THE ORGANIC FARMERS MARKETING ASSOCIATION, INC.
Thu, 7 Nov 96
Bill Welsh, Chair, e-mail: wfof@ptel.net
voice: 319-535-7318, fax: 319-535-7218
1509 Dry Ridge Dr., Lansing, IA 52151
The First Annual Organic Farmers Marketing Association Meeting
The OFMA Organizing Committee invites organic farmers to participate with us
in identifying and developing services and a work plan at our first annual
meeting in Kansas City. The proposed agenda and meeting registration form
follow.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
ORGANIC FARMERS MARKETING ASSOCIATION, INC.
Bill Welsh, Chair, organic livestock, farmer, Iowa
Dave De Cou, Vice-chair, organic produce farmer, Oregon
Cissy Bowman, Secretary, organic produce farmer, Indiana
George Siemon, Treasurer, organic dairy farmer, Wisconsin
Paula Anderson, organic cotton specialist, Texas
Chris Fullerton, cooperative manager, Pennsylvania
Randy Hampshire, organic field crops farmer, Michigan
Jeff Johnston, organic vegetable farmer, Ontario, Canada
Eric Kindberg, organic produce and livestock farmer, Arkansas
David Milholland, publicist, Oregon
Allen Moody, organic field crop purchasing, Kansas
Nick Morecenik, organic herb farmer, Ontario, Canada
Ron Nigh, organic farming consultant, D.F., Mexico
Angel Parrodi, tropical forestry specialist, Oaxaca, Mexico
Pamela Saunders, organic livestock farmer, Wisconsin
Steven Sprinkel, organic produce farmer, Texas
Nancy Taylor, organic field crops farmer, Idaho
First Annual OFMA Meeting, December 6-8, 1996 An invitation from:
The Organic Farmers Marketing Association October 10, 1996
The OFMA Organizing Committee invites organic farmers to participate with us
in identifying and developing services and a work plan at our first annual
meeting in Kansas City. The proposed agenda and meeting registration form
follow.
Mission Statement:
The purpose of the Organic Farmers Marketing Association is to advance
communication and cooperation among organic farmers in product marketing,
consumer education, and public advocacy, and to secure the economic and
environmental sustainability of an organic food and fiber system.
The Organic Farmers Marketing Association ( OFMA ), an association of
certified organic farmers, was founded in March of 1996 in order to represent
the international, national and regional marketing interests of its members.
The organic farmers who created OFMA earlier this year, in Leavenworth,
Kansas, selected an Organizing Committee and elected a chair of the
Association, Iowa organic farmer Bill Welsh. The founding members then began
to shape the organization, developing Production Sector Committees to
represent produce/perishables producers, livestock farmers, and grain and
field crop producers, and to investigate new telecommunications technologies
that allow farmers to communicate more efficiently with each other, consumers
and buyers.
OFMA will provide marketing services for organic farmers so that they will be
able to meet the challenges imposed by mass-marketing and large-scale
production which can be best addressed through cooperation and better
communication. Price reporting, production planning, research and
implementation of cooperative marketing strategies are among the services
offered being proposed to OFMA member-producers.
Since the founding meeting, OFMA has expanded its regional US representation
and reached out to organic farmers in Mexico and Canada. A new Production
Sector Committee for fiber producers was also created. OFMA s Infrastructure
Committees, including Membership and Cooperative Development and notably
Telecommunications, which has created an OFMA site on the World Wide Web, have
also been active.
OFMA Web Site http://www.iquest.net/ofma/ quickly became one of the most
valuable information resources for the organic community, shortly after it was
created.
The OFMA Organizing Committee has been active in public advocacy this year,
working directly with the USDA, US congressional representatives, certifying
agents, consumers, farmers and environmentalists to bring about the
publication of the Proposed Rule on the National Organic Program. The
Association has been instrumental in defending strict organic standards for
livestock production, honey production, crop production and in the prohibition
of genetically engineered inputs, plant and livestock in organic agriculture.
Cooperation is a producer s logical market response to the growth of corporate
superiority in the distribution and marketing of organically grown products.
OFMA is the means to sustain the economic viability, and continued
participation in a changing marketplace, of organic farmers no matter their
location, the size of their farm or quantity of production.
Agnet Nov. 7/96
Douglas A Powell <dpowell@uoguelph.ca>
Thursday, November 07, 1996 11:28 AM
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