Long-time farmers and young entrepreneurs talked permaculture over dishes of homemade, organic Indian food. Debaters shared strong opinions about wind power and renewable energy. Pie lovers stuffed goopy handfuls of berries and crust into their partners mouths as fast as they could. Children laughed as they roasted organic marshmallows over a roaring campfire and listened to stories. Editor of Resurgence Magazine Satish Kumar shared his inimitable wisdom with clusters of new friends gathered on the green. And people of all ages scurried out of workshops and through the dining hall, toting books and literature and chatting animatedly about what most recently inspired them.
Theres only one place where this much fun and education happens all at once during the second weekend of August the NOFA Summer Conference, of course! It goes without saying that all 1,200 registrants (including 160 children and teens) at NOFAs 31st annual Summer Conference challenged their brains, widened their hearts and fueled their beings with practical and spiritual wisdom to last yet another year.
Drenched in sweat but smiling -- swamped inside a mass of relentless humidity throughout the four-day event -- these farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, land care professionals, homeowners, consumers and wide array of inspired folks of all ages attended diverse workshops, enjoyed nature walks and farm tours, gathered for informal meetings and watched eye-opening documentaries. Children built shelters for wilderness survival and tie-dyed T-shirts while teens discussed alternative energy usage and expressed themselves through art.
There was music everywhere, from the beautiful, twangy melodies of the country/western band Stampede! Friday night inside the Crown Center to the cosmic drumming that spontaneously combusted the first-ever campfire beneath the stars on Saturday evening. The get-up-and-dance zydeco jammin of Dirty Rice got the wooden floors of the Red Barn rockin while 20-something guitar strummers penned inspired lyrics alongside their tents throughout the steamy weekend.
NOFA Nibbles offered homemade organic Indian food for the first time this year, thanks to Roshni Prabakar and Dan Kittredge and their stellar crew of hardworking, enthusiastic folks. The Saturday Country Fair was a great success again this year, as were the Childrens and Teens conferences
The Saturday night debate, What Price Renewable Energy? proved lively and was very well attended. The discussion of the Berkshire wind tower proposal was at times heated and brought forth strong opinions that occasionally transcended renewable energy, interspersed with the wisdom of reducing ones footprint overall proffered by Jim Merkel of Vermont, author of Radical Simplicity.
I think the conference is immensely successful because so many people let me know there and afterwards that it has an incredible, life-changing impact on their lives. It inspires people to go home and be better people. Its an institution that has a life of its own its a phenomenally important event for people, said Julie Rawson, Summer Conference co-coordinator and executive coordinator of NOFA/Massachusetts.
People say they have turned their lives around, they met their mate there . . . and it was great to see so many young people there this year, in their 20s, inspired by what the conference had to offer.
Julie Rawson was named the NOFA 2005 Person of the Year during NOFAs annual meeting held before Satish Kumars keynote address on Friday evening.
Rawson, who was surprised and delighted to be honored in this way, has immersed herself in NOFA for a little over two decades and is presently executive coordinator of NOFA/Massachusetts and coordinator of the Summer Conference with her husband, Jack Kittredge. She also runs the certified organic Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, Mass., loves to sing and perform music on her French horn and directs the Circle of Song community chorus in Barre.
With a humble smile in her much-loved gentle manner, Rawson accepted the award from NOFA Interstate Council President Bill Duesing, and imparted the following short, sweet and well-spoken wisdom: Find work that you love to do. Work hard and with respect for others, and do whatever you do with joy, she said, carrying away an engraved, green-handled shovel.
Keynote speaker Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College and editor of Resurgence Magazine, received a standing ovation before his speech even began, following a noteworthy introduction by NOFA Summer Conference committee member Eron Sandler, who had been previously inspired by the internationally recognized guru of peace and simple living.
Kumars messages were simple and universally appreciated: that making peace with nature is a necessary step on the road to a peaceful world; and to find joy in all of your tasks -- whether tending the soil, planting seeds, baking bread, taking a walk or spitting a bitter apple seed onto the ground -- resulting in even the most practical tasks taking on a spiritual meaning. Kumar referenced Rawsons words about finding joy and shared his opinion that, in the United States, people work very hard, too hard in fact.
The working week should be reduced to three or four days a week and make time for baking bread. . . . Youd be surprised to know perhaps that sleeping and taking a nap is also a spiritual practice. You do no harm while you sleep. You oppress nobody while you sleep. For this reason, I would say, Mr. Bush, please go to sleep, said Kumar, which drew loud laughs, cheers and applause.
Summer Conference Co-Coordinator Jack Kittredge felt Kumars keynote address was among NOFAs best ever. Satish was very well received, very popular. He was able to frame questions in a way that led to positive discussion and resolution of problems. We got a lot of insight from his metaphors about dealing with people and minimizing the importance of the ego. He reminded me of Wendell Berry in his concern for the Earth, his openness of new ideas and people of all persuasion, said Kittredge.
Kumar related the miracles of life inherent in apple seeds proliferation, and the wisdom of honeybees imparted to him by his mother, a farmer in India.
My mother said the honeybees are great teachers, even greater than the Buddha, and that is saying something in India, he smiled. Learn from the honeybee. It goes from flower to flower to flower collecting nectar. Never ever a flower complained that a honeybee took too much nectar. That nectar becomes honey. How many humans can do that? In nature, there is no waste. We fill our landfills with our waste. That is the beauty of nature how to transfer something into something even more delicious.
Kumar said that work itself is a meditation, a service to the land and to the soil, and when youre serving the land and soil, youre serving God.
God is sacred, and the divine is in everything in the soil, in the rivers, in the mountains, in the rivers, in you and me, in everything. Theres nothing in the universe that is not in you and me, he said. That identity transcends religion and it transcends labels and it transcends characteristics. The true identity of yourself is universal. When you are aware of that identity, you see yourself in the universe in the proper context and all of your actions become spiritual actions.
Peoples actions in choosing to use 100 percent biodiesel to fuel their vehicles were called saintly by Joe Lambert of Global E Industries in Swanzey, N.H. during his workshop on Biodiesel Production and Economics during the NOFA Pre-Conference. He stressed that getting four people to fill their diesel fuel tanks with B20, comprised of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel, is better in the long run in decreasing toxic emissions pollution for instance than having one person using B100.
Theres no magic bullet, he said, an idea imparted by several of the Pre-Conference presenters.
Overall, 115 alternative energy enthusiasts gained tankfuls of useful information about biodiesel and recycled grease during the Pre-Conference, which proved lively and informative with group presentations speckled with break-out sessions, as well as state-by-state networking forums and a hands-on biodiesel production session.
Following a pointed presentation on peak oil by Hampshire College Professor Michael Klare, author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of Americas Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum, which fueled the minds of attendees with Energy Department figures and the future, the pre-conference ended with upbeat messages from the experts in attendance.
We must put more energy, positive energy and money into this. Lets just create a whole other way. Think positive. Feel good. Do it. Change the system, said Ricky Baruc of Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Orange, Mass., his signature broad grin wide below his twinkling eyes.
Go visit your neighbors, with coffee, an apple pie and a gallon of biodiesel, advised Lambert during the wrap-up session. Keep it simple. Find the most conservative guy you know and go for it. Rock on folks, rock on.
Go forth and prosper, everybody -- for another fun-filled year! And if youre interested in getting involved with NOFA, visit www.nofa.org and learn about your states chapter.
The Summer Conference Committee is also always looking for new members. If you are interested in joining the Summer Conference committee, please contact Julie Rawson at 978-355-2853 or email Julie@nofamass.org. The first meeting of the year will be October 30, 2005. There are six meetings annually. In addition to helping a fun group of people make decisions about the conference, several jobs (which receive a stipend) may be opening up on the committee this year. Members receive free conference registration, two free meals and housing during the conference for the year they serve.
Do you have a topic youd like to see explored at a workshop during the Summer Conference, or one youd like to present, or the name of a speaker/presenter you find inspiring and think others would also enjoy? We are always on the lookout for new and exciting people to bring into the circle of the Summer Conference. Please send the persons name, address, telephone number, email address and the workshop topic by December 31, 2005 to Julie Rawson at the above email address or to: 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005.
Likewise, if you have topics youd like to see debated at the Summer Conference during the Saturday evening slot slated for discussion and the always eye-opening exchange of ideas, please contact Jack Kittredge at the above address or call him at 978-355-2853.
This page was last modified on January 14, 2008 at 6:43:05 AM.