November, 12th’s Globe and Mail boasts 3 whole pages of information on organic food and production! It includes information on the Canada Organic Products Regulation, the new logo, and articles by Derek Lynch, Canada Research Chair in Organic Agriculture at the NSAC, and Laura Telford, the national director of Canada Organic Growers. Grab a copy on your way home!

Check it out here!

Also: New website launched: www.organicbiologique.ca

The Farm in Education: Growing Curriculum in Food and Food in Curriculum
November 6th & 7th
Acadia University, Wolfville, NS

How can education and agriculture interact to create a local and sustainable food system? On November 6th and 7th, the Acadia Community Farm invites you to discuss this question with local growers, professors, students, thinkers and eaters at “The Farm in Education” forum. Come and contribute your perspective as we investigate the interaction between the School and the Farm, and whether or not this relationship can move us into a new agricultural and educational future.

Speakers include Norbert Kungl of Selwood Green (Keynote), Dr. Av Singh (organics and rural infrastructure specialist from Agrapoint), Dr. Soren Bondrup-Nielsen (farmer, biologist and author of A Sound Like Water Dripping), Patricia Bishop of Taproot Farms, Dr. Greg Cameron of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, David Greenberg of The Black River CSA, Kathy Aldous of The Edible Schoolyard Project, and many more!

The discussions will be held in the Michener Lounge and breakout rooms in the Student Union Building on Friday (9am-5pm) and Saturday morning, then we go to Ross Creek Centre for the Arts for a “Great Meal for a Change” lunch (facilitated by Edith Callaghan, Alan Warner, Cate Trueman, and others) and a ‘Publish Your Own Conference Findings’ workshop on Saturday afternoon.

Seating at Friday and Saturday’s lunch is limited, so be sure to register for the forum early! Our online registration form and tentative schedule are available at the Farm’s website: http://acadiafarm.org/events/the-farm-in-education/.

For additional details – contact alex@acadiafarm.org or (902)585-1311.

ACORN has hired me, Stephanie Kukkonen, to be their Technical Project Coordinator in the Sackville office for the next nine months. I’m a University of Kings College Bachelor of Journalism with Honours graduate and I have experience in the field, as well as experience working on websites and networking with a number of people.

Aside from regular website updates and keeping on top of general office work, I will be working on various projects to help make ACORN more accessible to the general public and to encourage people to buy locally and organically.

At the beginning of October I started up an ACORN Facebook Fan Page.  It’s a public page that anybody with a Facebook account can access and become a fan of. Once a person becomes a fan of the page they will receive updates from ACORN, see links to our website and our blog page and gain a better understanding of the benefits of eating locally and organically.

Another major project in the works is updating our Google Maps page. Here, anybody wishing to know where they can access locally grown organic products can find out with a simple click of a mouse. A map of Atlantic Canada pops up and a number of organic producers and retailers  have their very own place and profile within the map.  I am hoping to make the map even more accessible by designating which locations are farms, retailers, markets, etc by marking each type with a different symbol. That way, somebody searching for a retailer can click on a store or restaurant symbol and somebody searching for a farm can click on a farm symbol instead of aimlessly clicking their way through blue pins.

I’m hoping to also put some videos on how to plant organically and perhaps some video testimonials from members of ACORN. On the Facebook page, I am hoping that people start discussing and sharing ideas on how to eat locally and organically. Perhaps placing a recipe page and even adding a few pictures of some of the great local and organic food people have come across in their travels.

I look very forward to working at ACORN. Have a safe and happy harvest.

Stephanie Kukkonen

Hello, my name is Rosemary Murphy and I will be interning with ACORN for the next 9 months as the Education and Outreach Coordinator. I have been interested in organic food and growing for some time, and am very excited about this opportunity to get involved with the organic and sustainable foods movement here in Atlantic Canada. Although my studies were in the arts (I recently completed an MA in Philosophy at UVIC), I have volunteered on farms, worked in greenhouses, and, for a few years, served local and organic food and drinks in a small café I opened in my hometown of Antigonish, NS.

The ACORN projects I’ll be focusing on will include the Sustainable Farm Apprenticeship Program (our partner project with SOIL), which helps to link farmers and apprentices and offers wonderful opportunities for both – established farmers can benefit from the additional labour and enthusiasm, while the apprentices can learn directly from the farmer’s invaluable experience and their own hands-on involvement. I will also be helping to organize the fall workshop series on on-farm food processing. The development of value-added local food has multiple advantages – it can significantly increase a farm’s profitability, increase diversification and help to reduce our area’s reliance on imported foods. I will also be helping to coordinate volunteers for ACORN’s 10^th Anniversary Organic Conference and Trade Show this March 4-6^th in PEI, and helping out in the office with the newsletters and other communications.

I see a lot of opportunities to increase awareness and education around organic methods and issues by working with rural retailers, making sure our resources are accessible to their customers, and that the retailers themselves are familiar with what is available. Also, I hope we can expand our audience by making use of established local teaching tools, like community radio and rural publications, in conjunction with internet resources like this blog, youtube videos, and possibly podcasts.

I look forward to becoming much more familiar with the exciting work already being done in the region’s sustainable food community, and to learn what is needed to help it continue to grow. I look forward to meeting you over the course of my program!

Rosemary Murphy

On September 29th, along with the Fundy Biosphere Project and CHMA 106.9FM, ACORN welcomed Jon Steinman to Mt. Allison University, in Sackville, NB, for a discussion of food security issues.

Steinman is the host of Kootenay Co-op Radio’s award winning program “Deconstructing Dinner,” which is currently broadcast on 37 radio stations across Canada, and over a dozen stations around the world. Produced and recorded in Nelson, British Columbia, Deconstructing Dinner informs and assists listeners in making more educated choices when purchasing food either for the kitchen or at restaurants.

Steinman was touring the Maritimes to discuss issues of food security and corporate concentration in Canada. In an informative and totally engaging talk, he asked those of us in the audience to try to think about buying food as making an investment, rather than a merely necessary expenditure. Then he asked us to think about what exactly our daily food purchases are investing in…

Jon showed us how the average North American meal is an investment in only a handful of enormous corporations and supporting unsustainable, corporate agribusiness. While this may not come as a huge surprise to those of you already interested in these issues, the numbers and examples Steinman provides – for instance that 90% of beef available in our country is processed in one of five massive slaughterhouses – are alarming. After illustrating just how precarious our current systems are, Steinman provides the remarkable example of what one community, his own town of Nelson, BC, can do to make sure their food investments are sound ones.

The talk was very well attended and a very lively discussion ensued! CHMA 106.9FM (Sackville’s campus and community radio station) recorded the entire talk (we haven’t included the discussion) and has graciously made it available to all here!

CHMA broadcasts Deconstructing Dinner every Wednesday at 2pm.

On Sunday, July 26th, S.O.I.L. Coordinator Nicole Arsenault, with Leslie Savoie from the Farmers’ Market Community Connectors project (a project connecting immigrant communities to farming communities), as well as help from the YMCA, teamed up to organize a farm tour for new immigrants who are interested in agriculture. They toured 3 farms in the Windsor, Nova Scotia area. Participants were actively engaged and many questions were answered!

We also got some great photos from the tour, check them out!

July 16th PEI Organic Field Crop Tour was a great success!

The NB Organic Field Crop Tour was equally well attended, and despite the misty weather, we had a good turn out.

Each group (NB & PEI) got the chance to network, experience on-site field expertise in a full day of exploring different organic field crops including soybean, buckwheat, spelt, wheat, potatoes, oilseed, corn, brassicae, and more!

More to come in the upcoming Maritime Organic Grains Network Newsletter! Contact ACORN if you would like to be included on the Grains Network Contact List, it’s FREE!

After much anticipation the Equivalency Agreement between Canada and the United States finally came into affect as of July 1st 2009. This agreement will bring forth prosperous opportunity for organic farmers on both sides of the border and should also prove to be advantageous for Atlantic Canadian organic growers. Holly Givens recently wrote in an American article that organic producers should start expecting “…potatoes, apples, berries and other farm products with the Canadian organic logo alongside the “USDA Organic” seal.” Much of which will likely be from Atlantic Canada “given the proximity of the agricultural areas”.

http://www.reformer.com/ci_12669714

http://www.examiner.com/x-7244-Boston-Organic-Food-Examiner~y2009m6d23-US-and-Canada-sign-organic-equivalency-agreement

Equivalency? What do you mean equivalency?

The Basics.
The Equivalency Agreement is a trade agreement between Canada and the United States that recognizes the commonalities the two share in the production of organic agriculture. That is although there are some small differences between what is required of a certified organic producer in Canada and the United States, the guiding principles of what makes food organic are the same. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) came together on June 17, 2009 at the All Things Organic Conference in Chicago, Illinois and signed this historic agreement which recognized that although they are not identical both regimes’ organic regulations operate around the same basic philosophy.

How will the US/Canada Equivalency Agreement work?
The CFIA and the USDA both have their own sets of standards in order to gain the distinction of being “certified organic”. In principle the attempt to protect the integrity of and allow for marketing of food products as “certified organic”. Under the Equivalency Agreement, the CFIA will recognize imported organic food produced according to the requirements for certification as organic by the USDA as organic in Canada. Likewise the USDA will recognize imported organic food produced according to the requirements for certification as organic by the CFIA as organic in the United States.

Why did we need the Equivalency Agreement at all?
Everything changed for organic exporters to Canada on June 30, 2009 when the new Organic Products Regulations (OPR) came into effect. Without an agreement USDA certified organic food exported to Canada would have been required to receive a second certification bringing them in compliance with the new OPR before being introduced to the Canadian market. Likewise, any certified organic food under the OPR guidelines exported to the United States would have needed to also meet National Organic Program (NOP) guidelines before being introduced to the American market. This double certification would have been an unnecessary burden for the producers and certifying bodies to carry. With all the extra time, paperwork, and expenses that would have been necessary to certify in both countries would have been a major deterrent to trade as well as a cause of price increases passed down to the consumer. In order for the organic industry to expand beyond domestic markets equivalency agreements are necessary to facilitate trade with as few barriers as possible while still protecting the integrity of organic food. This historic agreement between the USDA and CFIA sets a standard for further expansions into the large European and Asian markets.

This sounds too simple
That’s because it is. As with any trade agreement there were extensive negotiations which led to certain concessions made by both the USDA and the CFIA.
The USDA requires that all agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics should not be marketed as organic in the United States. As an example, a dairy farmer in Canada who treats a cow with antibiotics when it is sick may no longer at any time in that cow’s life sell its milk in the United States as certified organic under the Equivalency Agreement.
The CFIA requires that agricultural products derived from animals must be produced according to livestock stocking rates set out in the General Principles and Management Standards for Organic Agriculture (CAN/CGSB-32.310-2006). Second, the CFIA required that products produced by hydroponic or aeroponic production methods shall not be sold or marketed as organic in Canada. Finally, the CFIA required that products produced with the use of sodium nitrate shall not be sold or marketed as organic in Canada.
As long as a product meets these demands with evidence to support it, it may be certified as organic in both countries under both the OPR and NOP.

How does this affect my labeling?
So now you’re organic in both Canada and the United States. The next issue is packaging and labeling. All of the same laws and regulations apply for labels which you may find on the CFIA and FDA websites.
CFIA Labels (Canada): http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/toce.shtml
FDA Labels (United States): http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/default.htm
These are general guidelines to follow that are not affected by the agreement. What is affected by the agreement is that now if you are producing in the United States and exporting to Canada and meet the requirements of the Equivalency Agreement, you now have the option of using either the Canada Organic label alone or both the USDA Certified Organic and Canada Organic label. For those producing in Canada and exporting to the United States you will have the option of either the USDA Certified Organic label alone or the Canada Organic label alongside the USDA label.

What is the “Stream of Commerce”?
The Stream of Commerce is a vehicle through which organic producers will be required to transition and meet the new requirements for organic certification in Canada. The Stream of Commerce extends for two years, expiring on June 30, 2011 and is designed to minimize the impact on trade during this two-year period. During this time those who do not meet the requirements for organic certification in Canada will be informed on their issues of non-compliance and be requested of a plan to come into compliance. After those two years the CFIA will implement more stringent enforcement activities.
For US imports to Canada under the Equivalency Agreement that areas that may need time to transition into compliance would be that agricultural products must meet the livestock stocking rates, no aeroponic or hydroponic production methods are to be used, and that no sodium nitrate can be used in the production of organic products.

On Friday June 12th the Sustainable Pollination Forum was held at the Farm Centre in Charlottetown PEI. The enthusiasm and involvement was excellent, despite the poor weather conditions. The forum kicked off with a welcome from Alan Hicken, the president of PEI Organic Berries. In total there were eight excellent speakers who addressed the importance of pollination, directing a great deal of focus to the contribution of bees, as it is the easiest and least expensive means to pollinate. In Canada alone there are 800 species of bees, and many of the presenters suggested that it was of great importance that we should provide the appropriate habitat – wildflowers.

Researchers are exploring new innovative pollination techniques and have been examining the advantages of microbes, which fight diseases like botrytis; a mould caused from damp, cool conditions. Keynote speaker, Dr. Peter Kevan of the University of Guelph, spoke on the various pollination systems and pollinators used in berry production. In order to solve the pollination problem people of different backgrounds and expertise should be brought together as they were at the Sustainable Pollination Forum.

One last important message that was well felt throughout the forum was the need to maximize pollination strategies in order to manage the various bee species. Farmers shouldn’t find themselves relying on one system to pollinate their crops. The forum wrapped up with closing remarks made by Dr. Jim Kemp who acknowledged that not all farmers recognize decline in bees world wide or the importance of pollination and sincerely thanked all those who attended.

It was a cold October evening, about 6:55PM if I remember correctly. I walked into the Mount Allison student union’s council meeting to sit as a newly elected member. Overwhelmed and intimidated by the whole experience I could barely bring myself to contribute an opinion to the discussions. Looking around at some of the other faces, I knew I was not alone. Suddenly a motion was put forward but had no seconder, this was my time to shine. I raised my placard and declared, “I will second the motion”. Next the chair in his authoritative manner announced, “Joni motions, Alex seconds”. “Hooray” I shouted in my head, “I did something important”. Looking across the floor to Joni I saw a bright smile on her face. I think I just made a friend.

And so our friendship developed over the year working as advocates for student issues, trying to make the world a better place, one small step at a time. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, indeed I thought this was the case at the end of the school year. How would we continue to promote and be advocates for the things we care about? This is where ACORN has come in for us. Woo hoo! Here Joni and I are, together again, trying to make the world a better place, one small step at a time.

Joni and I both have a passion to learn and help in promoting organic products and supporting the community of farmers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers involved in the production and consumption of all things organic. So here we are, our first week on the job, writing this blog, connecting with the organic community in Atlantic Canada and are super excited to be doing it all. We both hope to get to know as many of you as possible and help in the promotion of organic agriculture.

For those of you who would like to get to know us a little more personally, we’ve got a little questionnaire that we have both filled out:

Name: Alex MacDonald

School: Mount Allison

Program: Political Science

Hometown: Oshawa, ON

Favourite animal: Sloth

Favourite fruit/veggie: Mango

What do you want to be when you grow up: Lobbyist

Where in Canada would you love to travel to: Labrador

Favorite quote: “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” – Harold Wilson.

Name: Joni Fleck-Andrews

School: Mount Allison

Program: Philosophy, Environmental Studies, Commerce

Hometown: Riverview, NB

Favourite Animal: Frogs

Favourite fruit/veggie: Depends on the season

What do you want to be when you grow up: Lifetime student

Where in Canada would you love to travel to: Northern B.C.

Favorite quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world” – Gandhi

See you around,

Joni and Alex

20 participants from Atlantic Canada participated in PEI’s International Organic Inspector’s Association’s (IOIA) Inspector Training held April 13-19 at Slemon Park in Summerside.

Future Organic Inspectors hard at work!

‘We make sure organic is really organic,” said Monique Scholtz, the IOIA course instructor.  

This is no simple process. 

A certified organic inspector represents the eyes and ears of the Certification Agency.  Organic inspectors are NOT consultants and they can’t give any specific advice.  They are also not the decision-makers; the final decision concerning whether or not a farm is eligible for certification is up to the Certification Agency.  S/he is responsible for ensuring that farmers who want to be certified are meeting the new Canadian Organic Standard.  They are also responsible for identifying organic control points and risks for any given farm. 

To name a few examples, an inspector is looking to ensure that the farmer inspected is not using any prohibited substances (sewage sludge, chemical fertilizers), that there is no chance of commingling with non-organic products (products are packaged and sold separately), and that farms are meeting the minimum buffer zone requirements (8 metres or an effective permanent hedgerow).  Organic Inspectors also have to make sure that the farmer’s audit trail makes sense.  For example, “Does this farm’s seed purchases match their sales records?”  Or, “What inputs were used on this particular field?”

As you can gather, it’s pretty involved.  Likewise, the organic inspector training was intense, and all of the participants’ brains were full of new information about organic production.  I bet that every one of the 20 participants drove away from the training through PEI’s picturesque farming landscapes thinking to themselves, “Is that an appropriate buffer zone?” And, “What are the risks on that farm?”  They’ll never look at farming quite the same again.

As a result of this training Atlantic Canada will have some new, thoroughly trained organic inspectors for the 2009 season – be sure to welcome them onto the arduous path of inspections with a smile!

Participants performing a "mock" inspection at a local farm