The Glynwood Harvest Farmer Award

Awarded to a farmer who has developed a sustainable farming operation and effective relationships within his or her home community and other communities where the food is consumed.

Ron Khosla, Huguenot Street Farm, New Paltz, New York

Ron Khosla is an important member of his local community and has influenced sustainable agriculture internationally as founder and director of Certified Naturally Grown.  Starting from scratch, he and his wife, Kathryn, have made Huguenot Street Farm a key part of the fabric of New Paltz, while actively sharing the very practical, cost-effective solutions he has developed with other small farmers, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Ron and Kate purchased 77 acres of open cornfield in 1999.  For five years, they camped on the property with no running water while they began building a house.  The house they built is super-insulated and can be heated with the existing light bulbs and one small space heater.  A wood stove sites unused – and disconnected – in the corner.

They now run a 225+ share Community Supported Agriculture farm and harvest and distribute more than two tons of food each week with a minimal amount of hired labor.  Ron’s goal was to find and model better ways for small farmers. His favorite statement is “There’s GOT to be a way to do this better.”  And he finds it.

His innovations include: 

• figuring out how to convert old tractors to solar power.  Electric motors require far less maintenance than gasoline and diesel engines and, given their different torque curves, they allow the farmer to move much more slowly and have more control.  Most importantly, they allow small farmers to automate their operations at an affordable price.  After seeing Ron’s converted Allis-Chalmers “G”, so many people wanted one of their own that Ron applied for and received a USDA-SARE grant to write an online manual telling how to create one in a weekend for under $2000 with no more skill than it takes to change the oil in your car.  (See: www.flyingbeet.com/electricg.)

•  developing an under-bed heating system for a green house made from off-the shelf solar collectors and run off a standard hot water heater.  Unlike expensive commercial systems, this one s so cheap that it pays for itself well before the first heating season is over.  The system is so efficient, that heating bills are about one-tenth of a standard greenhouse. 

•  an 8’ x 12’ home-made walk in cooler, cooled entirely with a $400 window air conditioner, which uses a light bulb on a thermostat to fools the unit into thinking it is 80 degrees when it is really only 40.

• a 16’ x 125’ home-made greenhouse that is moveable and made to accommodate a tractor, to facilitate quick planting and turnover.  Each costs only $535 to construct, using readily available materials. 

• a system for growing one’s own strawberry plugs organically and at extremely low cost on a commercial scale.  Because there are no significant commercial sources for organic strawberry plugs, organic growers are allowed to use non-organic ones, but they are expensive and highly sprayed.  Ron’s system has been written about widely and now saves family farmers across the country hundreds of dollars a year, while allowing organic production.

In 2002, Ron and Kate gave up their “Certified Organic” status when the USDA took it over, and now follow a far stricter set of standards that prohibit many of the currently approved organic pesticides and fungicides.  The farm is irrigated only with clean and tested spring water. 

 At the same time, Ron founded and became director of Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), an alternative certification program only open to small organic farmers that sell locally and directly.  By May of this year, 350 farmers from around the United Stated had registered and the program had been endorsed by the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club.  The CNG program has been adopted by the Wholesome Food Association in the UK and is proposed as the format for the new small farmer certification program in Ireland.  Recently, farmers in Canada and Australia have also begun to adopt the system.

Ron was one of the primary drafters of the “Participatory Guarantee System” (PGS), an organic certification program that relies on volunteer inspections by other grower-peers.  He also serves on the PGS working group for the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements and has spoken at trade shows and conferences in several countries around the world.

The Khosla farm runs along one mile of the Wallkill River and abuts an historic street on which sit several Dutch Huguenot houses dating back to the 1600s.  The Wallkill Valley Land Trust considers the farm to be a key to saving the historic and scenic New Paltz area.  The Khoslas are protecting their land and benefiting the surrounding area by placing an easement on their land, which will ensure that its fields never produce a crop of houses.

Glynwood Harvest Good Neighbor Award

Awarded to an individual or organization that has supported regional agriculture in innovative ways, which might include but are not limited to public education, new connections between farmers and urban consumers, or developing financial techniques to support new farmers or farmers who transition to new products.

Carolyn Mugar, Executive Director, Farm Aid

In the words of Mark Ritchie, President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, “For twenty years I have watched Carolyn Mugar connect community, farm and food.  No single person has done more to make this happen here in the United States.  No one…Part of the success of Farm Aid has been Carolyn’s ability to see past the distractions, differences, and diversions and to clearly understand the things that connect us rich and poor, famous and everyday, urban and rural, young and old....She was an architect and stone mason for the new food movement – one that is benefiting all of us….Carolyn is a national treasure.”

In August 1985, in the midst of a massive farm crisis that was driving hundreds of thousands of farm families off their land, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp announced that rock and roll and country artists would join together to hold a concert to raise awareness and money to help family farmers.  Willie Nelson knew that he needed a passionate, dedicated person to distribute the funds that would be raised – someone who not only understood the problem, but also could be on the ground, working directly with farmers.  He hand-selected Carolyn Mugar to be Farm Aid’s Executive Director.

In the fours weeks leading up to the concert, Carolyn traveled throughout farm country, meeting with farmers, farm activists, church leaders, groups operating crisis hotlines, social service groups and others – all in an effort to determine where contributed funds should be directed to do the most good for family farmers.  The Farm Aid concert brought together 54 artists and more than 78,000 fans, raising more than $7 million.  Within hours of the curtain’s close, Carolyn was working to get the funds out to the countryside.

The first concert was envisioned as the only concert that would be needed; the Farm Aid artists thought they’d bring awareness to the problem and the problem would be resolved.  Carolyn worked within this assumption until, after three years of doing the work of Farm Aid from her kitchen table she made it clear that Farm Aid was a real organization that needed a real office and staff. 

With Carolyn’s guidance, Farm Aid has evolved from a heartfelt response to crisis to a leader in the growing good food movement that is keeping family farmers on – and bringing new farmers to – the land.  From the beginning, Carolyn knew that emergency aid alone would not solve the problems.  She also knew that, as she says:  “Farmers know the solutions.”  Since the days of the first concern, Carolyn has been working with family farmers and farm groups across the country to devise longer-term solutions. 

Farm Aid has raised more than $27 million to build and strengthen our system of family farms.  Through public education and direct grants, Farm Aid supports effective and innovative efforts to promote sustainable agriculture, fight factory farms, advocate for fair farm prices and provide credit counseling and direct assistance to farm families. 

Another of Carolyn’s favorite sayings:  “Each family farmer is a building block for the good food future,” has provided the framework that has guided Farm Aid’s program work.  Carolyn has stood with grassroots farm organizations to fight and defend family farmers’ livelihoods against the pressure of factory farms. Carolyn helped to put together Farm Aid’s Family Farm Disaster Fund to provide emergency services and funds to families affected by floods and other natural disasters.  She helped organize farmer summits on genetic engineering to coincide with the annual Farm Aid concerts.  She went to Washington with Willie Nelson to lobby for changes in the Clinton and Bush  Administrations farm and free trade policies and attended farm conferences around the world to build strong global connections between international family farm organizations working for just farm and trade policies. 

Farm Aid also engages in projects designed to reach out to farmers, farm groups and consumers to increase and strengthen the connection between family farms and consumers, by helping farmers take advantage of the opportunities created by greater market demand for good food.  Farm Aid is expanding its farm resource network to provide assistance and practical advice to farmers who want to transition to sustainable and organic growing methods while supporting efforts that encourage young farmers.  Carolyn has also shaped Farm Aid’s public message to help consumers understand that family farmers are integral to a future of good food. 

Carolyn has led Farm Aid to become a unique networking organization that can bring together groups that seem widely diverse - the Teamsters and United Steelworkers, the National Family Farm Coalition and the Farmer’s Legal Action Group, the Federation of Southern Coops, rock stars, celebrity chefs and local food security activists. 

In the words of Glenda Yoder, the Associate Director of Farm Aid, who nominated Carolyn for this Harvest Award:  “Farm Aid’s success in seeding and fueling this ‘good food movement’ stems from Carolyn Mugar’s unwavering commitment for over 20 years to stand with family farmers in their fight for survival and justice.” 

Fred Kirschenmann, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, observed that “…when Farm Aid began its work 20 years ago we all thought we were dealing with a “farm crisis” that would one day be over.  Now we realize that we were dealing with a fundamental structural problem endemic to industrial agriculture and it is my understanding that Farm Aid is now gearing up to face this new reality as it prepares for its next 20 years of work.  If anyone can successfully address this daunting issue it will be Carolyn.”

Glynwood Harvest Award for Working at the Intersection of Health and Local Food

Awarded to an individual or organization that has created ways to use local food to improve the health of children, patients or others.

Paul and Barbara Stitt, Natural Ovens Bakery, Manitowoc Wisconsin

Paul Stitt founded Natural Ovens Bakery in 1976 because he perceived a need for “fresh, filling and satisfying, preservative-free whole grain food in the Midwest.”  Natural Ovens has now grown to over 300 employees with over a hundred trucks on the road, delivering to more than 1500 markets, five days per week. 

Meanwhile Paul and Barbara Stitt have devoted themselves to educating the public about nutrition, inspiring others to achieve better health and wellness.  A special focus of their concern has been students. 

Through their school lunch program project, they have demonstrated that good nutrition has an impact on student behavior and their ability to learn.  Their project began in 1997 at Appleton Central, an alternative high school in Appleton, Wisconsin.  This school had been a difficult place, with hallways full of frantic students, some carrying weapons, and a principal burdened by having to deal with serious disciplinary problems. 

Natural Ovens installed a kitchen to provide nutritional meals for a hundred teenagers.  The vending machines and junk foods were removed overnight.  Natural Ovens supported the school with whole grain fresh breads and freshly prepared fruits and vegetables for five years. 

From the first year, attendance rose, behavior problems fell, the school experienced no expulsions, no drug use and no weapons on campus. 

After seeing the effects of whole, fresh foods on the students’ behavior and academic ability, the school’s superintendent, principals, teachers and parents decided to offer fresh nutritious foods to all 15,000 students in the Appleton School District.  On administrator summed it up:  “I can’t buy the argument that it’s too costly for schools to provide good nutrition for their students.  I found that one cost will reduce another.  I don’t have the vandalism, litter and the need for high security.” 

To help motivate other schools to provide nutritious food for students, the Stitts have produced a “Roadmap for Healthy Foods in Schools”, which includes a 14 minute DVD that tells the Appleton story.  More than 1800 copies have been distributed.  (It is available at www.naturalovens.com). 

Since 2004 Natural Ovens has been working with Perspectives Charter School, an advanced school in the Chicago area.  Based on the results to date, they have been invited into seven additional charter schools in Chicago this year.

The Stitts recognize several persistent challenges.  Many schools are unwilling to change to a healthy lunch program for fear of additional costs and a concern that students won’t like the food.  There is a period of adjustment during the first year, as the food system adapts and students learn more and experience the food.  For example, when the Appleton school experienced an initial problem finding cooks, a police liaison and social studies teacher, both men, prepared the food in the interim.  According to Barbara Stitt:  “The first year is a little rocky, but by the mid to late part of the year, they all get the hang of it.”  The food service came around, and it now making more money than ever.  . 

Two years ago the Stitts developed what they thought to be an appropriately lofty goal – getting healthy foods to the students of every school in the United States within ten years.  Given their success to date, and the growing movement which they exemplify, we are betting on them achieving their goal.  We all have a lot riding on it.

Glynwood Harvest Connecting Communities, Farmers and Food Award

Granted to recognize outstanding work that transcends these categories.

Chesapeake Fields Institute, John E. Hall, President

In spite of the State of Maryland’s leadership in farmland protection, the profitability and long-term viability of farming in the state is still open to question.  The Chesapeake Fields Institute was created to help preserve the farmers in the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland, a traditional agricultural region faced with persistent development pressure from nearby major metropolitan areas including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. DC. Approximately 60 million people live within a few hours’ drive. 

The mission of the Chesapeake Fields Institute is “To strengthen the profitability of traditional agricultural markets for family farms, while conserving the region’s natural and agricultural heritage.” The organization is devoted to creating a paradigm shift so that farmers, land owners and decision-makers will see that “preservation through profitability” is a viable alternative to residential development. 

The Chesapeake Fields Institute has spawned two companion organizations:  Chesapeake Fields Farms, LLC and the Chesapeake Fields Farmers Coop.  While the purposes and functions of each Chesapeake Fields entity are very different, the overall Chesapeake Fields mission is the same – “to help save the family farmers and our farmland.”  Together, and working with an array of public and private partners, they are developing new consumer products that provide solid domestic and international markets for farmers through a community-based enterprise that is locally-owned and operated using environmentally sound practices. 

When CFI began in 1999, it realized that most local farmers relied upon selling grain to local poultry companies.  However, the poultry industry was changing and its long term presence in the region was coming into question.  CFI worked closely with researchers at state land grant universities, private seed companies and state and federal laboratories to determine profitable alternatives for regional farmers, by examining the food attributes of crops grown regionally and researching consumer preferences.  To date, this research has focused on soybean, wheat, popcorn, edamame soybeans, flax and food corn.

Based on this research, CFI concluded that farmers in the region needed to shift from gain and oilseed used as animal feed to the production of crops destined for domestic and international consumer markets.  

In 2003 the companion Chesapeake Fields Farmers, LLC (CFF), was launched as a community-owned for-profit venture that would implement plans developed through the Institute’s research.  CFF is responsible for the development, manufacturing and marketing of consumer food products made from locally grown identity preserved grains. Currently these products include artisan breads, popcorn and soy snacks. 

The Chesapeake Fields Farmer’s Co-op has also been formed to allow the farmers willing to transition to production of IP grains to have an ownership interest in the overall operation.  The Co-op will insure an adequate supply so CFF can meet its production schedule.  For producing crops according to the IP protocol, farmers will receive a percentage of CFF’s profits.

The close, supportive working relationship between Chesapeake Fields Institute, Chesapeake Fields Farmers and the Co-op may be unique in the Country. CFI serves as the generator for new agricultural enterprises to be developed and carried on by Chesapeake Fields Farmers.  CFI provides a host of valuable services that would otherwise be beyond the financial capacity of CFF, including education/agri-tourism, agricultural extension services, product and process research projects in applied and pure research, and funding for external research partners within nearby universities. 

The concept of “identity preserved” (IP) crops is integral to the CFI program. The IP protocol provides the ability to trace a crop back to the field in which it was grown.  CFF is “ahead of the regulatory curve” in providing this level of purity and performance in its products, one which it believes consumers will increasingly demand. 

The natto soybean provides an example of how these organizations work together.  The natto soybean effort started as a test project within CFI.  In 2002, eleven local growers participated in the first value-added contract to produce these soybeans for the Japanese food market.  CFF took over the project and expanded production and sales in 2003.  Because of the quality and IP protocols, farmers received premium payments for each bushel.  By crop year 2004, 18 farmers were participating with almost 1800 acres under cultivation. 

Looking to the opportunity provided by major population centers nearby and the Delmarva’s attraction as a tourist destination, Chesapeake Field Farmers has also begun to introduce and market high quality bread, soy snacks, and popped corn throughout the mid-Atlantic region.   

Early on, CFI determined the need for an agricultural business park to serve as the site for the processing of the IP grains and for businesses that would produce value-added products from them.  The manufacturing operations will be “visitor friendly” and designed to be part of a comprehensive agricultural entertainment and education center.  Current plans call for the first building to begin construction during early 2006.  Ownership of the land and the brands will be held by the nonprofit organization to ensure that, once the products are successful, the business is not purchased by a multinational corporation that will not share the mission of supporting the region’s farmers. 

The range of the Chesapeake Fields group’s impact is illustrated by some of the recognition received:  CFI was recognized by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy with an Eastern Shore 2010 Achievement Award for distinguished leadership in Eastern Shore land use and by the Shore Leadership Program for CFI‘s economic development work.  CFF has been recognized by the Kent County Chamber of Commerce as “Small Business of the Year in 2005.”

Glynwood Harvest Award for Innovator of the Year

Awarded to an individual or organization that has helped move our vision of the food system forward in unique ways, which might include such things as new concepts, forms of communication, financial structures, etc.  

Neil D. Hamilton, Esq.
Professor and Director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center
Chair of the Iowa Food Policy Council

Professor Neil Hamilton’s career has been devoted to encouraging the development of a more sustainable agricultural system.  He has accomplished this in a place many of us might consider unlikely – as a professor at a private school of law in Iowa. 

This fall, Professor Hamilton begins his 25^th year as a legal educator, during which time he has founded the Agricultural Law Center at Drake School of Law, the first such center in the country.  He has helped thousands of students, farmers, consumers and officials, as well as lawyers, appreciate the critical role law plays in shaping the future of our local, regional and national food systems. He has helped make clear that agricultural law is about more than just farming.  He has helped the public become more conscious that decisions we make about what we eat also influence farmers, the farm economy and the land. 

In1996 Neil articulated a new vision for agriculture in an article entitled “Tending the Seeds of the New Agriculture.”  It paints an effort to pull together the many disparate parts of alternative agriculture – from farmers markets to community gardening to organic farming and saving heirloom seeds – into one comprehensive, cohesive and optimistic movement.

His effort to nurture this new vision resulted in part from his increasing concern about industrial agriculture, which he addressed in a series of courageous and thought provoking law review articles, including “Agriculture Without Farmers”, “Who Owns Dinner” and “Why Own the Farm if You Can Own the Farmer and the Crop?”    He helped assist farmers confronting these issues by writing valuable books such as the Farmers Legal Guide to Production Contracts and by speaking out for the need for alternative marketing systems to support producers who want to maintain their independence. 

In 1999 he wrote “The Legal Guide to Direct Farm Marketing”, which is widely used by farmers throughout the country who need to understand legal issues involved in participating in this important form of  marketing.  He wrote the first law review articles analyzing sustainable agriculture and direct marketing for the larger legal community. 

Neil’s passion for helping people understand the issues facing society found an important outlet through guest editorials in the Des Moines Register.  In the late 1990s he wrote more than 70 op ed pieces for the Register that helped shape the public discourse on many issues including, perhaps most importantly, food and farming.  His approach was perhaps best summed up with his challenge that before Iowa could become known as the “food capitol of the world” it should become the food capitol of Iowa.  In recognition of his leadership on this issue, Governor Vilsack appointing him to chair the newly created Iowa Food Policy Council in 2000.  The Council has helped lead many important innovations in Iowa, including in the operation of state programs such as the delivery of the food assistance program, which received a Congressional Hunger Center Award in 2003.

Neil has effectively promoted better food policy at the national level as well.  He was deeply involved in the effort that secured USDA support for food policy councils in more than a dozen states and the Hopi Nation.  These councils have helped create new opportunities for thousands of farmers, including many from traditionally underserved populations such as minorities, women and specialty crop growers.  

Through his leadership, Drake has developed the State and Local Food Policy Project to coordinate and promote the work of the various state and local food efforts.  Among its educational initiatives are a series of National Workshops, a “Toolkit on Sate and Local Food Policy” and an award winning video - “Making the Connections in Iowa’s Food System” - which was written, produced and narrated by Professor Hamilton.  The video tells the story of the innovations in Iowa’s food system from the growth of Niman Ranch’s pork initiative to the role of Practical Farmers of Iowa promoting the Buy Fresh Buy Local effort. 

Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch (a winner of the 2003 Glynwood Harvest Good Neighbor Award, which stressed the critical role that the company has played in helping small hog producers economically viable) stated that: “Neil Hamilton has been an invaluable advisor to Niman Ranch and to me personally for many years.  He was especially helpful when, some ten years ago, we set up our Iowa-based network of family hog farmers.  Neil’s many bright ideas, moral support and boundless energy have been a very real part of our success.” 

Neil lives these ideas and values at home.  He and his wife Khanh operate Sunstead, a ten-acre garden farm where they produce and market vegetables that appear on many menus in Des Moines.  Their farm is a center for food and gardening activities.  He also formed the Slow Food Des Moines Convivium which now has more than 100 members; its largest annual event is the All Iowa Whole Hog Luau Pie Making Contest and Baked Bean Cook-off.  In 2004 Neil raised more than $40,000 to develop the Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign, which has developed innovative approaches including a Buy Local Pledge that has been taken by more than 1,000 local consumers. 

For the past two years, Neil has been researching and writing a book with the theme of Food Democracy, which examines how many of the issues that we see as simply involving food and farming are really about much more – they are the expression of democratic tendencies and their success or failure will in many ways reflect the health of our political system. 

His colleagues have called Neil “a talented, hard working, productive and impassioned visionary”; “educator, leader, local food activist, scholar, visionary and friend.” 

“An articulate spokesman, innovative thinker and tireless, dedicated leader in the struggle to promote food democracy in the US.”  In sum, as another said:  “Producers, consumers and citizens throughout the US have been positively impacted by his food system work and will continue to be in the years to come.”

Glynwood Harvest Award for The Wave of the Future

Awarded to a young person, or organization involving young people, helping to create the next generation of consumers who will understand the importance of nutritious food and will help forge stronger connections between city consumers and rural farmers.

Barbara Belotte, Highland, New York

In the words of one Nominator:  “Among her peers, Barbara stands out…Barbara is laudable not only for her accomplishments at the age of 20, but also for the number of people and organizations she has impacted since she moved to this country from Haiti just a few years ago.  She is being nominated for this award because of her innovation and activism in her community to show teens and the rest of the world why community food security is so important to her.”

Barbara began working with the Green Teen Community Gardening Program in Poughkeepsie, New York, soon after her arrival from Haiti.  Her introduction to American culture, while not without its stresses, provided learning moments for Barbara and those she met.  As she put it:

“I have educated younger and older people on organic agriculture, on having a good diet, on nutrition, and on land preservation.  I have brought some of my values and culture to the people in the area, especially the younger kids I mentored…To my peers, I have shown a different way of life and how people outside the United States see life.  Everyone lives in their own world and people don’t always see that there is a whole lot going on in the world outside of this country.  People’s don’t always realize the other perspective, and there is so much knowledge to be gained by connecting with people from all over the world.”

 As one of her colleagues put it:  “She confronted the intricacies of race and nationality in intense and life-changing ways during those six weeks. While to many of us such a concentration of new ideas, experiences and perspectives would have been utterly overwhelming, Barbara always displayed her characteristic poise and leadership.”

While working with the Green Teen program, she also worked on the Community Food Project in the development of its first value-added, youth-driven food product – the Hot Shot Nectarine Salsa.

Her leadership potential was recognized by her peers when she was chosen to represent the Green Teen program at the Community Food Security Coalition and Kellogg Foundation Food and Society national conferences.  She was also asked to serve on the Diversity Committee of the National Community Food Security Coalition, where she increased her leadership and communication skills while interacting with professionals from around the country on issues of mutual concern.

After graduation from Poughkeepsie High School, Barbara worked for the children’s Media Project, a Poughkeepsie nonprofit organization and developed a TV segment on the Green Teen program that exemplifies her ability to link farmers, immigrants, minorities and teens with her fresh perspective on why it is critical to preserve and protect culturally-appropriate ways of eating and producing food in an environment free of contaminants.

In focusing her video project on this program, she was able to continue to build a connection between urban youth and the farming community, increasing awareness of the importance of farming and calling attention to the farm-urban connection.  In the words of a colleague:  “Barbara has been particularly insightful in recognizing the need for these connections and for taking pro-active steps at her own initiative to make a difference.”

Barbara is currently working full-time to put herself through Dutchess Community College, where she is majoring in communications, and serving on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Media Project of Poughkeepsie.

Barbara is also active in the Dutchess Community College’s Multicultural Coalition.  As an active member, she helps organize cultural evenings where people from countries around the world share their foods, recipes and music.  She is also helping to construct a website for foreign students at Dutchess, to help them in the transition of leaving country and family behind.

In sum, “Barbara has made the world a better place for all people – those of us who grow food and eat it, people who were born in the United States or who have moved or been brought here, and teens who need to understand where there food comes from.”