Abbreviation | MOFGA |
---|---|
Formation | 1971 |
Location |
|
Region | Maine |
Website | http://www.mofga.org/ |
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) certifies organic food and products throughout the State of Maine. It is a voluntary organization whose office is located in Unity, Maine. As of 2016, MOFGA certifies 480 producers and growers. [1]
MOFGA also offers workshops and trainings related to organic agriculture, and organizes the annual Common Ground Country Fair. [2]
Formed in 1971, MOFGA is one of the largest, and oldest, state organic associations in the United States. [3] Currently MOFGA has two active satellite chapters located in Penobscot and Sagadahoc, although members live in every county of Maine as well as many other states. [4]
MOFGA was founded in 1971 following the evolution of the preceding organization, Maine Organic Foods Association (MOFA). [5]
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association comprises over 7,000 members and more than 2,000 volunteers. [5] [6]
MOFGA plays host to numerous events throughout the calendar year ranging from workshops to gatherings. Perhaps the most well-known event is the annual Common Ground Country Fair held in Unity, Maine. [7]
MOFGA offers a number of forestry and organic agricultural programs including a farm apprentice program and an organic certification program. MOFGA is also associated with the Maine School Garden Network, a non-profit education agricultural program for student youth focused on sustainability and stewardship, and oversees the Russell Libby Agricultural Scholar Award, named after the late Russell Libby, MOFGA’s executive director from 1995 to 2012. [8]
A program centered around encouraging organic practice in both consumption and production of agricultural goods and related products. At present, MOFGA certifies over 500 producers of organic goods, including those of each of Maine’s 15 counties. [9] [10]
A program geared towards supporting entry-level farmers towards a sustainable farm business with a focus on sustainability through workshops and mentoring. The MOFGA Farm Beginnings program is affiliated with The Farm Beginnings Collaborative, a national collective consisting of independent regional groups of farms and farmers. [11] [12]
A program offering farm apprenticeship for individuals interested in organic farming. Applicants are paired with experienced farmers and often exchange their labor for the training and room board. [13]
Current labor laws leave in question the legality of labor-exchange programs like MOFGA’s apprentice program. [14] However, Maine’s economy has largely benefited from these and similar programs as they appear to be related to a growing interest and engagement in youth farming and an uptick in organic farms in Maine. [15]
A program aimed at training more experienced farmers in organic farming careers, the Journey Person program is designed to address and impart the skills and technical knowledge relevant to those individuals who have completed the farm apprenticeship program or have at least two years farming experience, one or more of which must be in Maine. In addition to offering training in organic farming, the program mentors individuals in business planning and finances. [16]
MOFGA offers two types of loans for prospective borrowers intended to support organic farmers in establishing viable businesses and credit history with their businesses: The Business Loan Fund, and the Organic Farmer Loan Fund. [17]
The Business Loan Fund is tailored towards medium-sized businesses and smaller aiming to expand or support their business operations including marketing, non-production equipment, and working with or securing capital. [17]
The Organic Farmer Loan Fund is a transitional assistance loan supporting farmers in converting to an organic farm through the securing of capital or equipment. [17]
An annual scholarship award named after the late executive director of MOFGA, Russell Libby, aimed at supporting those in the realm of sustainable farm practice and organic agriculture. [18] [19]
Three categories of scholarship are awarded each year for the following:
A program supporting sustainable timber harvesting practice and use, the Low Impact Forestry (LIF) project of MOFGA offers events and workshops throughout the year. Following the 1997 purchase of 200 acres in Unity, Maine for a year round fairspace and headquarters for the association, MOFGA’s LIF program has worked to preserve and manage the forests on the land. [20]
Maine School Garden Network (MSGN), a non-profit education agricultural program for student youth focused on sustainability and stewardship. Sponsored by MOFGA until 2014 when MSGN became an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, MSGN continues to partner with MOFGA to promote organic agricultural awareness and involvement in Maine’s youth through school programs throughout the year. [21]
The Common Ground Education Center is located on 300 organic acres of forest and farmland in Unity, Maine. It is the location of MOFGA's headquarters and the site of the Common Ground Country Fair. The property was acquired in 1998 and converted to organic demonstration fields, gardens, orchards, shade trees and low-impact forestry woodlots. [22]
The Maine Heritage Orchard is a 10-acre orchard that preserves more than 360 varieties of apples and pears traditionally grown in Maine. It is used to teach organic orchard care. The orchard was planted in a reclaimed gravel pit starting in 2014. [23] [24]
A quarterly publication consisting of information related organic practice, sustainable farming, gardening, and agricultural pursuits, and commentary on social and political issues related to the effects of industrial agriculture. While the publication is available to its members and for sale on newsstands throughout the year, it sees its biggest circulation through the nexus of the annual Common Ground Fair gathering in the autumn reaching approximately 60,000. [26] [27]
A farm is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used for specialized units such as arable farms, vegetable farms, fruit farms, dairy, pig and poultry farms, and land used for the production of natural fiber, biofuel, and other commodities. It includes ranches, feedlots, orchards, plantations and estates, smallholdings, and hobby farms, and includes the farmhouse and agricultural buildings as well as the land. In modern times, the term has been extended so as to include such industrial operations as wind farms and fish farms, both of which can operate on land or at sea.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming:
Community-supported agriculture or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.
Organic lawn management or organic turf management or organic land care or organic landscaping is the practice of establishing and caring for an athletic turf field or garden lawn and landscape using organic horticulture, without the use of manufactured inputs such as synthetic pesticides or artificial fertilizers. It is a component of organic land care and organic sustainable landscaping which adapt the principles and methods of sustainable gardening and organic farming to the care of lawns and gardens.
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit while satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to natural resources such as biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber.
Traditional farming was the original type of agriculture, and has been practiced for thousands of years. All traditional farming is now considered to be "organic farming" although at the time there were no known inorganic methods. For example, forest gardening, a fully organic food production system which dates from prehistoric times, is thought to be the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem. The industrial revolution introduced inorganic methods, most of which were not well developed and had serious side effects. An organic movement began in the 1940s as a reaction to agriculture's growing reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The history of this modern revival of organic farming dates back to the first half of the 20th century at a time when there was a growing reliance on these new synthetic, non-organic methods.
Animal-free agriculture, also known as veganic agriculture, stockfree farming or veganic farming, consists of farming methods that do not use animals or animal products.
Natural farming, also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming", or "do-nothing farming", is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008). Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced the term in his 1975 book The One-Straw Revolution. The title refers not to lack of effort, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming is related to fertility farming, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture, but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture.
Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, also known as Florida Organic Growers or FOG, is a non-profit organization founded in 1987. It is classified as a 501(c) corporation. One of the main facets of FOG is Quality Certification Services, a program that extends through 30 states and 14 countries. FOG is also concerned with community outreach and education in order to promote healthy organic lifestyles and social equity.
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.
The Common Ground Country Fair, also known as the Common Ground Fair, is an agricultural fair in Unity, Maine held the third weekend after Labor Day and sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). It is held at the Common Ground Education Center. It was first held in 1977. The fair "celebrates organic living, farming and growing," and all the food sold at the event must be organic. The fair regularly hosts 50,000 to 60,000 people.
Unity is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,292 at the 2020 census. The town is the service center for the northern portion of Waldo County. Outside of Waldo County, it is best known as the home of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, its Common Ground Country Fair and Unity College. Unity College was founded in 1965 to offset the economic effects of the declining chicken farming industry. As of 2007, the college is the town's largest employer.
A community orchard is a collection of fruit trees shared by communities and growing in publicly accessible areas such as public greenspaces, parks, schools, churchyards, allotments or, in the US, abandoned lots. Such orchards are a shared resource and not managed for personal or business profit. Income may be generated to sustain the orchard as a charity, community interest company, or other non-profit structure. What they have in common is that they are cared for by a community of people.
Will Bonsall is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine. He is a regular speaker about seed saving, organic farming and veganic farming.
The Hollow Reed was a vegetarian restaurant in the Old Port district of Portland, Maine that opened on February 7, 1974, and closed in 1981, and is cited for its influence on the city's notable restaurant culture.
Stacy Fielding Brenner is an American Democratic politician, registered nurse, small business owner and organic farmer. She currently represents Maine State Senate District 30, consisting of the towns of Bar Mills, Gorham, Scarborough, and part of Buxton, and co-owns and operates Broadturn Farm in Scarborough.
John Bunker is an American orchardist, pomologist, and "apple explorer". An expert on American apples and their history, he is the founder of the mail-order nursery Fedco Trees, a division of the cooperative Fedco Seeds. For most of his life, he has worked to preserve rare old apple varieties from across Maine and the New England region. In 2012, he founded the Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity, Maine, a ten-acre (4.0 ha) preservation educational orchard of Maine's historic apple and pear varieties.
David Vetter is an organic farmer and leader in the sustainable agriculture movement.