Content-Type: text/html Michigan Organic Farmers' Listserv Dec 1-8th-News and Calendar of Events Please contribute your ideas, questions and information to: [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]> 1. Oregon Tilth Recognizes Organically Grown Company's Sustainability Program 2. Glyphosate-resistant pigweed a nightmare for some cotton producers 3. Mixed Greens seeking AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers 4. The Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP) 5. Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Organic Session was a hit!! 6 Film Series: Food, Farming, Healthy, Education & Native Culture Wednesdays, 7 p.m 7. Michigan Senate Hearing on NAIS 8. Want to Find your Start in Sustainable Farming? Join us! 9. Farm It Forward, January 5-6 and February 2-3 10. Fourth Annual Michigan Family Farms Conference January 13 11. Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference January 27, 2007 Grayling, Michigan 12. Seeds of Prosperity Conference February 8, Lansing Center, Lansing 13. Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference February 23-25. 14. MOFFA Fundraiser March 2, 2007 15. Michigan Organic Conference March 2-3. Kellogg Center, East Lansing. 16. Choices: Take it Slow March 6-7, 2007 1. Oregon Tilth Recognizes Organically Grown Company's Sustainability Program EUGENE, Ore. - December 5, 2006 - Organically Grown Company (OGC) was named "Outstanding Visionary of the Year" during the recent Oregon Tilth Fall Conference "Feeding the Future." Eugene-based OGC is the largest organic produce wholesaler in the Pacific Northwest. The award recognized OGC's dedication to become a more earth-friendly company, and its work to encourage the organic-foods industry to collaborate on major issues, from global warming to social equity. "OGC is a company who, for almost three decades, has consistently pioneered innovative practices based on their core values: health, sustainability, partnerships and integrity," said Dr. Joe Snyder, President of the Oregon Tilth Board of Directors. OGC's leadership role began in the 1980s, when the company was a primary force in the development of Oregon's innovative organic certification standards, which became a model for the national organic standards. OGC also recently initiated the Organic Produce Wholesalers Coalition's efforts to ensure that the National Organic Program supports transparency and integrity in the organic produce trade. "We affect culture through agriculture and I am proud to work at a company that takes its commitment and responsibility to its employees, business partners, and planet seriously," said David Lively, co-founder of OGC. "We constantly reinvent and challenge ourselves to react to an ever-changing world that needs the innovations and resources that healthy business can contribute." In 2006 OGC doubled the size of its Eugene and Portland warehouses to accommodate surging demand; year-to-year sales climbed 35percent during the first eight months of 2006, and the company added 24 new staff. Both facilities feature state-of-the-art energy-efficiency measures. OGC's sustainability program won other awards in 2006, including Fred Meyer's "Vendor of the Year 2005", Provender Alliance's "The Yellow Eco- Brick Award", the City of Eugene's "Community Sustainability Recognition", and awards from Business Recycling Award Group, Food for Lane County and Oregon Food Bank. About Oregon Tilth Oregon Tilth is a nonprofit research and education membership organization dedicated to biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture. Oregon Tilth was formed in 1974, as an agricultural organization with a unique urban-rural outlook. Primarily an organization of organic farmers, gardeners and consumers, Oregon Tilth offers educational events throughout the state of Oregon, and provides organic certification services to organic growers, processors, and handlers internationally. www.tilth.org. About Organically Grown Company Organically Grown Company is the largest organic produce distributor in the Pacific Northwest. From its warehouses in Portland and Eugene, Oregon and Kent, Washington, OGC serves over 200 natural and fine foods stores and restaurants located throughout western Oregon and Washington, and retail and wholesale accounts in other western states and Canada. Over 90 percent of their product line comes directly from the growers. OGC's trademarked Ladybug brand represents 34 growers in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, to markets throughout the U.S. www.organicgrown.com Contact: David Lively Organically Grown Company 541.689.5320 [log in to unmask] Hmmm... Big surprise 2. Glyphosate-resistant pigweed a nightmare for some cotton producers David Bennett Farm Press Daily Delta Farm Press December 5, 2006 Volume 1, Issue 80 In the fall of 2004, Stanley Culpepper was alerted to a problem field of Palmer amaranth in central Georgia. Heavy glyphosate treatments barely registered on the field's pigweed and many wondered if, after long expecting it, glyphosate-resistant pigweed had finally arrived in U.S. row-crop land. 3. Mixed Greens seeking AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers Currently recruiting applicants to fill (5) AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer positions for 12-month terms of service to begin in February 2007 and run through February 2008. The three areas of focus of these positions are Program Development (3), Marketing/Fundraising (1), and School Garden Network and Resource Development (1). This is a great opportunity for those interested in working on the ground-level to grow the capacity of Mixed Greens. It's a real hands-on learning experience. Note the closing date for applications is November 20. Please visit http://www.mixedgreens.org/ for more information. ************************************************************************ Vicki Morrone Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist Michigan State University C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems 303 Natural Resources Bldg. East Lansing, MI 48824 517-353-3542 517-282-3557 (cell) 517-353-3834 (fax) http://safs.msu.edu/ http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/ If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html