By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Opening a Bixby Chocolate bar reveals an intricate work of art — an octopus stretching out each of its long undulating arms in search of a book. A replica of Bixby owner Kate McAleer’s great-great-grandparents’ Victorian-era etched book plate, the image is a metaphor for McAleer, who is likewise reaching in all
By Winona LaDuke Winona LaDuke is a rural development economist and author working on issues of Indigenous economics, food, and energy policy. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota and is the executive director of Honor the Earth. LaDuke’s current project, Anishinaabe Agriculture, is working to relocalize a food economy
By Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador I am honored to be able to share some of the recent efforts from the Wabanaki Alliance and tribal government administrations regarding policy and reconciling deep generational harm. I titled this talk with the goal in mind to impress upon you the impact that the struggles in Maine
Connecting Maine’s School Gardens with Agricultural Fairs By Susan Sager, Maine School Garden Network School Garden Grown!, a program of the Maine School Garden Network, has been connecting Maine’s school gardens with local agricultural fairs around the state since 2016. To date, over 500 entries from school gardens have been viewed, judged and awarded ribbons
2023 Common Ground Country Fair Keynote: Friday, September 22 By Ryan Parker FoodCorps was formed in 2011 with a mission to connect kids to healthy food through experiential learning with school gardens and cooking. Since then, many of our partner schools in Maine, particularly in the past five years, have been successful; meaning the schools
By Karen Washington Food justice is more than growing food and feeding people. Knowing this led me and others to question the food system and its policies. How in the greatest country in the world, where we grow enough food and waste enough food, is that food not getting down to the people who need
By Amara Ifeji The ever-encompassing tree in the yard of a modest D.C. home was no stranger to a young Amarachukwu Ifeji. There, a climate justice activist was born. Her most formative experience tied culture to her forthcoming environmental passion in a most formative way. Today, she offers up her story to you all in
By Leah Penniman Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol farmer, author, mother and food justice activist who has been tending the soil and organizing for an anti-racist food system for over 20 years. Author of “Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land,” she currently serves as founding co-executive director
By Leah Penniman Leah Penniman is the author of “Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land,” and serves as founding co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, a people-of-color-led project that works toward food and land justice. The first part of Penniman’s 2020 Common Ground Country Fair
2023 Common Ground Country Fair Keynote: Sunday, September 24 By Jaclyn Wypler MOFGA aims to transform the food system by advocating through organic agriculture, highlighting its interdependence with a healthy environment, local food production and thriving communities. I believe that sexuality and mental health are also intricately tied to food systems; queerness and wellness are
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