OSA supporter and seed systems advocate, Nash Huber, was awarded a “Sustie” at last week’s EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove, CA. We’re thrilled for Nash and excited that EcoFarm publicly recognizes the amazing work he does for sustainable agriculture. Please see the press release from Nash’s Organic Produce below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2011 – Nash Huber, owner of Nash’s Organic Produce in Dungeness, received a Steward of Sustainable Agriculture (“Sustie”) Award by the Ecological Farming Association at its 31st annual conference in Pacific Grove, CA, on Friday, January 28, 2011. Better known as EcoFarm, the conference is the largest sustainable agriculture gathering in the western U.S. and has been spotlighting visionary farmers, academics, restaurateurs, authors and others at its conferences since 1988.
The award, a beautiful hand-carved gourd, the organization’s symbol of agricultural stewardship, honors three individuals, couples or groups each year who have demonstrated, in word and action, a long-term, significant contribution to sustainable agriculture and the well-being of farming and the planet. Past recipients include chef Alice Waters and publisher Robert Rodale.
In addition to Huber, recipients this year were Dr. Miguel Altieri, professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, and Gabriel Howard, a botanist and farmer who works with organic growers in Baja California. Anna Marie Carter, known as the Seed Lady of Watts, was honored with a “Justie” Award for her work advocating for social justice in agriculture by planting hundreds of vegetable gardens in Watts, CA. The awards were presented at a banquet attended by more than 800 guests by Amigo Cantisano of Organic Ag Advisers and a co-founder of EcoFarm.
Nash Huber started Nash’s Organic Produce in 1979. Today he and his team farm about 400 acres organically, growing organic fruits, vegetables, grains and seed crops. They also raise pastured hogs and chickens using sustainable methods.
The farm employs 35+ people, participates in 11 farmers markets, sells wholesale to PCC Natural Markets of Seattle and several west coast distributors, runs a year round Farm Store and operates a summer/fall and winter Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. It is also deeply committed to preserving sources of organic seed for the future.
Nash believes that training the next generation to farm in a sustainable way is as important as the farming itself. His crew of young farmers has worked with him for many years and currently runs the day-to-day operations. He also works to protect farmland on the Olympic Peninsula and received the Vim Wright Award for Farming in the Environment in 2006 and the Steward of the Land Award from American Farmland Trust in 2008.
In addition to receiving a Sustie Award, Huber participated in a panel entitled “Integrating Organic Seed Production into a Diversified Farming Operation.”
The Ecological Farming Association is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1981. EcoFarm fosters a far-reaching network of people, NGOs and businesses committed to sustainable agriculture. EcoFarm’s education programs have reached more than 60,000 participants for over 30 years. The organization’s programs bring together a diversity of stakeholders in California food production to promote grassroots leadership and regional solutions to decrease the negative impacts of industrial agriculture on environmental and community health.
# # #
