NOFA Mass. Advanced Growers' Seminar

Hear Harvey Ussery and his work - at a NOFA/Mass. event.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter presents an Advanced Growers' Fall Seminar with Harvey Ussery talking about the modern homestead on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5, at Barre Congregational Church, Barre, Mass.

This two-day seminar focuses on achieving greater food independence using innovative models for increasing production on the homestead and small farm. The seminar will present an integrative, whole-systems approach to achieve maximum diversity and biological efficiencies that imitate nature while minimizing reliance on purchased solutions. Soil care, cropping, and livestock husbandry, much more.

Harvey Ussery and his wife, Ellen, are activists in the local foods movement. They produce all their own poultry and eggs, and grow most of their own vegetables, year-round, on three good acres in northern Virginia and further reduce dependence on the supermarket by purchasing most of the remainder of their food from local producers. His book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, with a forward written by Joel Salatin, is being published by Chelsea Green in October.

Registration is $150. For details and discounts, contact Ben Grosscup, event coordinator, ben.grosscup@nofamass.org, (413) 658-5374.

NOFA CT Organic Harvest Celebration

NOFA Connecticut's 2009 Organic Harvest Celebration and Annual Meeting is Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., in New Haven, inside the Jones Auditorium at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. The public is invited to shop at the market (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and a potluck lunch and to learn more about NOFA CT.

Keynote speaker at 2 p.m. is Marydale DeBor, who will speak about the "Plow to Plate Program" at New Milford Hospital. This effort is to engage as many individuals and organizations as possible in improving the health of residents of the northwest corner of Connecticut. To learn more, visit www.ctnofa.org.

To minimize paper/plastic waste, bring your own plate, cup and utensil (and something to contribute to the lunch if you wish.)

At 1:30 there will be a half-hour annual meeting. The CT NOFA Member of the Year Award will be presented at 3 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call CT NOFA at (203) 888-5146. To participate in the Farmers’ Market, contact Deb Legge at (203) 888-5146.

Wayne Young of High Hill Orchards in Meriden, is a NOFA CT member.

CT NOFA is the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, a non-profit educational, membership organization for everyone interested in organic food, gardening, farming or land care. For CSA details (winter) or more information about High Hill Farm and orchard, call Young at (203) 294-0276.

Raw Milk, Pro And Con, Where To Find

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.”
- Thucydides

Many people have never even touched a cow or even seen one being milked. So the current controversy in Connecticut over raw milk legislation goes largely unknown by an urban population.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a bill (see details of Bill No. 6313 here) presented to the legislature in 2009 which would ban the sale of raw milk in retail stores in Connecticut and/or require extensive additional milk testing at the licensed producers' expense.

In 2008, a young boy who consumed raw milk became ill due to e-coli bacteria tainted milk and spent 16 days in the hospital. The rare occurance raised concerns that the general public may choose to purchase raw milk over pasteurized products. The aim is to include a label about the potential risks of raw milk.

It all boils down to choice. Using a cell telephone is illegal while driving a motor vehicle - that moving metal box may impact public health. Peanut butter that was improperly handled by direction of a large company's management is in the news daily. Mortgage loans based on unsound finances were choices made by business, and results are rippling across the economy.

Don't want raw milk? Don't buy it. To make up your own mind on pros and cons of raw versus processed milk, see this link.

Raw milk producers in Connecticut are listed at www.realmilk.com.

F. Philip Prelli, the state's agriculture commissioner, said the agency has made changes to an early version of the bill that include require the state to pick up the tab and oblige farms to cover the cost of testing if there's an outbreak.

Sales of raw milk are legal in 28 out of 50 U.S. states, according to A Campaign for Real Milk, a project of The Weston A. Price Foundation of Washington D.C. "If you include the states which permit the sale of raw milk for animal consumption (implying that human consumption is feasible) then the total is 33 out of 50 states, which is two-thirds. In some of the remaining states (such as Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin) raw milk is available through cow share programs."

In Connecticut, raw milk sales are legal on the farm and in retail stores. In order to operate legally, farmers must obtain producer permits and raw milk retailer permits from the State Agriculture Commissioner. Additionally, they must obtain a milk dealer license from the public health board of the town or city where their farms are located.

The state Milk Regulation Board has issued a regulation on the quality standards for retail raw milk. The state does not charge any fees for the testing required to ensure the quality of the milk. Notwithstanding the quality standard regulation, towns and cities have the power to ban the sale of retail raw milk. At the present time, only two towns have done so.

State representative's direct contact information can be found at http://www.house.gov/writerep/ - and refer to Raised Bill No. 6313, An Act Concerning Raw Milk.