In the News
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Strawberry Fields and Weather
Valley News – June 7, 2014At Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, the bulk of the strawberry patches are covered in blossoms, said Cat Buxton, who manages the education programs at the farm. Like other farms, Buxton said she expects to have pick-your-own strawberries available by late June.
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A Populist Victory in Vermont on GMO Labeling
Farm Aid Blog – May 21, 2014We’re thrilled to have a guest blog by Will Allen and Kate Duesterberg of Cedar Circle Farm in Vermont. Will and Kate were instrumental in the recent win for GMO labeling in Vermont. We asked Will and Kate to tell us how Vermonters came together to get it done
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How GMO labeling came to pass in Vermont
Burlington Free Press – May 1, 2014After labeling legislation failed to move in 2011, Will Allen, manager of Cedar Circle Farm and Education Center in Thetford, said he realized Vermont needed a more refined bill similar to those that were then in the works in California and Washington. In 2012, he pulled together four groups to form the Vermont Right to Know Coalition to work on passing a labeling bill.
Those groups — Cedar Circle Farm, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and Rural Vermont — have stuck together for three years. Unlike many such coalitions, Allen said, this one worked.
“It’s not that we didn’t have disagreements,” Allen said, but, “I think everybody believed we could do it.”
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The Trigger Trap: Will Vermont Lawmakers Let Industry Strangle Another GMO Labeling Law?
Common Dreams – February 10, 2014While H.112 has been proven to be “fully defensible in court”, Vermont legislators are scrambling to deflect a perceived lawsuit. In this article published on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 by Common Dreams, Cedar Circle Farm co-managers, Will Allen and Kate Duesterberg, lay out the ‘trigger strategy’ as “just another way for state legislators to avoid direct confrontation with corporate bullies…” more…
NOTE: On February 7 the Senate Agriculture Committee passed H.112 out of committee without a trigger. Next stop is the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Rave Review for The War On Bugs Book
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment Vol. 35, No. 2 December 2013 – January 13, 2014In December, 2013 The War on Bugs book, written by Will Allen, was reviewed in the CAFE journal of the American Anthropological Association “… a highly useful book for under-graduate classes and for scholars seeking to develop new ideas and critical perspectives on the history of current issues in agriculture.” More . . .
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The Fullness of Circles
Vermont Magazine – October 26, 2013Andrew carnegie had a vision: a public library in every community. Will Allen, manager of Cedar Circle Farm, has a similar dream: an organic farm in every community. He firmly believes that if we eat better food, we will be healthier, live longer, and begin to heal the planet.
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Farmers Sound Off on Rules - Small Producers Say New Food Safety Rules Could Be Crippling
Valley News – August 22, 2013By Ben Conarck Valley News Staff Writer Wednesday, August 21, 2013 (Published in print: Wednesday, August 21, 2013)
Hanover — Farmers from both sides of the Connecticut River crowded Alumni Hall Tuesday afternoon to share concerns about proposed federal food safety rules that could end up requiring weekly tests of water used for irrigation and changing the ways farmers spread manure on their crop fields…
Will Allen, of Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, questioned the numbers provided by the FDA estimating the number of foodborne illnesses each year. “The real issue is that you don’t have good numbers to start with and you don’t have any numbers about what the states are really doing or causing in terms of foodborne illness,” Allen said. “What, for example, is the incidence of foodborne illness on small farms in Vermont, or New Hampshire, or Massachusetts? Do you even know that?”
Read the full story here. (Free to read, requires registration.)
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A Good Year in the Garden
Valley News – July 25, 2013Cody McKinstry, 5, of Thetford, wrinkled his nose at the fresh garden roll-ups with lemon tamari dipping sauce. “I like that, though!” the incoming kindergartner exclaimed, pointing to the nasturtium pesto he piled on Wheat Thins.
McKinstry was one of more than two dozen people who gathered last Wednesday morning for Thetford Elementary’s 5th annual School Garden Cooking (and eating) Party, a community celebration of the gardens and the hard work that yielded the vegetal bounty.
By Katie Jickling, Valley News Correspondent
Wednesday, July 24, 2013Read the rest of the story here. (Free to read, requires registration.)
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Soil Extinction - Will Allen on Huffpost Live
Huffington Post – May 17, 2013“The world’s worrisome decline in biodiversity is well known. Some experts say we are well on our way toward the sixth great extinction and that by 2100 half of all the world’s plant and animal species may disappear.” - Jim Robbins
An article by Jim Robbins which appeared in the NY Times on May 11, 2013 inspired this Huffpost Live show called Soil Extinction featuring our own Will Allen on the panel of speakers.
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Sustainability Through Creativity
Green Energy Times – May 8, 2013Our electric tractor, solar panels, and bean dryer are featured in the sustainability section of the April Green Energy Times. The title above will show you just the article about Cedar Circle Farm written by Mike Feiner.