MOFGA's Public Policy Teach-ins
Nurturing Native Wildlife in Your Landscape Without Hazardous Chemicals: Practical Steps That You Can Take Around Your Home and Policy Actions That You Can Take in Augusta and Washington
The natural landscape in our bioregion is ever-changing and is experiencing pressure from commercial and residential development, chemical contamination, clearcutting and energy development, dramatically shifting weather patterns, and emerging plant and animal species. Of Maine’s more than 16,000 species of inland wildlife, 51 are endangered or threatened, and the greatest threat to these species is habitat loss and fragmentation. The 2023 Public Policy Teach-In at the Common Ground Country Fair focused on the practical and policy actions we can take to nurture habitat for native plants and animals and understand how to work with nature to enhance the health of the soil, create resilient habitat, and protect clean water and air, rather than continually using agrichemicals to temporarily control undesirable species. Nancy Ross, past executive director of MOFGA and long- time member of MOFGA’s public policy committee, will moderate a panel discussion with expertise from Chip Osborne, Sharon Turner and Heather Spaulding.
Nurturing Native Wildlife in Your Landscape Without Hazardous Chemicals
Saturday, September 23, 2023 at the Common Ground Country Fair Professional horticulturalist Chip Osborne started using pesticides in the 1970s, when the pesticide industry was just over 20 years old. “Twenty-five years of my business, I was up to my elbows in pesticides,” said Osborne. “We buttoned up our collars, put on some glasses, a
Climate Change in Maine: The Problem, the Response and What All of Us Can Do
The 2020 Common Ground Country Fair Public Policy Teach-In offers participants a broad view of the impacts of climate change in Maine, how Maine is responding, and what all of us citizens can do to join this critical movement. MOFGA deputy director Heather Spalding hosts a panel of experts including Hannah Pingree, Director of Governor
Local Pesticide Control: How Your Town Can Protect Health and the Environment
Saturday, September 24, 2016 Common Ground Country Fair With a 700 percent increase in the distribution of home-use pesticide products in Maine in recent years, what are citizens’ options when state and federal governments are not adequately protecting our health and environment from these toxic chemicals? Maine is one of seven states that allow towns
Making America Green Again: A Workshop in Resistance
Saturday, September 23, 2017 Common Ground Country Fair The Trump administration and its allies are pursuing the most aggressive environmental rollbacks in U.S. history. Attacks on federal laws that protect our climate, public lands, air and water as well as attacks on the agencies that administer these laws could set us back decades. These threats,
Today’s Agriculture – An Important Piece of Maine’s Economic Development Strategy
Saturday, September 22, 2018 The Public Policy Teach-in, co-hosted in 2018 by MOFGA’s Public Policy Committee and Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) at the Common Ground Country Fair, focused on creating an agricultural platform for Maine’ next governor. The teach-in is posted on YouTube. Panelists were Ellen Stern Griswold, MFT policy and research director; Penny Jordan of Jordan’s Farm in Cape
Pesticides: In the News and All Around Us
Who decides which pesticides can be approved for use – are these “forever” decisions? Teach-in participants, left to right: Sharon Tisher, Nancy Ross, Carol Hubbard and Jay Feldman. English photo Saturday, September 21, 2019 The 2019 teach-in at MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair, posted at https://www.youtube.com/user/MaineOrganicFarmers and with edited excerpts below, reviewed the process for regulating pesticides.
Public Policy Teach In
According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention/Department of Health and Human Services, nearly three out of every five Mainers are obese or overweight. Obesity rates in Maine have risen 100 percent in 17 years. Between one and five people die every day in Maine from causes related to being obese or overweight.
Teach In
Rep. Linda Rogers McKee of Wayne told Fairgoers at a Common Ground Country Fair Teach-In that “preparation is key” to getting a bill before a committee. English photo. Rep. Paul Volenik of Brooklin said that “Maine is one place where you can still make a difference.” English photo. Public Policy Teach-In at Common Ground How
2001 Teach In
2001 MOFGA Public Policy Teach-In Saturday, 1 p.m., YEZ Tent How does the Maine legislative process work and how can citizens participate most effectively in the process? A teach-in organized by MOFGA’s Public Policy Committee will address these questions on Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the YEZ Tent at the Common Ground Fair
Teach In
Sharon Tisher (left) moderated a Public Policy Teach-In about toxic compounds found in Maine’s environment and people. Amanda Sears reviewed the “Body of Evidence” study in which 13 Maine residents were tested and found to have numerous harmful compounds in their bodies. Body of Evidence: Toxics in Maine People The first step in eliminating toxic
2008 Teach In
Mike Belliveau of the Environmental Health Strategy Center said that the Center tested consumer products for toxic phthalates this year and found them in 20 of 24 products tested, including children’s toys and a raincoat. English photo. The 2008 Teach-In of MOFGA’s Public Policy Committee, held at the Common Ground Country Fair, covered ways to
