Dear Friends -

Like a good spring rain, we're showering you with many events to help you grow, including an exciting conversation about animal welfare in educational farm settings, with FBEN member, Suzanne Kapral of The Lands at Hillside Farms.

Tired of virtual learning? We get it. If any of the offerings beckon to you, may you join from the field or forest, from your office with soil under your fingernails, or from you home with nourishing food bubbling on the stove.

Hope to see you soon,

Vera Simon-Nobes
FBEN Coordinator

P.S. We're looking for your feedback! In what ways can we support you? Please share your ideas on this form!

Upcoming Workshops with FBEN

Conversation: Animal Welfare in Educational Farm Settings
April 28, 2021 | 3-4:15 pm ET, 12 - 1:15 PT

Animals are some of your best educators, so it's important to consider their wellbeing as you facilitate human-animal connections throughout the farm. Join FBEN and Suzanne Kapral, Director of Development and Marketing for Hillside Farms, a historic, non-profit educational dairy farm located in Pennsylvania as she shares questions that have come up while completing her masters degree in Animal Behavior / Animal Welfare at Penn Vet. Together, we'll explore whether guidelines for animal welfare in educational settings would be useful to you, how you currently bring animals into your educational work, how you maintain standards of animal welfare, what you do to ensure staff understand animal behaviors, and what tools you need so the animals' point of view can be central in your work.




Summer Camp Call
May 7, 2021 | 11 - 12 ET, 8-9 PT
(ongoing biweekly)

Join this informal space to hear what others are planning for the 2021 camp season and to share your thoughts and questions. Some weeks will have a guest presenter and others will be based on participant discussion. Hosted in partnership with Andrew Ziv of Eden Village Camp.
Jobs Alert: Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center, Carnation, WA
Oxbow's mission is to inspire people to eat healthy, sustainably grown food and to steward our natural resources for future generations. They are hiring a: field production manager, maintenance assistant, summer camp instructor, seasonal educators, nursery technician, and garden coordinator. View their open positions.


How can WE support YOU?
FBEN's mission is to inspire, nurture and promote Farm-Based Education. In what ways can we support you, as you do the important work of farm-based education? We're seeking ideas from you - our membership - to help steer our work in 2021. Please share your ideas on this form!
Got seeds on your mind? Seeds And Their People is a radio show featuring seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

Rooted in Justice Grants
Rooted in Justice Offers Grants for $20,000 - $25,000

“Rooted in Justice” a new funding program from the Cedar Tree Foundation, designed to help amplify youth voices and actions in the environmental, conservation and food movements by supporting community-based organizations and groups that specifically manage youth-led urban greening programs. Application deadline is 4/30/2021. Many thanks to Rebecca Lemos of RLOWorks for alerting us to this opportunity!
OKO Farms Expands in Brooklyn
We're sending big congratulations to Oko Farms in Brooklyn, NY. They're building a new farm on the Williamsburg waterfront. The new 8,000 square foot space will open to the public in June, and will be home to an aquaponics system and a soil farm. After 8 years at their Moore Street farm in Bushwick, they look forward to expanding their work of feeding community and educating the public about sustainable farming and aquaponics. Photo: Oko Farms Founder and Director Yemi, pictured center with other organizations that will be part of the 20,000 sq ft eco-hub. Read the press release about the new space here.
Virtual Learning w. Shelburne Farms
July 7 - 30

For those who already have a strong foundation in Education for Sustainability, this month-long program will provide you with the opportunity to reflect, learn, and collaborate with a group of colleagues from across the country. Offered with University of Vermont.

July 12 - 15

Together we’ll deepen our understanding of social-ecological systems, consider strategies for youth voice and agency, and practice change-making skills to transform the systems in which we work.  Offered with University of Vermont.

Kickoff Virtual Retreat August 16-17

The Institute is a unique year-long professional learning opportunity for selected school, district, or early childhood teams from New England and New York.
Have you Voted?

The Opal® Apple Youth Make a Difference initiative awards grants to youth-led nonprofit organizations. These organizations include youth aged 6-25 taking leadership roles and address one or more of the following issues: Food security, Nutrition, Agriculture, Food politics and education. The Youth Farm Project, Ithaca New York, is currently in the lead!
Strategic Storytelling for Social Change: A Rethink Outside Workshop
May 17 & 19th 1 ET / 10 PT

Hosted by Seven November, Inc., this two-session, hands-on workshop will build the capacity of environmental education practitioners to craft compelling stories using the frame of the Rethink Outside shared narrative. This workshop is open to anyone in the environmental education field who would like to learn the power of storytelling for communicating with funders, partners, volunteers and other stakeholders. Register here. 
Farming For Justice Webinar Recordings and Presenter Search
A rich collection of food justice webinars lives on Groundswell's blog! And, they're looking for presenters for their next series of webinars. Farmers, gardeners, land stewards, food systems workers, food justice activists, and community organizers are invited to share their story, efforts. Get in touch.