Rural Innovation Workshops with the Dutch Innovation Network: The Innovation Network is an independent organization established by the Dutch government to develop cutting edge solutions to pressing problems relating to agriculture, water and rural life. In 2005 the Network invited a Glynwood-led delegation to the Netherlands to explore innovation in rural areas.  (Click here for “New Perspectives on Innovation from the Netherlands”, Gleanings, Winter 2005). In 2006 our Dutch colleagues came to the US for a bi-coastal workshop developed with our partner organization, the Great Valley Center in California.  While the structure and scale of the farm operations in the two regions are very different, the farmers face many of the same challenges, including development pressure, low prices for their products and the cost and availability of labor. Public and private efforts to sustain farmers were examined in both regions.  For the “Rural Innovation Bi-Coastal Workshop” report, click here.

Food²:  Food for Thought, Food for the Future
Glynwood's 2006 Speaker Series
Glynwood held this series of presentations and workshops in order to examine the question "Will America’s legacy of independent farmers and fresh, regionally produced food be part of our future?”  Click here to learn more and listen to the speakers. 

New York Times Westchester Edition, June 25, 2006
Glynwood's work in supporting diversified agriculture in the Hudson Valley was recognized in an editorial printed in the Westchester edition of the June 25, 2006, New York Times.  To read it, click here.

Albany Times-Union,  March 17, 2006
Glynwood's role in saving the farms of Chatham, New York, was recognized by the Albany Times-Union on March 17, 2006.  To read this article, which recognizes our Keep Farming program, click here.

In November 2004, Glynwood, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Airlie Foundation co-sponsored a national conference on “New Perspectives on Food Security” to influence the growing debate about how to protect the American food supply from threats from natural sources and terrorists.  Speakers included Chef Michel Nischan, Mary Hendrickson, Ph.D., author Brian Halweil, Michael Hamm, Ph.D., Craig Watson, and Fred Kirschenmann.  Working sessions focused on the systems perspective, legal and economic issues; environmental and public health concerns and public policy.  To read the conference proceedings, including the plenary presentations and working papers, click here.  Individual hard copies of the conference proceedings may be purchased at www.cafepress.com.

Glynwood Center is a “Partner” in the Hudson Valley Ag Partnership, which hosted a regional conference in January 2005.  Virginia Kasinki, Glynwood’s Manager of Training and Support presented our work on “The State of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley” during a plenary session and Meredith Taylor, Director of Regional Food System Programs, moderated a panel session on  "Agricultural Economic Development: Building a Regional Food System”.  Participants included Assemblyman Patrick Manning, Chairman, Hudson Valley Fresh;  Paula Shafer, coordinator of Farm to Chef Express; and Mark Grennan, Coordinator, USDA Hudson-Mohawk RC&D. 

Gary Valen, Glynwood’s Director of Operations, made a presentation on “Institutional Purchasing Projects” at The New York State Farmers’ Direct Marketing Conference in Syracuse in January 2005.

In late 2004, Glynwood completed the first analysis of ag data focused on the Hudson Valley, which was implemented by discussions with more than 100 farmers and other valley residents.  Learn more about "The State of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley".

Glynwood President Judith LaBelle was invited to write the lead article for Open Space, a publication of the Open Space Institute.  To read her thoughts on the importance of a strong regional identity, click here.

On October 27th, at the Carriage House in New York City, Glynwood Center and over 125 guests celebrated the 2004 Glynwood Harvest Awards.  Glynwood's Harvest Awards recognized the hard work and creativity that are required to succeed in sustainable agriculture networks and systems.  To learn more about the awards and this year's winners click here.

In Spring 2004, Glynwood organized two seminars at the new Stone Barns Center for food and agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York.  One focused on the State of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley, the other on the benefits regional food systems, the challenges of recreating an effective one in the Hudson Valley and what can be done.

In August, Glynwood and the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance of the Wildlife Conservation Society launched the Moveable Feast for Wildlife and People at the annual banquet of the Conservation Biology Association in New York City.  To learn how you can celebrate the farmers who are "wildlife friendly" while enjoying a wonderful meal, click here.

Virginia Kasinki, Glynwood’s Manager for Training and Support, made a presentation on the Keep Farming program at the annual conference of the American Farmland Trust in Kentucky in November. 

Jayne Daly, Glynwood’s Director of Programs, made two presentations at the New York State Planning Federation conference in September.  The first was on Building a Local Constituency to Support Agriculture and the second on Innovative Intermunicipal and Regional Cooperation.

Glynwood organized a panel on community support for agriculture for the American Planning Association annual conference which was held in Washington, D.C. in April.  President Judith LaBelle moderated the panel.  Program Director Jayne Daly made a presentation entitled Farmland and Food:  Making a Local Connection.  Other panelists included Michael Sweeton, Supervisor of Warwick, New York, which is recognized as one of the most innovative communities in New York State, and Cheryl Rogowski, farmer and winner of a 2003 Glynwood Harvest Award.

President Judith LaBelle made a presentation entitled “Voting for Biodiversity with Your Pocketbook and Your Fork”, at Columbia University as part of a series called “Biodiversity on the Brink:  Challenges in Science and Policy:  Conservation in an Urbanizing World”, sponsored by the Center for Environmental Research & Conservation (CERC), Columbia University, The Nature Conservancy of New York, and the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.  Click here for more.

Meredith Taylor, Manager of Special Projects, participated in the annual conference of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) where she made a presentation on Glynwood’s Agricultural Initiative and our efforts to strengthen the regional food system in the Hudson Valley.

Meredith also participated in the 6^th National Black Land Loss Summit, “Revitalizing the Black Family Farm to Rebuild Rural and Urban Communities”, held at the Tillery Resettlement Farm in North Carolina.  Tillery was established during the New Deal and remains the largest African-American farming community in the United States.   The community is organizing to create a land trust to preserve family farms, seeking designation as a historic area, and actively working to increase marketing opportunities for regional farmers. Meredith was invited to speak on a panel about the potential for creating cooperative partnerships between rural farmers and urban consumers.

Glynwood President, Judith M. LaBelle presented on a panel alongside Tim Warman, Vice President for Programs, American Farmland Trust, at the 2004 Food and Society Conference sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The conference, entitled, "Generating a Vision for Food Systems that Includes Healthy Communities, People and Ecosystems", took place April 20 through 22 at the Olympic Valley at Lake Tahoe, California. Judith's session, entitled, "Farmland Protection: Market and Policy Tools for Improving Farm Viability", focused on strategies that couple traditional farmland protection tools with innovative marketing, economic development, community planning, and stewardship efforts.

Glynwood’s Countryside Exchange program was recently featured in The Christian Science Monitor. The article written by Monitor contributor, Betsy Miller, describes the impact that the Exchange program is having in communities throughout the country. Please click here to view the full article.

The West Point Foundry Countryside Exchange report is available!  Visit the Resource Center to read the report from this "new model" program.

Glynwood Center was featured along with a few of our New York City partners on the front page of New York Times Metro Section (October 27, 2003). Reporter Kirk Johnson highlights Glynwood Center’s 2003 Harvest Award which recognizes the growing movement of people re-connecting with their food and supporting local food systems.

Glynwood’s President Judith LaBelle participated in two major international conferences in 2003, which helped bolster Glynwood’s activities in serving as a bridge for good ideas from around the world that can be translated and applied in American communities.

Judith was invited to participate in the 2003 World Parks Congress on Protected Areas in Durban, South Africa in September. The Congress, which is held once a decade by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, had as its theme “Benefits Beyond Boundaries”, emphasizing the need for protected area managers to “think, plan and work at the broadest possible level and with the widest range of players.”

Prior to the World Parks Congress, Judith also was invited to participate in the annual meeting of Europarc (the European Federation of National and Nature Parks) in Jostedalsbreen National Park in Stryn, Norway. The main theme of the conference was “Protected Areas: striking the balance between nature conservation and local economic development.”