RESOURCES

The following resources may be useful in your downshifting. If you wish to see a particular type of resource that is currently not listed here, please feel free to leave a comment below.

SUSTAINABLE GROWING

{ SUPPLIES }

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• FEDCO Seeds
• High Mowing Organic Seeds
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Territorial Seed Company
• Hometown Seeds
• Prairie Moon Nursery

{ KNOWLEDGE }

• Northeast Organic Farming Association / MA Chapter
• Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
• Organic Gardening
• Growing Wisdom
• Rodale Institute

LANDLESS GROWERS, UNITE!

{ OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES FOR YOUNG & BEGINNING GROWERS }

• Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms
• Beginning Farmers
• Beginning Farmer Network / MASS
• New England Small Farm Institute
• Boston Natural Areas Network
• New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
• Eastern Massachusetts Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training

{ POLICY & MEDIA }

• National Young Farmers Coalition “… represents, mobilizes, and engages young farmers to ensure their success.”
• The Greenhorns “… produces avant-garde programming, video, audio, web content, publications, events, and art projects that increase the odds for success and enhance the profile and social lives of America’s young farmers.”
• Carrot City “… explores the relationship of design and urban food systems as well as the impact that agricultural issues have on the creation of urban spaces and buildings as society addresses the issues of a more sustainable pattern of living.”

WILL WORK FOR FOOD

• Good Food Jobs “… a gastro-job search tool designed to help people looking for meaningful food work with the businesses that need their energy, enthusiasm, and intellect.”
• Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group: Jobs “… organizes, supports, and mobilizes a 12-state network of organizations and individuals to ensure the strategic impact of our collective voice as we take action toward common goals.”
• Idealist “… connects people, organizations, and resources to help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives.”
• Single Volunteers Boston “… connects singles who share a common interest in volunteerism.”
• Boston Cares “… mobilizes more than 25,000 volunteers annually in support of Greater Boston schools and non-profit agencies.”

FOR YOUR HEALTH

{ NUTRITION }

• National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
• USDA SuperTracker (free, personalized diet analysis tool)
• Nutrition Data
• Food Facts
• The Journal of Nutrition

{ WELL-BEING }

• Mother Earth News
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Healthy Living
• Silent Spring Institute

PUTTING UP { Recipes & guidelines for preserving food }

• National Center for Home Food Preservation
• Punk Domestics
• Pick-Your-Own
• Wild Fermentation { Sandor Katz }
• Instructables: Fermentation

I HEART LOCAL { Find farms, farmers markets, & specialty goods producers near you }

• Farmers Market Search { USDA }
• Sustainable Table
• Farm Fresh
• Local Harvest
• Slow Food USA

I HEART LOCAL { Local food & environment-oriented organizations in Greater Boston }

• Waltham Fields Community Farm / their blog
• Wright-Locke Farm
• Trustees of Reservations
• Land’s Sake Farm
• Newton Community Farm
• Boston Local Food
• Federation of Mass Farmers Markets
• Massachusetts Grown
• Boston Honey Company
• Iggy’s Breads of the World
• Boston Organics
• Slow Food Boston
• Edible Boston
• Clover Food Lab

FOOD & ENVIRONMENT NEWS & POLITICS

{ A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING }

• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• United States Department of Agriculture
• Mother Jones

{ FOOD-FOCUSED READS }

• Civil Eats
• Organic Consumers Association
• Food and Water Watch
• Food Politics { Marion Nestle }
• National Grocers Association
• The Consumerist

{ ENVIRONMENT-FOCUSED READS }

• The Daily Climate
• EcoWatch
• Earth911
• Environmental Health News

CONTINUED EDUCATION { Free online university-level courses, some specific to agriculture, nutrition, & food policy }

• Coursera “… a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.”
• Open Culture “… brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community.”
• edX “… a not-for-profit enterprise of its founding partners Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that features learning designed specifically for interactive study via the web.”