Know Your Organic Producers
MOFGA has been certifying organic farmers since 1972 and is one of the country’s oldest certification programs. MOFGA Certification Services LLC (MCS) was formed by MOFGA in 2002 to provide USDA-accredited organic certification services to Maine farmers and food processors. Our service area currently consists of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. MCS certifies crops, wild crops, sea vegetables, livestock, livestock products, and processed products to the USDA National Organic Program standard.
Get to know some of our certified organic producers in the features below! These features were originally published in The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, and may reference farms that are not currently certified by MOFGA. For our regularly updated listing of organic producers, and to find organic products near you, use our find organic search tool. You may also check the certification status at the Organic Integrity Database site.
Growing Food and Community: Connecting Children with Nature through Farming
Frinklepod Farm, known for its commitment to organic farming and community engagement, is thrilled to be sharing their farm in a new partnership, as of 2024, with Stephanie McDonough, founder and director of Farm to Table Kids camp, expanding their already diverse farm offerings. The collaboration aims to provide children
Agritourism in Maine: On-Farm Events Equal Business Diversity for Farmers
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin “We built a bar right over the manure gutter. It’s still a little mind-blowing. I’m only just now not seeing it as a milking pattern. I still half expect to see cows when I walk in,” says Heide Purinton-Brown of Toddy Pond Farm in the rolling hills
Litchfield Farmers Produce Award-Winning Organic Goat Cheese
By Tim King Among the stone walls, forests and fields on Oak Hill Road in Litchfield, Maine, a herd of 20 Nubian-Alpine goats turn browse and pasture into fresh milk, which Aaron Grim and Briis Wile turn into award-winning organic cheese. As one might expect of a cheesemaker, Grim loves
Farmer Collaborative Aims to Increase Grain Production in New Hampshire
By Jennifer Wilhelm New England is not currently known for its grain production. Due to topography and climate, growing grains — particularly small grains like oat, wheat and rye — has more recently been left to the Midwest, where land is flat and open. The forested and mountainous landscape in
Fermentation and Friendship at Thirty Acre Farm
By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Like the owners of many small businesses, Simon Frost and Daniel Price of Thirty Acre Farm have found that division of labor works best. Price grows the vegetables and Frost adds value by transforming the produce into lacto-ferments in their processing facility in Bremen, Maine. The product
Telling Their Own Story at Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Company
The Wild Blueberry Heritage Center is housed in an iconic bright blue dome on Route 1 in Columbia Falls, Maine. On its website, the center calls on its users to take a pledge. The pledge reads: “I pledge to always Use the word WILD whenever I reference the ‘WILD’ Maine
Beech Hill Farm at College of the Atlantic
Where students and community build relationships through food By Sonja Heyck-Merlin Mount Desert Island, Maine: What comes to mind? Maybe it’s catching the sunrise from atop Cadillac Mountain or sea kayaking in a lobster-buoyed bay? Or maybe whale watching, or biking Acadia’s famous carriage trails? Or maybe you roll your
Farm Incubation is More Than Just Sharing Land, It’s Building Community
By Sam Schipani Zoe Shwidock and Nicole Heker had been working and apprenticing on farms for years when they decided they wanted to strike out on their own. They had a vision of growing local herbs for teas, medicine, and more to fill a niche for their community in Arundel.
Perspective Shift Needed for Small Farm Viability in Maine
South Paw Farm owner says despite grant funding farms are struggling By Dani Walczak Meg Mitchell, co-owner of South Paw Farm in Freedom, Maine, is tired of perseverance stories. The narrative of the hard-working white farmer personally overcoming obstacles to feed their community has started to fall flat for the
