PASA Award Winners

PASA-bilities Leadership Award Series

Every year we hear from numerous conference participants, both old and new, in written evaluations and letters received following the conference that people want to hear more from some of the true experts sitting with them in the audience. The Farming for the Future Conference is one of the few events held anywhere each year that is literally packed with sustainable leaders from throughout Pennsylvania and, indeed, all across the country.

So, in celebrating the 20th anniversary of this amazing event, we brought a new innovation to our conference this year that will take advantage of some of the seasoned “star power” we enjoy among our members and close friends. In the closing plenary session on Saturday we featured not one, but two speakers who shared the platform as this year’s winners of our Sustainable Ag Leadership Award as well as the Sustainable Ag Business Leader Award! These awards honor those individuals and businesses that are the most notable sustainable ag leaders and promoters in Pennsylvania and beyond.

According to executive director Brian Snyder, “The PASA community is filled with leaders in sustainable agriculture. We’ve been giving these awards all along, but this year, we’re bringing them into the spotlight.”

In the fall of each year the PASA Board of Directors looks to the PASA membership for recommendations of worthy award winners. If you know a person or business that you believe should be considered for an award, please contact PASA headquarters at 814-349-9856.

2011 Award Winners

Sustainable Ag Leadership Award - Mary-Howell & Klaas Martens

This year’s Sustainable Ag Leadership Award winners, Mary-Howell and Klaas Martens of Lakeview Organic Grain based in Penn Yan, New York, planted their first organic crop in 1992 (the year of PASA’s first conference), a single field of wheat. Today they farm nearly 1,400 acres of organic corn, soybeans, spelt, wheat, barley, oats, triticale, red kidney beans and hay in addition to operating a successful seed and feed business.

“We do what we love to do,” said Mary-Howell Martens, who noted the importance of building lasting relationships in their work. Writing in PASA’s newsletter Passages in 2008, the Martens describe an early encounter with sustainable farming when talking with a group of organic farmers near Pittsburgh: “the concept really caught our imagination because creating balanced cooperative partnerships between farms and buyers, based on mutual respect, made so much sense, long before the term ‘locavore’ became popular.”

In their award acceptance speech, the Martens shared their philosophies regarding sustainability, as they highlighted their dedication to treating others (people, soil, animals, communities) the way they would want to be treated.

Mary-Howell commented, “Most people invest vast amounts of time and effort worrying about things they cannot control.  The lure of this is understandable, because then when bad things happen, they will never be your fault or responsibility!  But, it is far more valuable to invest your time, effort, and passion into where you truly can have an impact - the people and needs nearby.  If everyone was committed to making the world a more secure, happier, and fairer place for just 10 people at any given time - and that includes providing good food for them, can you imagine how much better the world would be?”

To learn more about the Martens and Lakeview Organic Grain, visit lakevieworganicgrain.com

Listen to the recorded audio of Mary-Howell & Klaas Martens' award acceptance speech here.

Sustainable Ag Business Leader Award - Natural by Nature

Ned MacArthur, with his well-known brand Natural by Nature based in West Grove, PA, is this year’s winner of the Sustainable Ag Business Leader Award. “I just have always been farming,” said MacArthur, who grew up on a farm, chasing his neighbors’ tractors until he was old enough to drive one himself, and milking dairy cows through high school. In 1994, MacArthur founded Natural Dairy Products Corporation with his father and four organic dairy farmers in Lancaster County, PA, and established a system to produce grass-fed organic milk independent of the conventional, volume-based milk industry.

“It’s the biggest honor I’ve ever gotten,” said MacArthur of the award. “I think that the whole idea of getting this award is a reflection on the people who help me run the company, and my family. And the farmers—the farmers and I have stuck together through thick and thin.”

“I come to PASA each year and am recharged with the wisdom shared – there is certainly more to learn in a lifetime than we have time for,” commented MacArthur in his acceptance speech. “I am truly honored by this recognition.”

To understand Ned’s philosophy, you need to only look to Natural by Nature’s mission statement,"To promote and support organic farming and the sustainable use of our natural resources. To produce foods that benefit consumers and farmers alike. To use the principles of grass based dairy production as a means to improve the quality of our products, maximize the health of our cows and protect our watersheds. To make a living for our families, based on these strongly held principles."

To learn more about Natural by Nature, visit natural-by-nature.com.

Listen to the recorded audio of Ned MacArthur's award acceptance speech here.

Past winners of the Sustainable Ag Leadership Award are:

Preston Boop
Tim Bowser
Terra & Mike Brownback
Hope & Roy Brubaker
Jerry Brunetti
Herbert Cole
Moie & Jim Crawford
Ron Gargasz
Sheri & Steve Groff
Paul Keene
Kim Miller
Anne & Eric Nordell
Cass Peterson & Ward Sinclair
Robert Rodale
Joel Salatin
Lucy & Roman Stoltzfoos
Kim Tait
Linda & Don Weaver

Past Sustainable Ag Business Award winners are:

East End Food Cooperative
The Fertrell Company
Kimberton Whole Foods
Lady Moon Farms
White Dog Café