For Immediate Release: August 17, 2016 Contact: Carol Goland, OEFFA Executive Director, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 202, cgoland@oeffa.org Lauren Ketcham, OEFFA Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 203, lauren@oeffa.org Columbus, OH—The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) today announced its new Begin Farming Program, which will provide aspiring and new farmers in Ohio the support they need to understand what it takes to get into farming and grow their businesses. This new program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). The USDA has announced $17.8 million in grants to organizations for 37 education, mentoring, and…

Contact: Amalie Lipstreu, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 208, amalie@oeffa.org; Renee Hunt, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 205, renee@oeffa.org For Immediate Release: June 24, 2016 Columbus, Ohio—A bill released by the U.S. Senate will continue to hide information about food with GE ingredients, according to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), a statewide sustainable food and farm not-for-profit. “Although its being called a ‘national disclosure standard for bioengineered foods,’ this bill will keep Americans in the dark about what they eat and feed their families,” said Amalie Lipstreu, OEFFA Policy Program Coordinator. The bill gives food manufacturers three options for labeling of GE food: text on the label, a scan code for…

For Immediate Release: May 24, 2016  . Contact: Amalie Lipstreu, OEFFA Policy Program Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 208, amalie@oeffa.org Mick Luber, Bluebird Farm, (740) 945-0217, bluebirdorganicfarm@gmail.com Lauren Ketcham, OEFFA Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 203, lauren@oeffa.org .  Cadiz, OH—One of Ohio’s first certified organic farms, under threat by fracking and pipeline development, will be hosting a farm tour as part of a National Day of Action on Fracking Tuesday, June 7. For decades, Mick Luber of Bluebird Farm in Cadiz, Ohio has grown organic vegetables and other crops on his 65 acre farm, which serves markets in Wheeling and Pittsburgh. Luber’s farm is located within a half mile of three…

For Immediate Release: May 23, 2016 Contact: Carol Goland, OEFFA, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 202, cgoland@oeffa.org Lori Panda, Ohio Department of Agriculture, (614) 466-8798, lori.panda@agri.ohio.gov Peter Wood, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, (202) 720-6179, peter.wood@ams.usda.gov Columbus, OH—This May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that $369,100 is available through the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to make organic certification more affordable for organic producers and handlers in Ohio. A total of approximately $11.6 million is available to organic operations across the country. This funding covers as much as 75 percent of an individual applicant’s certification costs, up to a maximum of $750 annually per certification scope. Four…

For Immediate Release: May 10, 2016 Contact: Lauren Ketcham, Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 203, lauren@oeffa.org Eric Pawlowski, Sustainable Agriculture Educator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 209, eric@oeffa.org . Columbus, OH—Do you want to learn about sustainable beekeeping, biochar, profitable poultry production, raising high quality grass-fed beef, or improving your forages? Would you like to enjoy a leisurely stroll through organic fields and pastures and visit with farm animals? Or take a farm stand with an organic farmer threatened by pipeline development? You’ll have opportunities to do all this and more during the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s 21 summer farm tours and workshops, which are part of the 2016 Ohio…

For Immediate Release: March 2, 2016 .   Contact: Milo Petruziello, OEFFA Program Associate, (614) 421-2022, milo@oeffa.org Lauren Ketcham, OEFFA Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022, lauren@oeffa.org .    Tiffin, OH—An in-depth, on-farm workshop featuring leading soil and cover crop experts will provide farmers looking to successfully manage their soil health with practical information they can implement on their farms this season.  .   Nationally recognized soils expert Ray “the Soils Guy” Archuleta and cover crop guru David Brandt of Brandt Family Farm in Carroll, Ohio will explore ecological farming strategies that can help grain farmers reduce the use of inputs, tillage, and labor during this April 9 event organized by the Ohio Ecological Food…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2016 Contact: Carol Goland, Executive Director—(614) 421-2022, cgoland@oeffa.org Lauren Ketcham, Communications Coordinator—(614) 421-2022, lauren@oeffa.org GRANVILLE, OH—The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) has named the 2016 recipients for the Stewardship Award and Service Award. Jim Croghan of Croghan’s Organic Farm in Clinton County received the Stewardship Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the sustainable agriculture community, and Steve Sears and Sylvia Upp of Pike County received the Service Award, which recognizes outstanding service to OEFFA. The announcements were made on Saturday, February 13 as part of OEFFA’s 37th annual conference, Growing Right by Nature. 2016 Stewardship Award Winner—Jim Croghan A pioneer in the organic…

For Immediate Release: January 14, 2016 Contact: Renee Hunt, Program Director, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 205, renee@oeffa.org Lauren Ketcham, Communications Coordinator, (614) 421-2022 Ext. 203, lauren@oeffa.org  . To achieve a truly sustainable food system, we must significantly change our thinking about how we feed ourselves, according to author and passionate small farm advocate John Ikerd, featured speaker at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) 37th annual conference, Growing Right by Nature, in Granville, Ohio (Licking County). . In his Sunday, February 14 keynote address, “Sustainable Agriculture is Growing, Right and by Nature,” Ikerd will explore how growing consumer demand and concerns about the ecological and social integrity of the…