farm humor and a knack for stirring up trouble, Shannon Hayes examines the history of consumerism in America, how it played out in the household, its effects

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Keynote Jay Feldman

Jay Feldman of Beyond Pesticides told Common Ground Fairgoers that organic is necessary to get off the pesticide treadmill. English photo. By Jay Feldman, Executive Director, Beyond Pesticides September 22, 2012 I am honored to be here and share this great occasion with you – in a state and with a people who have always

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Keynote Kathleen Merrigan

Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of agriculture for USDA, noted the advances the department has made in supporting organic agriculture under the current administration. English photo. Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of USDA, asked MOFGA’s executive director, Russell Libby, if she could come to the 2012 Common Ground Country Fair. “This is something that would not have

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Hardy Keynote

Keynote speaker Kerry Hardy talked about “The Dawn Diet” of the Native people of what is now Maine. Hardy noted that 400 or 500 years ago, everyone here was on the hundred-mile diet “and living quite nicely.” English photos. Common Ground Country Fair Keynote Speech Kerry Hardy grew up in Lincolnville, Maine, exploring the outdoors

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Gerritsen Keynote

Jim Gerritsen of Woodprairie Farm was the farmer-keynote speaker at the Common Ground Country Fair this year. He talked about his own development and experiences as a farmer, about the importance of his family and community, and gave tips for entering farmers. English photo. Observations from Thirty-five Years of Watching the Maine Organic Community Grow

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