If you missed the Food and Health Forum event with Jim Gerritsen, the Maine farmer who’s challenging Monsanto, Matt Kanner offers a full report. From The Wire:
“I think we’re on the verge of great change. I think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of transgenic or GMO agriculture,” he said.
But altering the nation’s food system will take more than a single lawsuit. Gerritsen credited people on the New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast for working to revive a food culture that connects farmers directly to consumers, citing the success of community supported agriculture and fisheries in the area (Gerritsen’s Wood Prairie Farm established Maine’s second CSA back in 1990).
“We’re going to have to develop our own ability to go around (the industrial) model of agriculture,” he said. “What we need is a new vision of how farmers and eaters can develop alliances and relationships which are mutually beneficial.”
The next Food and Health Forum dinner seminar features Pete Johnson, of Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury, Vermont. Focusing on “Putting the Culture Back In Agriculture Through Community and Collaboration”, this event will take place at Blue Moon Evolution on Monday, March 19th, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Special pricing for farmer tickets are available, with a portion of the evening’s proceeds to benefit Seacoast Eat Local. For more information: www.foodandhealthforum.com.