The Natural Farmer
About Us
Photo Credit: Judith Prins
About The Natural Farmer
The Natural Farmer (TNF) is the quarterly, in-print magazine of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), nearly forty years old! In alignment with NOFA’s mission, TNF features organic farming techniques, certification issues, environmental developments as they impact farmers and growers, issues of food justice, and other topics of interest to the Northeast organic community.
TNF intends to serve as a voice of NOFA and to raise awareness within the NOFA community about important and timely issues related to organic agriculture. It is the only publication, electronic or in print, that is distributed to all seven NOFA state chapters as well as National and International subscribers. The magazine is published and mailed quarterly on the solstice/equinox in March, June, September, and December to a readership of more than 6,000 households.
Our Team
Liza Gabriel (NY)
Editor
Liza (she/her) is a mom, a farmer, and an activist. As a director of two farmer training nonprofits, she redesigned their structures to integrate equity into their programs, leadership, and culture. She is passionate about perennial food and medicine production and loves hiking and paddle boarding. Besides working for TNF, Liza is an organizational equity consultant, a member of the Soul Fire Farm Speakers Collective, and runs Wellspring Forest Farm with her family in the Finger Lakes, on land originally stewarded by the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ Indigenous people and who still reside here today south of and surrounding Cayuga Lake.
TNF's Advisory Committee
The Natural Farmer’s Advisory Committee helps guide the paper’s decision-making processes, develops editorial guidelines, expands our methods of promoting equity and racial justice, and broadens the paper’s reach.
Omowale Adewale (NY)
Advisory Committee
Omowale (he/him) farms under Liberation Farm in the black dirt region of Orange County, NY. He is the author of "An Introduction to Veganism and Agricultural Globalism" and "Brotha Vegan". He is also the founder of Black VegFest which has completed 7 consecutive years of bringing food and farm resources to Brooklyn. Omowale fights for Black food and land sovereignty in New York and speaks and writes regularly on the topic of food justice and liberation.
Xóchitl Ahtziri (CT)
Advisory Committee
Xóchitl (she/her) is from the Nutmeg state where she grows organic fruits, vegetables, and flowers for a non-profit in New Haven. She loves agriculture because she can both spiritually connect to her indigenous ancestors and provide sustenance to neighborhoods that have limited access to healthy produce.
Holli Cederholm (ME)
Advisory Committee
Holli (she/her) first apprenticed on an organic farm in 2005 and has since immersed herself in organic agriculture as a farmer, advocate and writer. She is the editor of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, the quarterly publication of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), and resides in rural Maine.
Chris Travis (NY)
Advisory Committee
Chris (he/him) is a Soil and Water Conservation District Technician in Onondaga County, NY. He is a graduate of SUNY ESF with a BS in Plant Biology and a Masters in Environmental Management. In 2022 he and his wife launched a cut-flower production for the first time!
Louis Battalen (MA) Advisory Committee
Brooklyn-bred and now homesteading on the eastern facing slopes of the Berkshires where he has held various food industry jobs in organic potato fields, on the factory line and at the kettle Louis’s work and passion are primarily found in the confluence of social justice and agriculture with the pen and in the field. His writings have been published in such publications as TheNatural Farmer, Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, the Massachusetts Review and the Catholic Worker. Recently he was the Outreach Organizer for the Agricultural Justice Project and has also served and co-founded NOFA’s Domestic Fair Trade Committee.
Dana Jackson (CT)
Advisory Committee
Dana (he/him) is the Director of Communications and Development for CT NOFA and the former editor and publisher of Edible Nutmeg, a regional magazine focusing exclusively on western Connecticut’s food community, including farmers, chefs, and locally produced food of all kinds. He is a graduate of UCLA (B.A. English) and San Diego State University (M.A. English). As a former Connecticut farmer, Dana believes that community begins at the food level and that local food production is the key to building stronger communities in our region.
April Jones (OH)
Advisory Committee
April (she/her) is from Akron, Ohio and advocates for her community as part of the food justice, water access and the food sovereignty movement. She has expertise in the role of farmers markets and in the human elements of shifting the food system. She is a graduate of the University of Akron Lebron James Family Foundation School of Education and is a facilitator, writer, public speaker, national and international consultant, recipe developer, book reviewer and event planner. She contributes content to her blog Frolicking Americana, and to national and international magazines including, Mother Earth News, Grit, TNF, and Growing for Market.
Lauren Chiyoko (NY)
Advisory Committee
Lauren (she/her) has a diverse farming background ranging from native seed production in NYC, to biodynamic farming in the pastoral Eastern Townships of Quebec. She earned degrees in Farm Management (McGill University) and Agro-environmental Studies (SUNY- Empire State College) and now serves in a farm-adjacent role, overseeing the Town of Bethlehem’s Farms & Forest Conservation Program in Albany County, NY. Lauren is passionate about promoting land access for the next generation of farmers and working to remove barriers for BIPOC farmers seeking land tenure. Lauren also enjoys making music with her husband, and spending time with her three children.
Richard Robinson (MA)
Advisory Committee
Richard (he/him) is a full-time vegetable and Christmas tree farmer at Hopestill Farm and part-time science writer, from Sherborn, MA. He has helped edit TNF since 2021.
Hannah Shafer (VT)
Advisory Committee
Hannah (she/her) is a plant biology graduate student at the University of Vermont. Before starting her graduate studies, she worked on several small farms throughout the Northeast where she fell in love with plants and growing good food. She is currently an avid gardener and aspiring farmer.
Donald Sutherland (MA) Advisory Committee
Donald (he/him) is a USDA Certified Organic vegetable farmer for 13 years at
Long Life Farm in Hopkinton, MA. He is a member of NOFA Mass policy planning committee, the Hopkinton Sustainable Green Committee and
Chair of the Environmental Working Group subcommittee. He has been a freelance environmental writer since 1988.
Elizabeth Henderson (NY)
Advisory Committee
Elizabeth (she/her) farmed at Peacework Farm in Wayne County, New York, producing organically grown vegetables for one of the first CSAs in the country. She co-chairs the NOFA-IC Policy Committee, and represents NOFA on the Board of the Agricultural Justice Project and as the delegate to IFOAM-OI. She serves as Honorary President of Urgenci, the International CSA Network.
Vision for Equity
The Natural Farmer recognizes this country was built on land stolen from Indigenous people and the labor, skill, and knowledge of Africans kidnapped from their homelands for chattel slavery. Access to land and the wealth and opportunities land represents has historically been, and continues to be, denied to many communities, perpetuating systemic injustices and the domination of white supremacy.
We understand that achieving equity in agriculture requires more than symbolic gestures or statements. Equity demands actions - actions that address disparities in land ownership, compensate for stolen lands, and ensure marginalized people have access to land, air, water, equipment, and capital.
The Natural Farmer recognizes this equity statement is not the same as the returning stolen lands; it is not the same as returning the wealth generated from those stolen lands; it is not the same as righting the scales, or offering the lost opportunity to those wronged. We recognize that this statement is not a solution to the perennial failings of the farming industry.
We know it is impossible to undo the damage of colonial settlements and that seeking equality can feel like favoritism to those accustomed to privilege. We hope this statement and our commitments encourage inclusion and diversity in organic farming and NOFA’s work. Equity is needed in all sectors, especially in land ownership and the accumulation of wealth.
The Natural Farmer intends to work passionately on our vision for a just and equitable future. We recognize that words are not actions. Words are seeds of transformation. We will use words to address neoliberal economics and recognize who it favors and who it does not. We are committed to these actions:
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Source and publish underrepresented voices and perspectives, particularly those of Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Indigenous and working-class growers.
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Welcome the truth and liberation equity provides by educating our readers about the ingrained injustice in our agriculture system and ensuring credit is given to those who developed the agroecological farming systems adopted by organic farmers and gardeners, many of which were developed by enslaved Africans and Indigenous people.
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Develop equitable practices in sourcing articles, hiring methods, and decision-making strategies, including offering writer compensation and engaging TNF’s Advisory Committee.
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Publish policy-related updates on the inequalities in farming and the impacts on Black and Brown people.
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Recognize the vast inequalities in land ownership and support the restoration of sacred relationships between Indigenous people and ancestral lands.
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Collaborate with the NOFA Chapters to address our collective goals for antiracist action.
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Revisit this statement and our commitments annually to assess how we're doing and where we can do better.
Feel free to send us a comment about our vision or get in touch to work with us to achieve this vision.
Photo Credit: Ujamma Seeds
NOFA Chapters
The Natural Farmer is the newspaper of the NOFA Interstate Council and the seven NOFA chapters.
Reprints
We want you to pass along the work of The Natural Farmer. Out of respect and recognition of our farmers, writers and photographers, please contact us first. Email your request to our editor: tnf@nofa.org.
Include in your email the issue date and title of the article or photograph you would like to reprint.
Image Credit: Bhoomi Devi Seeds.
Job Openings
We recruit for the TNF Advisory Committee on an ongoing basis. This compensated committee supports TNF's work and values. View the committee's Purpose, Composition, and Procedures and find the form to apply. The next term starts in June 2025.
There are no other job openings at this time.