State Conservationist Announces Funding for New Organics Initiative

United States Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan this week announced $50 million for a new initiative to meet the Obama Administration’s promise to encourage more organic agriculture production. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist for South Carolina Niles Glasgow said that the state received $615,000 to assist eligible private landowners. Funding for the initiative is being made available as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Applications received from organic producers, or producers in transition to organic farming, will be accepted under this initiative between May 11 and May 29, 2009.

“Assisting organic producers is a priority of the 2008 Farm Bill, and I hope that South Carolina organic producers, and those transitioning to organic, will work with their local NRCS offices to see if they may be eligible for EQIP assistance,” said Glasgow.

The 2009 Organic Initiative is a nationwide special initiative to provide financial assistance to National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic producers as well as producers in the process of transitioning to organic production. Organic producers may also apply for assistance under general EQIP.

Under the Organic Initiative, core practices will receive special consideration and increased funding. These core practices include: Conservation Crop Rotation; Cover Crop; Nutrient Management; Pest Management; Prescribed Grazing; and Forage Harvest Management. There are also additional conservation practices eligible for financial assistance under this special signup.

To assist with eligibility questions, there are two separate National Screening Tools for applicants (one for producers transitioning for the first time and one for certified organic producers transitioning additional land or adding additional conservation practices). Ranking criteria has been established based on resource concerns that link to the NOP objectives and the core conservation practices.

The 2009 Organic Initiative will be administered by NRCS. Interested producers should visit their nearest USDA Service Center to determine eligibility. Additional information on the 2009 EQIP Organic Initiative is available at: www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/. You can locate your county NRCS office by visiting www.sc.nrcs.usda.gov, and select the Contact Us link at the top of the web page.

Ovis Hill Farm News & Events

HARTSVILLE MARKET: Ovis Hill Farm Farmers Market will again participate in Hartsville’s new "Good Living Marketplace" Saturday, March 7th. Hours 10 am to 2 pm located along Cargill Way and Burry Park (between 4th and 5th street behind Appleby’s). Other vendors will provide crafts, homemade jewelry, artisans, woodworkers, flowers, baked goods, etc. The "Good Living Marketplace" will be an ongoing market taking place on the first Saturday of each month. This is a rain or shine market. It is your support that will enable your community to continue this market. Please come out. We hope to see you there.

This will be a full market for our farm network, much the same as our Florence market, with Happy Cow milk and cheeses, free range eggs, beef, lamb, free range chicken, organic vegetables, organic grains and Amish dry goods and more! Heather Perry will work with the McCarley family to run the Hartsville market and several of the farmers will likely be available.

With our limited resources, this is big commitment for our farmers and partner families! The Florence Naturally Outdoors Market is a rain or shine year round market. Hartsville is a wonderful community and we are excited about the possibility of this new community. Please come out and support the new community market!

COLUMNS REENACTMENT: Along with Robin Kelefant, an accomplished fiber artist spinner and weaver, we will participate in both the educational program on Friday and the Saturday and Sunday programs at the Columns Reenactment providing a homestead food and fiber historical program. This is new this year and hopefully will be expanded in years to come. Also, Stacy and Michael Atkinson will present a Farmers Market on the vendors side to showcase our farm network. The weather promises to be very nice so come on out!

BEEF & LAMB WINTER SPECIAL? We will continue to discount the price of ALL LAMB AND BEEF by 10% through March! This Saturday only, beef roasts will be reduced by 15%!!!

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA): Jannie and Rocky Dickson of Dickson Organics and Ovis Hill Farm will work together to begin a CSA this spring. CSA’s are very popular in other localities and are a joint venture of customers (members) and producers (farmers) to provide a regular (usually weekly) supply of the farms’ production. While most CSA’s are veggies only, because of our association we will be able to offer veggies, herbs, dairy, meat as well as other products. CSA’s provide badly needed working capital, planned production, and quality products at competitive prices. There will be another email to provide more information.

Ovis Hill Farm Specials

Charlie Caldwell of Ovis Hill Farm (1501 Weaver St., Timmonsville) let us in on the following specials

BEEF WINTER SPECIAL For the remainder of January the price of hamburger, stew and roasts will be reduced by 10%! In addition, the price of a ½ or whole cow will be reduced from $3.25/LB to $3.00/LB carcass weight.

LAMB WINTER SPECIAL This week the price of all lamb cuts will be reduced by 10 percent.

If you can't stop by the farm but are in Florence, Charlie has partnered with Naturally Outdoors for a twice weekly farmers market at Naturally Outdoors, 2519 W. Palmetto St., from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Socially Responsible Chocolate?

Shaman Chocolates is pleased to announce it has expanded its collection of gourmet, organic chocolate bars to include two new flavors. All profits from the sale of the certified organic and Fair Trade Shaman Chocolates help support the Huichol Indians, a tribe living in central western Mexico in the Sierra Madre Mountains, who are said to be the last Indigenous Tribe in North America to have maintained their pre-Columbian traditions.

Shaman Chocolates blends only the purest certified organic and Fair Trade chocolate with the finest organic ingredients available. The two new flavors are Organic Milk Chocolate with Macadamia Nuts & Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt and Organic Extra Dark Chocolate which features 82% cacao.

Shaman Chocolates was created by Brant Secunda, shaman, healer and ceremonial leader in the Huichol (pronounced we-chul) Indian tradition. He started the business as an economic vehicle to help the Huichol Indians preserve their ancient ceremonial and healing traditions, vibrant mythology and visionary artwork. Secunda realized that chocolate would be a way to help support the Huichols economic and cultural survival after having a visionary dream that people were eating chocolate and it was filling their bodies with love.

"The Huichol Indians consider chocolate a sacred gift from paradise and have used it in ceremonies since time immemorial, leaving it as offerings to show their love for Mother Earth," says Secunda. "The Huichols know that gifts of chocolate help people develop and strengthen a mutual love with the earth and with each other," adds Secunda.

The Huichols, who were recognized by former Mexican President Vicente Fox as a national treasure of Mexico, are under tremendous economic and social pressure to assimilate with modern society, to leave their traditional villages and go to work in cities or on tobacco plantations where they are often exposed to harmful pesticides. By providing an outlet for their visionary yarn paintings and beaded artwork, by donating a portion of the tuition from each seminar and pilgrimage he leads, and donating all profits from the sale of Shaman Chocolates, Secunda provides continuing economic support that enables the Huichols to continue to live in their traditional ways and to continue being Indian. Three villages and approximately 500 people are directly helped through these efforts.

Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition, and a way of life. Shamanism involves healing and empowerment through personal transformation and direct experience as well as the healing of families, communities and the environment. By following the shaman's path people can truly learn to inhabit the earth and their being with gentleness and respect.

"Shamanism pervades every aspect of Huichol life, from the way they plant their corn to the way they raise their children," says Secunda. "Their joyful way of life reflects a dynamic shamanic tradition that we are proud to be supporting," adds Secunda.

Ceremony, sacred dance, vision quest, and pilgrimages to places of power in nature are all essential aspects of Shamanism. Through these techniques the shamanic circle embraces people, unifying their lives with strength, healing and love.

Fudge of the Month

Allison's Gourmet, the award-winning online artisan bakery that creates organic gourmet goodies, now has a Fudge of the Month Club. Sounds tasty though we haven't tried it.

Organic, local, what's best?

The debate has been going on since the marketing of organic and local foods got ramped up. Remember the big push for Certified South Carolina?

Which is more environmentally-friendly? That's debatable. Of course, if you only drive 1 mile to a local shop compared to 15 or 20 to get to Florence. You have saved something there. Food that's grown locally also doesn't have to travel as far to get to you, so it's fresher (and tastier).

Which is more community-friendly?
Shopping local. Money spent locally stays in our community. It doesn't travel to some corporate office in Arkansas or New York. It stays here. Your dollars have 3 times the impact on your community when spent at locally owned and operated stores than those dollars spent at national chains. That goes for fresh food to the latest fashions. Plus, local businesses contribute to local causes like little league teams and church groups.

Below is a portion of the Ovis Hill Farms eNewsletter that got me thinking about the issue. Alice Caldwell, Charlie's wife, makes some good points that you should consider on your next shopping trip.

ALICE’S COMMENTS:
SALMONELLA, E-COLI, LOCAL AND ORGANIC FOODS and COMMON SENSE. Once again this summer, there has been illness from food contamination and it took months to pin down the location of the source of the problem. This brings a couple of things to mind. One is that by eating foods locally grown, you know exactly where your food comes from. Ovis Hill Farm vegetables and herbs and the fruits and vegetables grown by Gus, Jannie, and Amanda are all organically grown which means they are grown without pesticides or herbicides or chemical fertilizers, so you don’t have to worry about that kind of residue contamination. However, as with all fruits and vegetables, they are grown on or near the ground and are handled by people and therefore should be washed or peeled before eating. In other words, just because our food (or anyone else’s) is organic, does not mean it is germ-free.

There is a good article in this month’s “Cooking Light” about the nutrient values of organic vs conventionally grown foods and fresh, local foods vs long-distance transported foods. The results are from a ten year study and include a list of which foods are most likely to have pesticide residue and which are most important to eat from a local, organic source. So, buy those local, organic tomatoes and know that not only do they taste better and support your local farmers, but also have more vitamin C and antioxidants. One last comment in the article was that, in general, Americans are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, so enjoy the bounty of the summer while you can.

Post your ideas and comments about local and organic foods.