Jen Greenberg presented this workshop at the 2011 ACORN organic conference and trade show in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  (54 mins)

At ACORN's 2011 organic conference and trade show in Nova Scotia, Cuban permaculturalist Roberto Perez Rivero presented his research and experiences with a permaculture-based Cuban society.  (60 mins)

Sandra Murphy discusses the health benefits of following a seasonal diet at ACORN's 2011 organic conference and trade show in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Urban gardener Jayme Melrose explains many ways to make your lawn and edible and beautiful food resource at the 2011 ACORN organic conference and trade show in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  (59 mins)

Gift of Organic Farming is one in a series of inspirational videos with Klaas and Mary Howell-Martens talking on organic farming at the Growing More Organic Conference, Cornwall, PEI, 2007.

A study from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom shows and provides scientific evidence that organic farming methods generally provide more biodiverse environments.

Eating Locally all Year Long with Jen Greenberg.

Keeping Chickens in the City with Louise Hanavan: Chickens; Supplies; Pest control

This Nova Scotia-created guide is intended to help you develop your food processing business.  Whether you’re new to the food industry and starting a new business, or are considering expanding your existing operation, you’ll find the tools you need here.

Chef Lauren Marshall hosted a raw-foods information session jam-packed into an hour of juicing, spiralizing and soaking and sprouting demos at the ACORN conference 2014

Includes articles on the following:

• Conference Highlights
• Visit to Polyface Farm, SALLY BERNARD
• Organic Materials Review Institute KELSEY McKEE
• Farm Hack & Slow Tools, DAVID GREENBERG
• Project & Provincial Updates
• Organic in Newfoundland, RUPERT JANNASCH 
• NB @ NEVF Conference , EMILIE McBRIDE  
• Bulk Ordering Program, TARA SCOTT  
• Seasonal Food Fix  

• Conference Speakers Q & A 
• How to Save $$ at the ACORN Conference
• New Business Feature: Shell-ex 
• Dung Beetle & Agricultural Ecology
• Project & Provincial Updates
• Seasonal Food Fix
• Conference Sponsors, Donors & Supporters 

In this workshop from the 2013 ACORN Conference in Moncton, Diane Savoie used local, organic, whole foods to create delicious appetizers for the audience to enjoy. She illustrated the importance of cooking with little to no waste, by using food scraps for making stocks. Diane never uses recipes, but the following notes should give you an idea of the ingredients used, and how they are prepared.

In this workshop from the 2013 ACORN Conference in Moncton, Tegan Wong-Daugherty, co-founder of Buckwheat Flats Natural Foods (NB) provided a hands-on workshop on how to make sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is special in that it uses the local bacteria and yeasts present in your home as a levener, which makes for distinct flavors and characteristics in each loaf. She outlines the steps and ingredients necessary for successful sourdough from start to finish.

­Food forest gardening does not mean gardening in a forest, but like a forest. It is an imitation of a woodland ecosystem, focusing medicinal and edible plants that thrive together. Unlike dedicated gardens, they are low maintenance while still offering an abundance of food and medicine. At the 2016 Homesteading Symposium in Dieppe, Estelle Drisdelle shares her insight and years of experience on maintaining food forests and guilds.

At the 2016 Homesteading Symposium in Dieppe, Estelle Drisdelle shares her knowledge of harvesting and preserving local plants. Her presentation explores the variety of healing properties these maritime plants posses and how to reap the benefits.

Having both grown up in the city, Bryan Dyck and Shannon Jones of BroadFork Farm came to realize that their vision of farming included a desire to homestead. Their favorite way to preserve their harvests is through lacto-fermentation. At the 2016 Homesteading Symposium in Dieppe, they presented 3 styles of lacto-fermented vegetables: kimchi, sauerkraut and pickle.

At the 2016 Homesteading Symposium in Moncton, NB, Robin and Rebecca LeBlanc share their many methods of preserving their harvest. Together they explain how they store summer’s bounty and give insight to where certain crops should be stored.

Robin and Rebecca LeBlanc met in Moncton and later moved to Bathurst, where they have been homesteading since now joined with their 3 children. At the 2016 Homesteading Symposium in Moncton, they offered insight of their experiences living off the land including the making of their cob oven, maintaining the green house and poultry, and mushroom logs. The LeBlanc’s strive to balance both their careers as teachers and musicians, and as a result prefer to do large batches of their preserves and dairy in order to have quick access to their bounty year long. Every July they leave their homestead in the hands of a neighbor and are full time musicians for the month.

You can search for organic prices in the Maritimes using Canadian Organic Growers' online price tracking tool atwww.OrganicPriceTracker.ca. Thanks to ACORN member producers and volunteers for contributing prices! If you have prices to contribute, please contact tegan@acornorganic.org.

Tips on proper storage for vegetables and fruit at home

Tips on proper storage of vegetables and fruit at home from Tipi Produce Farm in Wisconsin

FairShare CSA Coalition features an array of food preservation links on their website.

The Organic Agriculture Center of Canada (OACC) reviews a scientific paper that examines the positive impact that organic farming could have on the environment in Canada and how it makes organic farming superior to its convential counterpart.

An evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops and foods.

A research paper from Washington State University examines how organic production enhances the fatty-acid composition, and subsequently overall quality of milk.

From RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. An experiment was conducted were a group of people were put on a mostly organic diet, and within a relatively short time period, the levels of herbicides (namely, organophosphate metabollites) decrease significantly.

A North American initiative aiming at decreasing the widespread of GMO in agriculture.

A study conducted in 2011 examined and analyzed levels of energy across a large number of farms to determine and deduce long-term sustainability of carbon levels in organic farms.

This Fix.com blog written by Halifax-based Andrea Moore provides a good overview of why CSAs are a great choice and what to expect when signing up for one. While geared to a US audience, there is valuable content and great graphics to boot!