from the ground up
Maine ’ s Common Ground Country Fair
By Albert Presgraves Photography by john williams
I grew up in Montgomery County , attended the public schools , and graduated from Churchill High School in 1972 . I moved away from the area in 1977 , and I only recently became aware of the Agricultural Reserve . I was very happy to learn that it was established in 1980 and continues to be protected to this day .
After having various young adult explorations , I moved to Maine in 1981 and soon learned about the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association ( MOFGA ). I have attended their annual event , the Common Ground Country Fair , almost every year since then . The following story explains why the organization and the Fair are so important to me and my family , and why the story seems related to the Ag Reserve .
When I describe all the things that MOFGA has accomplished and continues to do , realize that they were all essentially done by a very dedicated and energetic group of volunteers , with people coming and going as they do in organizations like this , but with some strong leaders and individuals who maintained direction and enthusiasm . I was never closely involved with the huge volunteer effort that was and is MOFGA , but my wife Jenny and I volunteered at the fair for a few years . Jenny also gave talks about herbalism at the Health and Healing tent in the early 1990s , and she was later paid to perform music at the Children ’ s Area , and a few years later , to present her original musical play . I was in the audience with our two kids enjoying the show while Jenny and her group performed .
MOFGA was established in 1971 , making it the oldest and largest state organic organization in the country . At that time , the term organic was becoming popular , but there was no national standard or regulations for the term . MOFGA ’ s overarching mission was to advocate for organic agriculture , and as a state-wide organization , they decided it would be helpful to have a state-wide organic certification program . They established their program to certify organic Maine farms in 1972 . Many years later , they fought to make the national organic standards meaningful , and after the USDA established those standards in 2002 , MOFGA became accredited to certify organic