Tag: Fair

30 Years of Common Ground

Thirty Years at the Fair by John Bunker, MOFGA President Copyright 2006 One way or another, whenever September rolls around, I find myself at the Fair. Although I’ve never served as Fair Director or been on the Fair Steering Committee, I have had the privilege of participating in a number of different ways, and the

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Challenges to Food Security

Juvelina Palma, one of four delegates from MOFGA’s sistering organizations in El Salvador, gave a keynote speech at the Common Ground Country Fair about problems associated with “free” trade. The speech was translated at the Fair by Todd Little-Siebold of College of the Atlantic. 2003 Common Ground Country Fair Keynote Speech A few years ago,

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Common Grounds Bean Hole Beans

Elliot Scott starts the fire on Friday for beans on Saturday. English photo. According to the Maine Folklife Center, Native Americans originated bean hole beans by baking beans with bear grease and maple syrup in clay pots covered with deerskins and buried in coals in the ground.  The slow, long cooking makes the bean very

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Cancer and the Environment

2003 MOFGA Teach-In at the Common Ground Country Fair By Jean English “How do you explain,” asked Sharon Tisher of MOFGA’s Public Policy Committee, “that cancer in this country has increased since 1950 by 35%, excluding lung cancer?” Introducing a teach-in on cancer and the environment at the Common Ground Country Fair in September, Tisher

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Stoneworkers Work Hard for MOFGA

The Stone Workers Guild began work on the first pocket park at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center at the 2006 Fair. English photo. Since 1985, a group of stoneworkers has gathered at the Common Ground Country Fair to demonstrate and educate the public about the versatility and creative possibilities of stone.  In 1996, these people

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Sourcing Good Goods

English photo. By Dennis Merrill Chair, Common Ground Country Fair Steering Committee “You need to sell shirts made in the U.S.” At the 2003 Common Ground Fair’s Country Store, we heard this comment several times. Good point. After all, one of MOFGA’s objectives is to support local production, and if not local, why not U.S.

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Amy LeBlanc

Amy LeBlanc told Common Ground Fairgoers about her experiences on her small farm … with both crops and kids. English photo. Or, Why I Put Up with Teenagers Working in My Greenhouse! by Amy LeBlanc Pickles and teenagers took center stage on September 21, 2007, when long-time MOFGA farmer Amy LeBlanc of Whitehill Farm in

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Hannah Pingree

Rep. Hannah Pingree told the audience during her keynote speech at the Common Ground Country Fair that toxic compounds are common in all our bodies, but that we can take important steps to rid ourselves and our environment of these compounds. Hannah Pingree, of North Haven, is the Majority Leader of the Maine House of

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Local Fisheries

Ted Ames (shown with his wife, Robin Alden) believes that Maine’s fisheries need to be approached in ways similar to Maine’s organic agriculture in order to survive. English photo. On Sunday, September 23, at MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair, Ted Ames discussed parallels between organic farming and community-based fisheries in his keynote address to fairgoers.

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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

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