my book                 "The Politics of Farming—moving agriculture from commodity to community" by Billie Best, Released March 2008         I have written a very short book (75 pages) about the politics of farming. It connects the dots between issues that may seem unrelated, but together form a complete picture of what's gone wrong with farming, and how challenges to farms are symptomatic of the larger challenges facing our planet. As a new farmer I discovered a few simple ideas I think everyone should understand: the limits of growth, the principle of sustainability, the fallacy of cheap, and the three kinds of wealth. I believe in farming. I believe farming can transform the planet by cleaning the environment, feeding people, and building stable communities. But after a few years trying to farm in a world run by suits, I don’t think that promise can be fulfilled unless we change the way the world works. Please join me in seeding this revolution. Read my book and encourage others to do so. Thank you. Download 1.3mb PDF file: Politics of Farming                         email billie               my speaking                 August 8-10, 2008, Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference, University of Massachusetts in Amherst, presenting two workshops, "Framing the Future of Farming" and "Understanding Food Safety Regulations"         "Framing the Future of Farming" description: Learn how to effectively frame your position in debates about farming, the food system, corporate personhood, and climate change by articulating the limits of growth, the principle of sustainability, the fallacy of cheap, and the three kinds of wealth. Companion text is "The Politics of Farming" (download above). "Understanding Food Safety Regulations" description: Federal, state, and local government agencies have jursidiction over food safety depending on the type of food and the circumstances. We will look at 12 categories of food typically sold direct by farmers and compare USDA, FDA, NY, VT, MA, and CT regulations. Handout is 30-page report on same. Download PDF file: Interstate-Understanding Regulations                 Thursday, July 17, 2008, Greater Capital Region Teacher Center, Albany, New York, course for K-12 teachers on "The Social, Environmental & Economic Impact of Our Food Choices: A Whole School Approach to Local Foods"         More than any other choice we make each day, our choice of what to eat—how it's prepared, where it comes from, how it was produced, and who produced it—has a ripple effect around the world. Part 1 of this course will compare and contrast the social, environmental and economic impacts of slow food and fast food, organic food and conventional food, and global food and local food. We will consider the impact of our food choices on health and personal performance, family life, community, local landscapes, the environment, climate, the economy, geo-politics, and public policy. Part 2 will take a whole school approach to local foods by exploring programs that integrate the classroom, school food service, and gardening indoors and/or outdoors. School administrators, teachers, nurses, psychologists, counselors, and food service personnel are invited to attend. Participants will prepare a slow food lunch from farm fresh foods. Download 1.6mb PowerPoint file: Healthy Farms Healthy Schools                 Thursday, June 26, 2008, 8:00-9:00 am, "Farm & Food Show: Farm to School & NAIS" Broadcast live on WRPI-Troy 91.5 fm, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute radio in the Albany-Troy, NY area, www.wrpi.org         Billie Best hosts this one hour radio program broadcast the 4th Thursday of every month. In "Farm to School & NAIS" she talks about the benefits and challenges of farm-to-school programs, and the linkage some in Washington are trying to make between farm-to-school and the National Animal Identification System. The Farm & Food Show is a program of Regional Farm & Food Project. You may freely download, edit, and re-broadcast any portion of the show. Download 27mb MP3 file: Farm & Food Show 6-26-08                 Thursday, May 22, 2008, 8:00-9:00 am, "Farm & Food Show: Cow Stories" Broadcast live on WRPI-Troy 91.5 fm, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute radio in the Albany-Troy, NY area, www.wrpi.org         Billie Best hosts this one hour radio program broadcast the 4th Thursday of every month. In "Cow Stories" she talks about her experience birthing calves on the farm. The Farm & Food Show is a program of Regional Farm & Food Project. You may freely download, edit, and re-broadcast any portion of the show. Download 26.5mb MP3 file: Farm & Food Show 5-22-08                 Wednesday, April 30, 2008, NY School Nutrition Association Eastern Area Workshop: "Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy Schools"         In this one-hour workshop, learn the current state of the food system, why slow food is good for schools, a whole school approach to farm-to-school, implementation challenges for schools and farmers, how to organize a three year plan for your school, a long-term vision for farm-to-school, and some of the changes we need to make to get from here to there. Download 2mb PowerPoint file: Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy Schools                 Thursday, April 24, 2008, 8:00-9:00 am, "Farm & Food Show: Kansas is Corn Country" Broadcast live on WRPI-Troy 91.5 fm, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute radio in the Albany-Troy, NY area, www.wrpi.org         Billie Best hosts this one hour radio program broadcast the 4th Thursday of every month. "Kansas is Corn Country" is the story of Billie's trip to Kansas and Missouri to attend the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education annual conference, and some of the contradictions she encountered there. The Farm & Food Show is a program of Regional Farm & Food Project. You may freely download, edit, and re-broadcast any portion of the show. Download 28mb MP3 file: Farm & Food Show 4-24-08                 Saturday, April 5th, 2008, "Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy Communities" a workshop at Hastings-on-Hudson Green Living Fair, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY         You can change the world by changing what you eat. This workshop explains how by taking a look at the social, environmental, and economic impacts of our food choices, highlighting the links between healthy farms, healthy food, and healthy communities. Learn the impacts of climate change on our farms and food, how to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet, and how to make choices and support policies that cool the planet. Download 9mb PowerPoint file: HealthyFarmsHealthyFoodHealthyCommunity                 Thursday, March 27, 2008, 8:00-9:00 am, "Farm & Food Show: Raw Milk Controversy" Broadcast live on WRPI-Troy 91.5 fm, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute radio in the Albany-Troy, NY area, www.wrpi.org         Billie Best hosts this one hour radio program broadcast the 4th Thursday of every month. "Raw Milk Controversy" dissects raw milk news coverage in The Nation and The Boston Globe to distinguish the real food safety issues from the decoy protectionist issues. The Farm & Food Show is a program of Regional Farm & Food Project. You may freely download, edit, and re-broadcast any portion of the show. Download 26mb MP3 file: Farm & Food Show 03-27-08                 Tuesday, March 25, 2008, SARE Annual Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, presenting poster session on "Farmer-Led Learning Groups to Mentor Beginning Farmers"         Beginning farmers as well as farmers transitioning to more sustainable systems such as grazing can greatly benefit from the guidance of more accomplished farmers. In 2000, the Regional Farm & Food Project inaugurated an acclaimed Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring Program with support from Northeast SARE. At the conclusion of that program it was clear that a more structured, group-oriented approach could better serve beginning farmers. Thus, in 2003, we devised "Farmer-Led Learning Groups to Mentor Beginning Farmers." Download PDF file: RFFP Group Mentoring Final Report                 Thursday, February 28, 2008, 8:00-9:00 am, "Farm & Food Show: Big Beef Recall" Broadcast live on WRPI-Troy 91.5 fm, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute radio in the Albany-Troy, NY area, www.wrpi.org         Billie Best hosts this one hour radio program broadcast the 4th Thursday of every month. "Big Beef Recall" dissects NY Times coverage of the largest beef recall in history, correcting errors in the media coverage, and bringing to light aspects of the issues the media missed. The Farm & Food Show is a program of Regional Farm & Food Project. You may freely download, edit, and re-broadcast any portion of the show. Download 27mb MP3 file: Farm & Food Show 02-28-08                         my two resumes                 Professional History, July 2008         My complete contact information is included in my resume. Download PDF file: BBest Biz Resume July 2008                           Agriculture Experience, July 2008         My complete contact information is included in my resume. Download PDF file: BBest Ag Resume July 2008                         my communities of interest               Regional Farm & Food Project • E.F. Schumacher Society • Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group • National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture • Alford Land Trust • Alford Planning Board               my thinking + my writing                 "Big Beef Recall Proves Small is Safer" Published in Regional Farm & Food Project Earth Day News, April 2008, and in Hobby Farms magazine, July-August 2008 issue         Proponents of large-scale industrial meat processing facilities and NAIS are getting away with “playing the food safety card.” But if we look at the facts, we see small-scale processing is safer for human and animal health because people working in small places are more accountable. There is less time/distance between the components of a smaller system enabling faster trace-back when problems do arise. In small facilities, carcass profitability and source verification are built into processing, sales, and marketing activities. And producing smaller batches of product presents less risk. Download PDF file: Big Beef Recall Proves Small is SAFER                 "Becoming Conscious Consumers" Speech given at Locally Grown: Locally Thrown gallery event in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, October 13, 2007, and at the Connecticut Organic Farming Association Annual Meeting, New Haven, Connecticut, November 3, 2007         I think becoming conscious consumers means facing up to this cultural hypocrisy. If we want to have good jobs close to home, we need to be willing to pay prices that reflect the cost of living in our community. Buying local is sharing the wealth. Download PDF file: Becoming Conscious Consumers                 "Farming Cooler Communities" Speech given at the Sierra Club Northeast Regional Meeting and Cool Cities Training, Fairelee, Vermont, June 2, 2007         There is a low carbon alternative to the industrial food system. Small-scale organic farming systems consume 30 to 70% less energy than conventional farms. The amount of carbon in local food systems is further reduced when you eliminate factories, packaging, warehouses and trucking systems. Low carbon farming means low carbon eating. Eating local is low carbon living. Small-scale sustainable agriculture not only reduces carbon emissions, it sequesters carbon. Download PDF file: Farming Cooler Communities                 "NAFTA & Mexican Immigration" Opinion piece circulated by email, June 2007         Do we have an immigration problem in the United States, or are we being purposely distracted from the bigger, more serious issues that face our nation? Are Mexican immigrants a threat to our national security, or are they an easy target while the real security threats remain out of reach? Are Mexicans to blame for low wages in the United States, or are they a convenient scapegoat for failed economic policies? Download PDF file: NAFTA+Mexican Immigration                 "The Fallacy of Cheap: Shifting Our Paradigm from Commodity to Community" Speech given at the Annual Spring Luncheon of the Egremont Land Trust at The Old Mill, Egremont, Massachusetts, May 20, 2007         With globalization and a burgeoning world population, what we used to share among millions of us now needs to be shared among billions of us. The slice of the pie available to each of us is getting smaller and smaller. This is not a problem we can “grow” out of. The more we grow, the smaller our slice of the pie becomes. We cannot shop our way to sustaining ourselves. In fact, I think citizenship means we stop shopping. We need to buy fewer things, buy more of them locally, and generally pay more for what we buy. Download PDF file: The Fallacy of Cheap                 "Welcome to the Cow Industrial Complex: the link between your health, the stock market and corporate personhood" Speech given at the Farm & Food Network meeting, Albany, New York, April 30, 2007         What we want is simple: earth-friendly agriculture, humane treatment of animals, a healthy, nutritious food supply, and antibiotics that work. The roadblock is billions of dollars invested in a system that prevents those things. It began with the U.S. government’s subsidies of commodity crops, and it continues with something called corporate personhood. Pick any point in the process to dissemble the Cow Industrial Complex and you will run into a wall of money, and corporations claiming they have the same civil rights as people. Download PDF file: Cow Industrial Complex                 "The Future of Farming: Milestones & Millstones" Published in the Regional Farm & Food Project Newsletter, November 2006, and in The Natural Farmer, Spring 2007         Milestones and millstones are markers for ideas good and bad. At times an event regaled as an overdue solution, like the codification of national organic standards, comes weighted with unintended consequences like the industrialization of organic farming, and organic confined animal feeding operations. In light of those recent unexpected outcomes, we may be wise to consider the potential unintended consequences of our goals for instituting a more just food system, a more sustainable agriculture, and a more robust farm economy... Download PDF file: Milestones & Millstones                 "Return to Slavery: Will you be eating China's dust for breakfast?" Speech given at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, April 19, 2006, and at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, December 2006, published in Annals of Earth, Fall 2006, and included in Columbia Teachers College syllabus for Nutritional Ecology, Fall 2006         Slavery is all about where your food comes from and what you have to do to get it. Since the beginning of recorded history, people have enslaved each other by controlling the food supply. The pharohs of Egypt enslaved the Jews, the Japanese enslaved the Koreans, the English enslaved the Irish, the Europeans enslaved the Africans, and the Indians invented the caste system so they could enslave each other. It’s easy to tell who the slaves are. They are the ones without food, without the access to food, without the economic power to procure food, and without the resources to produce their own food. Download PDF file: Return to Slavery                 "Separation of Business and State" Originally circulated by email in 2003, published in Annals of Earth, Fall 2006         When business corporations have the same civil rights as people, and are entitled to supplant the right to vote with money contributed to politicians and political campaigns, the process of government is perverted by greed. Government officials are corrupted and the law becomes a tool for creating wealth... Download PDF file: Separation of Business and State                 "What Does A Paradigm Shift Look Like?" Originally drawn April 2006         We are a paradigm away from the world we seek. It is for each of us to do what we can where we stand. Make conscious choices. Every time you spend a dime you are voting for the system that produced the thing you purchase. If you have trouble imagining a new system, this graphic should help. Download PDF file: Paradigm Shift                 "Community Based Food Systems: Small is Smart" Originally written April 2006         Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, our motto has been get big or get out. Our mantra has been shop till you drop. Shopping is the holy sacrament of American culture, and it’s killing us. Shopping is our national pastime, our favorite sport and our group therapy. It’s essential to our economy because today we measure our economic health by growth in spending... Download PDF file: Small is Smart                 New York State Assembly Public Hearing on "New York State Food and Nutrition Policy" Testimony given May 16, 2005, published in Cornell University Small Farms Quarterly, Summer 2005         In this time of rising energy costs, financial market volatility and labor market uncertainty, the most cost-efficient markets for New York State food and agriculture businesses are the markets closest to home. New York State would benefit greatly from collaborating with our neighboring states to develop a Northeast regional food policy that focuses on broad import replacement and reducing regulatory barriers to interstate commerce. A frictionless regional market is essential to our regional food security and our regional economic growth. Download Word file: Agriculture Policy Reform                 "Commodity vs. Community - the high price of cheapness!" Published in the Regional Farm & Food Project Newsletter, Spring 2005         ...When you choose between commodity food and community food you are choosing between a faceless-placeless food system and a place-based food system. Sure, you may be in a hurry, you may not have many options to choose from, or you may just have a yen for junk food... Download Word file: Commodity vs. Community                 "Dinner for Seven Million" Published in The Women's Times, May 2005         ...I spent most of my childhood living in a gravel road subdivision carved out of the cornfields of northern Illinois. Every two weeks my mother and I drove to the supermarket a half-hour away because the general store in town was too expensive and didn't have a good selection... Download Word file: Dinner for 7 Million                 My Haiku         sleeping in the earth i dream that i am compost mother of new soil                 "Tethering Goats" Published by Berkshire Homestyle, November 2004, and in Annals of Earth, Winter 2004         ...About a week past the point of no return on removing the kids' horns, Chet was reading the fine print on poultry netting in his fence catalog. "Not suitable for animals with horns," it said. Evidently goats get their horns stuck in the plastic mesh and respond to the electric shock by pulling down and generally wrecking the fence. The chickens are then unprotected and uncontained, free to invade the gardens, lay eggs in the bushes, and be eaten by neighborhood dogs. Months of fence research had to be scrapped and the process begun again... Download Word file: Tethering Goats                 "Commodity vs. Community: Place-based pricing for milk can fortify local dairy industry" Published by Berkshire Trade & Commerce, August 2004, and Annals of Earth, Fall 2004         ...About 35% of a dairy farm's operating expenses are grain, fuel and fertilizer, which can be more simply stated as fuel, fuel and fuel. Fuel to drive the tractor to produce the grain; fuel to truck animals and their food, and fuel as a major ingredient of industrial fertilizer production and distribution. Add to that the price of fuel for the truck that takes milk from the farm to the processor, and the truck that takes milk from the processor to the store. High fuel prices cause the price of just about everything else to be higher. One way to economize is to buy things that don't come from so far away... Download Word file: A New Formula for Milk                 "Becoming Farmers" Published by Bershire Homestyle, August 2004         ...The barn intrigued us as much as the house. We found cool stuff in the outbuildings. The trees spoke to us. We were intoxicated by the wild flowers and hypnotized by the frogs. But we were busy working city jobs from a country home. We loved the farm, but we saw it as a postcard, not a working landscape... Download Word file: Becoming Farmers                 "Community-Based Food Systems" A homework assignment for Cornell University professional development course, Food & Agriculture Based Community Development, written in 2004         ... A community-based food system becomes established as more food is produced and consumed with fewer businesses and less distance between the food producer and the food consumer... Download Word file: Community Food Systems                 "The New England Food System in the Year 2025: A History of the Future" A homework assignment for Cornell University professional development course, Food & Agriculture Based Community Development, written in 2003         ...Many factors influenced the public and their elected representatives to agree on the revitalization of regional agriculture as a solution to social, environmental and economic issues. First and foremost was the reality that as long as people eat there will be markets for food products, and whoever controls those markets effectively controls the people... Download Word file: New England's Food System in 2025                 "Dreaming Up a New Food System" Published in the Berkshire Eagle, November 26, 2003, in Cornell University's Community Food & Agriculture Newsletter, Fall 2003, and in Annals of Earth, Winter 2003         In my dreams our communities - rural, urban and suburban - experience a cultural renaissance with the actualization of regional programs to re-localize the food system. I'm imagining a food-and-agriculture-based community development program that encourages the production of local food products for local markets, reduces regulatory barriers for small food producers, builds regional food processing infrastructure, addresses issues of food security and self-reliance, and encourages economic growth... Download Word file: Dreaming Up A New Food System