Congratulations to These 56 Newly-Certified Farmers and Beekeepers

We are delighted to announce the most recent crop of Certified Naturally Grown producers who have met all the requirements for certification since April! They are listed below alphabetically by state and province. 

We are pleased to announce the launch of our latest educational initiative: CNG Boot Camp. This course is designed specifically to support Certified Naturally Grown farmers in understanding best practices for vegetable production, while fostering valuable connections with other like-minded producers.

We will offer the course multiple times, and to different cohorts of about 25 farmers each. Cohorts will be defined as much as possible according to geographic region, growing zone, experience and scale, to help maximize valuable networking and focused learning with peers who share similar experiences. Boot Camp will be held online, in five weekly 90-minute sessions. 

Our first course will be offered to farmers in the Southeast, and begins mid-September. Southern farmers hold your spot here if you're farming in the South and would like to be notified when registration opens.

If you'd like to participate in another Boot Camp cohort, register your interest here.

Five weekly sessions will cover the following topics:

We're delighted to announce the addition of Cathy Joly to team CNG as our new Member Services Coordinator. Cathy works from her home office in rural New Hampshire, and fills the position formerly held by Jenna Sabers. Jenna will remain with CNG on a part time basis as she enters graduate school.

We'll miss having Jenna's exceptional competence in this central role, but we are very excited to have Cathy joining us. She brings a breadth of experience, and we can't wait to tap into her knowledge.

Read on to learn more about Cathy and the skills she brings to our team.

We are thrilled to announce three new board members joining our grassroots team! They bring with them a true breadth of experience from all over the country. Join us in welcoming Christopher Peterson (Tennessee), Audrey Sekendur (Illinois), and Laurie Wayne (California).

Read on to learn more about Chris, Audrey, and Laurie!

Congratulations to These 72 Newly-Certified Farmers and Beekeepers

We are delighted to announce the most recent crop of Certified Naturally Grown producers who have met all the requirements for certification since October! They are listed below alphabetically by state and province. 

This winter we launched Film SEEDs, A Farmer Learning Collaborative. Now that this series of six weekly sessions is complete, we wanted to share some participant feedback, and announce we intend to continue and evolve this dynamic online peer-to-peer learning approach.

For fun you can watch the trailer we made for our inaugural series. 

Film SEEDs was an ambitious project involving several elements:

• the creation of nine short educational films,
• five lessons on core topics in CNG production practices, and
• a dozen experienced CNG farmers who were featured in the "expert exchange" discussions and/or in the films
• CNG farmers throughout our North American network, plus those who joined via partner organizations. 

Participants really appreciated this new initiative. Here's some feedback we received:

Is your wardrobe ready for summer weather? We are here to help with the re-launch of our t-shirt campaign!

Step out in style at the farmers market. Place your order today!

Our campaign ends April 19, then production begins. Shirts will be delivered April 28 - May 7th. 

These shirt were hand-designed by Aly Miller and come in five colors.

All proceeds benefit Certified Naturally Grown. Why not get one for each member of your farm crew or family? Thanks in advance for your support!

Photo of Jenna, CNG's Program Manager, in snowy Rochester, NY where April 1 brought even more snow. She hopes to wear the shirt without the jacket soon!

As the growing season is upon us, farmers are focused on production, at last! But at some point every CNG producer needs to arrange for their annual peer-inspection. 

Farmers report gaining a lot from the inspections they give and receive, but we are striving to make them even more valuable, while keeping the process as streamlined as possible. In 2020 we developed an initiative to name highly qualified, experienced CNG producers to serve as Senior Remote Inspectors (SRIs). We announced our first cohort in November. 

Today we’re pleased to announce CNG’s second cohort of SRIs. This group of twelve long-time members includes several who have been with CNG for more than ten years. 

Applications due May 10, 2021

Click Here to Apply

The Board of Directors of Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) invites applications from individuals interested in serving this membership-based nonprofit organization. CNG is a well established and stable organization, yet there remains a great deal of untapped potential to positively impact our food and farming system. We seek passionate and engaged board candidates to help us increase our impact by reliably fulfilling the core responsibilities listed in the position description below while also contributing to the organization with particular strengths in one or more of the following areas:

• Marketing and communications strategy
• Fundraising (particularly corporate sponsorship) 
• 501(c)(6) and/or other membership-based organizations
• Financial management/investment capital

In addition, we are particularly interested in candidates who bring a rural perspective; who identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of color; and who reside in Tennessee, Michigan, Arkansas or the West Coast (and, more generally, not on the East Coast). 

CNG is rooted in the principles of Participatory Guarantee Systems as outlined by IFOAM-Organics International. All board candidates should be prepared to share in this commitment. 

For many of us, "Stay Connected" captures how we have coped and adapted - and if we're lucky, thrived - amidst the challenges of this past year. It describes how CNG members find strength through collaboration, sharing resources and stories while navigating new ways of life. And staying connected is one of the benefits of our annual peer-inspections, which continued, even if in a modified form.

Inspired by these values, and how they show up on farms, our designer Aly Miller set to work illustrating the inter-dependent relationships of the three sisters - Corn, Squash and Beans - with the many twirling tendrils that connect them, the height of Corn granting light to Beans, and the lush carpet of Squash leaves serving the triad by preventing weed growth. Nature shows the way.