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The Natural Farmer

About Us

Photo Credit: Judith Prins

About The Natural Farmer

For more than thirty years, The Natural Farmer (TNF) has been the quarterly, in-print newspaper of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).  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 both as a voice of NOFA and to raise awareness within the NOFA community about important and timely issues related to organic agriculture.  TNF 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 paper 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

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.

Elizabeth Gabriel (NY)
Editor

Elizabeth (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, Liz is an organizational equity consultant, a member of the Soul Fire Farm Speakers Collective, facilitates Talking Circles on Race & Racism 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.

Contact Elizabeth

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Melanie Espinal (NJ)Communications Administrator

Melanie (she/her) is a writer, marketer, and lover of the natural world. Enchanted by the wonders of the natural world, Melanie's upbringing was steeped in the legacy of her mother, who was raised on a farm in Puerto Rico. Captivating stories and Melanie’s experiences working on farm coops in Salt Lake City fueled her passion to contribute to organizations championing sustainable futures.

With a background in cross-cultural communications and arts & culture journalism, Melanie hopes to work to build relationships with TNF and readers across diverse backgrounds, industries and communities to expand NOFA’s awareness and support. 

Contact Melanie

Melanie Espinal
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Coming Soon!

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Photo Credit: Rock Steady Farm, NY.

Equity Statement

Coming Soon! 

TNF is developing a racial justice statement. While the statement is a work in progress, NOFA/Mass has a Working Racial Equity Statement that speaks to the TNF’s position.

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.

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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.

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