Organic Transitions: Dakota Rudloff-Eastman & Matthew Went | River Ridge Farm and Market
March 30, 2026
As a core partner in the ongoing Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP), CT NOFA has provided support to Connecticut farms that are pursuing organic certification. One of the farms that has achieved organic certification with support from the program is River Ridge Farm (Portland, CT), one of the first farms to become a program participant.
I think we try to take a holistic approach to growing food. We’re trying to grow really high-quality produce but we’re also looking after the environment and we’re looking after employees and trying to build something that makes you feel good about what you eat.
In this video, farm owners and operators Dakota Rudloff-Eastman and Matthew Went discuss how they heard about TOPP, how the transition process was less challenging than they expected, how their mentor helped, and how being organically certified has helped them make wholesale farming profitable. The video also features Sherlene Rodriguez, Program Director of TOPP at CT NOFA and Jeremy Pelletier, Executive Director of CT NOFA.
This video was produced by UConn Extension in partnership with CT NOFA and filmed by Defining Studios.
Recent Posts
Advocacy News: May 2026
The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill!
The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut’s Senators to reject this Farm Bill.
Our Vision for a Future of Resilient, Plentiful, Healthy and Locally-Grounded Farming and Food
In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years.
Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.