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A Report, in iPhone Photos, from Last Weekend’s Northeast Organic Farming Association Convention

Comment | January 27, 2012 | By

Picture Gallery
A Report, in iPhone Photos, from Last Weekend’s Northeast Organic Farming Association Convention
  • I wanted to buy everything at the trade show. One prize find – this bottle of Tart Cherry Juice concentrate made at Farm to Table Copackers [ link to Frozen Assets story in Design issue]. The only ingredient is sour cherries. Looks like cough syrup but tastes like cherry pie, and the farmer I bought it from says its anti-oxidant properties help sore muscles. I won’t even tell you what he said about garlic.
  • It was awesome rapping with George Weld of Williamsburg’s Egg. (We profiled them in 2009.) Sure, we dig any chef using local ingredients, but how many show up at farming conferences to attend sessions about pastured hens?
  • Pennsylvania-grown organic grains--spelt and emmer—ground into flour and handily made into pasta by i Trulli’s Patti Jackson. My kid took one bite and said “I could eat this allllll day.”
  • New York used to be the region’s breadbasket and many locavores regard it as the next frontier. This reception featured bread made with regional flour. No butter needed.
  • I love signs like these. The sausage demo was at by the fine folks from The Piggery, whom we covered last year.
  • Presentations cover everything from cover crops and rooftop farming to raw milk and, here, the currant renaissance.
  • Breakfast buffet featured awesome upstate oats.
  • I dug this chick’s earrings. Covergirl for our upcoming dairy issue?
  • I’ve been to way too many conferences where the meals contradicted the whole meeting’s mission. Props to NOFA for working with the Saratoga Springs Hilton to serve us real ingredients. Then back to work!
  • I’ve seen a lot of obscure veg in my days but this was a new one for me. Kossak is basically a giant kohlrabi. Great storer, easy slicer, literally tender-hearted, crunchy and delightful. Where’ve you been all my life?

Last weekend I had a few seriously inspiring days at the annual winter conference held by NOFA-NY, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York. The sessions were fantastic, and I just love being around men holding babies, women talking about carcass weight, everyone knitting and yes, people bringing their own garlic to slice onto salad. Here are some photo highlights (with captions) from my trip.

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