More and more small and mid-sized ranchers are seeing an increasing demand for their pastured meats, from grocery stores restricting the amount of meat that consumers can purchase to meat processing facilities being shut down across the country. Yet, there are many challenges to meeting the demand, including distribution, processing, and scale. This online session will bring together ranchers for a conversation on how to problem solve together, collaborate, and create opportunities to change our food system in lasting ways. The format will include presentations, break...Read more
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Stories of an increasingly fragile food system are creeping into the news these days. Five hundred workers at the nation’s largest pork processing plant in South Dakota have fallen ill with Covid-19, causing it to close indefinitely. The nation’s meat supply is becoming more vulnerable. With most restaurants, colleges, and schools closed around the country, the farm to restaurant and farm to institution sector has come to a screeching halt. Pictures of crops rotting in the field juxtaposed to never-ending lines of cars waiting for a bag of groceries from the local...Read more
Connect year-round with farmers, ranchers, and others working to grow a healthy food system and world. Learn innovative ways to help your farms and communities thrive as we elevate the diverse voices of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ persons who are leading the way towards a just and regenerative future. Learn more Subscribe to EcoFarm E-News for updates and announcements.Read more
By Katherine Grace Golfinopoulos What happens when you take a pioneering thought leader astrophysicist, a medical doctor musician activist, and a cultural heirloom seed stewarding farmer, and mix them together in a room with two hundred and twenty other people? You get a scintillating discussion by panelists Dr. Vandana Shiva, Dr. Rupa Marya, and Farmer Kristyn Leach at EcoFarm’s 2020 workshop, “ Collective Action for Food Systems Change ,” where ideas around reclaiming the commons, drawing from plant wisdom, and the parallels between the human microbiome and soil...Read more
Elders and newcomers convene at organic farming conference By Amy Wu EcoFarm, a premier conference focused on organic farming, celebrated its 40th year with solid attendance that stretched far beyond its west coast roots. An estimated 1,657 attendees from 29 states and nine countries including the U.S., gathered at the Asilomar State Beach & Conference Center in Monterey from Jan. 22-25th. Photo: RegenerAsians: Asian-Americans Reconnecting with Agricultural Heritage session led by Christine Su. By Broken Banjo Photography This year’s conference titled “20/20...Read more
Watch now - Videos of Keynotes from the 40th EcoFarm Conference! Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming and Food Justice Leah Penniman Transforming Science to Foster an Agricultural Revolution Jonathan Lundgren The Past, Present, and Future of Organic Bob Quinn Successful Organic Farmers Emigdio Ballon, Rosie Burroughs, Scott Park Two Paths to the Future of Food and Farming Dr. Vandana Shiva Access more keynote sessions from EcoFarm Conference over the years - available free on our YouTube channelRead more
EcoFarm is pleased to announce that we will be streaming live each keynote session from the 40th EcoFarm Conference. Watch with us on Facebook Live starting Wednesday, Jan 22 at 8pm Pacific Time and share! Facebook Live Schedule: Wednesday, Jan 22, 8 - 9:30pm Visionaries in the Field: Weaving Together Ecology and Equity Keynote Speakers: Leah Penniman and Jonathan Lundgren Invocation by Gregg Castro Thursday, Jan 23, 2 - 3pm The Past, Present, and Future of Organic Keynote Speakers: Bob Quinn Friday, Jan 24, 8:00 - 10:00am Successful Organic Farmers Keynote Speakers:...Read more
Spanish language workshops, equity and justice, international delegation, and female farmers By Amy Wu California is considered one of the most diverse states in the U.S. especially when it comes to its population . The state is a melting pot of races and ethnicities and languages; according to the latest U.S. Census there were 37% whites, 39% Hispanic or Latino followed by 15% Asian. That said, diversity – as defined by race and gender -- has not been readily reflected in the agriculture sector in the state especially when it comes to representation at industry...Read more
By Terry Oxford How did we lose in just one hundred years what it took billions of years to evolve? Reports from across the globe show a 75% decline in flying insects. Birdless skies are becoming more common. We hear deafening silence in the springtime when our skies should be vibrating with insects and birds. Recent reports show the usage of pollinator killing pesticides in farming is 48 times more toxic than in previous decades. American farmland has become a chemical soup. Photo: Millions of flowering trees are raised in monoculture conditions and sold to cities...Read more
Traveling to different regions can be a powerful way to spread knowledge, and this rings true when it comes to exchanging ecological farming practices. In the early part of this decade, EcoFarm welcomed a number of international delegations to its conference – farmers from El Salvador in 2015 and farmers from Cuba in 2016. We are happy to report that the program will return this coming January with a delegation of farmers from Nicaragua and Mexico attending EcoFarm 2020! Please help us welcome our international agroecology delegation – small coffee farmers at the...Read more