Provided by Organic Consumers Fund
According to Senator Susan Collins, organic farming is one of the fastest growing sectors in American agriculture, but federal investment hasn't been keeping pace with the growth.
Senator Collins, along with Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvia, have introduced the Organic Agriculture Research Act of 2018.
"What the act would do is provide some funding for research into organic farming methods and help offset part of the cost that the state uses to certify farms as complying with USDA standards for organic farming," said Senator Collins.
Read more
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine—A federal judge has handed a win to South Portland, Maine over a pipeline company that wants to send tar sands oil through the city, a proposal seen as opening a path for Canada's crude to reach the East Coast for export.
Read more
Beginning July 1, residents and city workers will no longer be able to freely use synthetic pesticides in Maine’s largest city, except in a few limited cases.
The City Council on Wednesday unanimously passed an ordinance regulating pesticide use in Portland. Advocates say it’s one of strongest anti-pesticide ordinances in the country, with scofflaws facing potential fines ranging from $100 to $500.
Read more
The Freeport woman's work with the Organic Consumers Association means fighting to keep Ben & Jerry and other companies honest.
Katherine Paul is the associate director of the Organic Consumers Association, a national nonprofit with the tag line “Campaigning for Health, Justice, Sustainability, Peace, and Democracy.” We called the Freeport resident up to see what she does for the group and found out about the impulse move to Maine that changed her life.
ON THE JOB: Paul publishes the weekly online newsletter for the Organic
Read more
Want to start an organic land care business? You’re in luck.
The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) accreditation course in organic land care is coming to Maine!
This course is designed for landscapers, lawncare pros, garden caretakers, park and land trust managers, landscape architects, educators, gardeners and just about anyone else interested in learning how to care for properties without synthetic, and often toxic, materials.
Read more
Last month, Maine’s Governor Paul LePage signed into law a bill that gives municipalities the power to regulate direct farm-to-consumer sales within their own borders. It’s the third so-called “food freedom” bill—also often called “food sovereignty” bills—to successfully make its way into state law in the U.S.: the first one was signed in Wyoming in 2015, and the second in North Dakota this past April.
Read more
The Congresswoman and organic farmer from Maine urges the Trump Administration to strengthen oversight and add resources to the organic certification process.
Read more
Like a large percentage of schools in Maine, Regional School Unit 57 has implemented several initiatives to bring local agriculture into its seven schools. However, the projects ― a new greenhouse, a couple of school gardens and composting efforts ― are relatively isolated from each other.
Read more
During a week in which much of the world was wondering whether the president of the United States considers climate change a threat, in a Portland hotel conference room full of people who spend their lives on the water, the question of man-made warming wasn’t even being asked.
Read more
Since the Agricultural Act of 2014, the federal crop insurance program (FCIP) has been the cornerstone agricultural policy in the United States, and is the largest such program globally, with about $100 billion in coverage annually.
Read morePages
for ME - MaineDownloads
Videos
