Nominations Now Open for 2025 Bill Duesing “Organic Living on the Earth” Award
December 13, 2024
Each year, at our winter conference, CT NOFA confers the Bill Duesing Organic Living on the Earth award to a notable individual who or group which exemplifies the life mission of our founder, Bill Duesing, to improve and enrich our world through organic advocacy and practices.
Nominees for this award are suggested by our community – that’s you! We’re currently looking for nominees for the 2025 award that fall into any of the following categories:
- Organic farmer/farm (examples: new, young, and/or seasoned farmers added new revenue sources to secure the farm’s future; expanded availability of organic food in the community; added carbon sequestration measures on the farm, e.g. cover-crops, no-till)
- Organic land care professional / business (examples: new, young, and/or seasoned land care professionals transitioned from conventional to organic land care; added carbon sequestration measures, e.g. replacing lawn with meadow, etc.)
- Organic advocate (example: spearheaded a change in their local school system, worked to promote organic legislation, or supported healthy soil legislation)
- Organization (example: farmers market became 100% organic; the advancement of farmworkers’ rights; created organic-based social media group)
- Educator (example: developed new ways to add organic food and agriculture to school curriculum)
- Mentor (example: developed process for passing along organic knowledge and skills to new farmers or land care professionals)
- Media specialist (examples: used digital media including blogs or social media, or traditional media such as radio or print, to spread the word about organic living in Connecticut; the life work of Bill Duesing and his enduring influence; current organic initiatives, etc.)
If you know an outstanding individual who or group that has made achievements in any of these categories, nominate them for the 2025 award! You may make a nomination in your name or anonymously. Nominations must be submitted by February 1, 2025. Winner to be announced at our winter conference on March 1 at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, CT.
The nomination window for the 2025 recipient of the Organic Living on the Earth Award is now closed.
Recent Posts
CT NOFA Launches Equipment Share Program
CT NOFA is proud to announce the launch of our Equipment Share Program. In partnership with The Hickories in Ridgefield, Connecticut, this program aims to provide both commercial farmers and home gardeners free access to both specialized equipment and expertise in a shared environment. Equipment Share days at The Hickories will include free soil analysis, seed winnowing services, nut cleaning, compost tea brewing workshops, and much more.
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.