For the City Times

AMHERST — 2018 John Kinsman Beginning Farmer Food Sovereignty Prize will be Awarded by Family Farm Defenders to Tommy and Samantha Enright of Black Rabbit Farm and Craig and Lauren Kreutzel of Meadowlark Farm on Sat. April 7th at 5:30 pm at the River Arts Center (323 Water St.) in Baraboo.

Award dinner and ceremony is held in conjunction with the FFD Annual Meeting and Community Forum, held from 9 am – 4 pmat the Best Western Baraboo Inn (725 W. Pine St.) and includes 6:30 pm Keynote Speech by George Naylor, longtime IA farmer and past president of the National Family Farm Coalition

Black Rabbit Farm specializes in rotationally grazed livestock and vegetable production for direct sale via farmers markets and the Enrights are very involved in grassroots organizing mostly through the Wisconsin Farmers Union.  Meadowlark Farm is a communitysupported agriculture (CSA) operation that combines pastured animals and organic vegetables, and the Kreutzers are also engaged in various farm to school projects in Juneau County.  Both winners will be on hand at the event to share more about their farms and how their food sovereignty work.

The Beginning Farmer Food Sovereignty Prize is named after FFD founder and longtime president, John Kinsman, who dedicated his life to advocating for family farming and food sovereignty. John passed away in Jan. 2014, but Family Farm Defenders is extremely proud to continue this award in his honor and to further his legacy. Many members of the extended Kinsman family will be in attendance at this year’s award ceremony.

The awards are being presented in conjunction with the FFD annual meeting to be held from 9:00 am – 12:00 Noon at the Best Western Baraboo Inn (725 W. Pine St.), followed from1:00 – 4:00 pm by a community forum focusing on migrant farmworker solidarity, water issues, and the ongoing dairy crisis.

Invited panelists include:  Becky Schigiel, executive director, Worker Justice Wisconsin; Erica Sweitzer-Beckman, farmworker attorney, Legal Action Wisconsin, Dr. Diego Calderon; UW Veterinary School (and former immigrant dairy farmworker); Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food & Water Watch; Jen Riemer, farmer activists with Green County Defending Our Farmland; Pete Hardin, editor of the Milkweed; Jim Goodman, FFD board member and organic dairy farmer; and Rob Anderson, board member of Westby Cooperative.

The evening program at the River Arts Center (323 Water St.) begins with a reception at 4;30 pm, 5:30 pm dinner featuring local organic food; 6:00 pm Welcome by Joel Greeno, FFD President; John Kinsman Tribute by Ben Burkett, director of the MS Association of Co-ops, and Keynote Address by George Naylor, longtime IA farmer, and past president, National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) on Parity Price, Democracy, and Food Sovereignty

Dinner tickets are $30 per person and can be ordered in advance by mail (send check to FFD: P.O. Box 1772, Madison, WI 53701) or online via the Razoo donation link at:www.familyfarmdefenders.org  If you plan to attend and pay at the door we ask that you RSVP in advance so we know how many to expect!

Family Farm Defenders is also seeking additional sponsors for this year’s John Kinsman Prize  All sponsors will receive an honorable mention in the evening program and any sponsorship over $100 will receive two complimentary award dinner tickets.  All donations to FFD are tax deductible.

Previous John Kinsman prize winners include in 2011: Lindsey Morris Carpenter of Grassroots Farm, near Monroe, WI, and Daniel and Hannah Miller of Easy Yoke Farm near Millville MN;  in 2012:  Nancy and Jeff Kirstein, Good Earth Farm, Lennox SD and Tracy and Dick Vinz, Olden Produce, Ripon, WI; in 2014:  Blain Snipstal of Five Seeds Farm near Sparks, MD and Jed Schenkier and Will Pool of Loud Grade Produce Squad in Chicago, IL; in 2015: Carsten Thomas from Moorhead, MN and Emmet Fisher and Cella Langer with Oxheart Farm near Mt. Horeb, WI; n 2016: Donald (Jahi) Ellis from Vidalia, GA and Polly Dalton and Oren Jakobson with Field Notes Farm near Custer, WI, and in 2017 Eduardo Rivera of Sin Fronteras Farm neaer Stillwater, MN