Organic Contacts and Organizations

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
P. O. Box 324, Elkins, AR 72727
tel 479-587-0888, email [email protected], web site http://www.ssawg.org
This is a coalition of organizations in 13 southeastern states. It publishes a newsletter ("Southern Sustainable Farming"), and holds an excellent annual meeting which features presentations on topics of interest to growers, and displays by appropriate vendors.

Mississippi Organic Growers' Association
Tom & Sue Ann Dana, Lumberton, MS 39455
tel 601-796-4406
This is a loose organization of south Mississippi growers who hold occasional on-farm meetings.

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
P. O. Box 3657, Fayetteville, AR 72702
tel 800-346-9140, email [email protected], web site http://www.attra.org/
ATTRA is a free information center, to which growers can call or write with questions. In addition, they have free publications available on sustainable agriculture, and will search for information that they do not have readily available. Their topic-specific resource lists are excellent.

National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
P. O. Box 396, Pine Bush, NY 12566
tel 914-744-8448, fax 914-744-8477, email [email protected]
This organization alerts its members to sustainable agriculture concerns that need immediate response. They mail a one-page summary to members giving background to the issue, what response is appropriate, and where to submit your response. Members are free to respond as they feel appropriate and when they are in agreement. Membership is free, and available by contacting their office.

Organic Trade Association (OTA)
50 Miles Street, P.O. Box 1078, Greenfield, MA. 01302
tel 413- 774 7511, fax 413 774 6432, email [email protected], web site http://www.ota.com/
OTA is an association representing the organic industry in Canada and the United States. It is made up of growers, farmer associations, processors, retailers, distributors, shippers, brokers, consultants, and certifiers. The association is concerned with all aspects of the organic agriculture industry, including production, markets, and legislation.

Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF)
RR # 2 5-18 C-9, Nelson, BC, V1L 5P5, Canada
tel 250-354-4417
Don Pynches, Coordinator, 19 Bradford Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1RB, England
tel (from the USA dial 011-44) 1273-476-286
Lionel Pollard, Mount Murrindal Cooperative, Buchan, Victoria 3885, Australia
tel (from the USA dial 011-61) 051-550218, web site www.earthlink.com.au/wwoof
Willing Workers on Organic Farms is an organization that places individuals on organic farms on a work-for-lodging-and-learning basis. Workers can spend from a few days to a whole season on a farm. WWOOF also operates in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Togo.

Northeast Workers on Organic Farms
Kathy Ruhf, P. O. Box 608, Belchertown, MA 01007
tel 413-323-4531, fax 413-323-9594, email [email protected]
Northeast WOOF is an organic farm apprenticeship placement service, sponsored by the New England Small Farm Institute. They publish a list of available farm openings in February each year, with one or two updates in the spring (March and possibly April). Farms who wish to be listed pay for their listing. The list is available for US$8.00. Northeast WOOF is similar to WWOOF, except that workers spend an entire season on a farm. They also publish a 4-page directory of contacts for organic farming apprenticeship programs throughout the world.

Southeast Workers on Organic Farms
Janus Farms Institute, 1287 Stage Coach Rd., Silver City, NC 27344
tel 919-742-4672
SEWOOF publishes a listing of organic farms in 13 southeastern states that take seasonal apprentices.

Small Farm Center
University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8699
tel 916-752-8136, fax 916-752-7716, web site http://www.sfc.ucdavis.edu/
The Small Farm Center is an office that disseminates information relevant to small farmers, publishes a newsletter ("Small Farm News"), maintains a library on small farm topics, and has a catalog of for-sale publications on small farm topics.

Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Elizabeth Bird, University of Wisconsin, 1450 Linden Dr., Room 146, Madison, WI 53706
tel 608-265-6483, fax 608-265-3020, email [email protected]
The consortium is an organization dedicated to facilitating cooperation and collaboration among those involved in sustainable agriculture. They publish a newsletter ("Inquiry in Action", formerly "Consortium News") that reports on happenings in sustainable agriculture, lists new publications, posts job announcements, and includes an events calendar.

Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), and
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC)
National Agricultural Library, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 304, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
tel 301-504-6559, fax 301-504-6409
email [email protected], web site www.nal.usda.gov/afsic
AFSIC (together with SAN) is an information center at the National Agricultural Library, to which individuals can call for information. They have free publications available on sustainable and alternative agriculture. Most of their publications are bibliographic in nature.

Information Collection and Exchange
Peace Corps, 1990 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20526
web site www.peacecorps.gov/center
Peace Corps publishes manuals to aid Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's) and others working in developing countries. The manuals are excellent, practical, and applied. They are designed to provide background and how-to information to PCV's who might not be trained in the particular task at hand. The manuals are reprints of other publications, publications commissioned by the Peace Corps, or manuals written by PCV's. Their "Bibliography of ICE Publications" lists all the publications, and they will send the bibliography to individuals in the USA, however, they cannot send the materials to USA addresses. Their materials are free (by surface-mail) to PCV's and development workers in developing countries. They are generally available in the government documents section of most major university libraries.

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
P. O. Box 20305, Jackson, MS 39289-1305
tel 601-961-5316, web site http://www.deq.state.ms.us/
DEQ is a state agency which publishes an occasional newsletter ("Watershed Harmony") on non-point source pollution in Mississippi.