“We were all called, in our own ways, to the same paramount challenge: to reforge a sense of community around a localized food system,” say the founders of the Kearsarge Food Hub, a MOFGA-certified organic farm, market, and café featured on page 20. This quote stayed with me as I read through the rest of this issue. It is the first MOF&G published since MOFGA adopted its new 2025-2030 strategic impact plan in December of 2024, and the goal of the food hub — to connect community around local organic food — is one that MOFGA has been working on for 50 years and continues to prioritize today. MOFGA’s vision is a future where local organic farming nourishes all people, and sustains thriving ecosystems, healthy communities, and fair economies. (You can read more about the adoption of the new vision, mission, and impact plan in the other editorials on page 4.)

The five-year impact plan outlines MOFGA’s commitment to deepening its impact by focusing on four main objectives — connection being one of them. Connecting people to organic food, farming, and gardening can take shape in many ways. In the pages ahead, there are real-world examples of relationship building in action from within the MOFGA community. In addition to Kearsarge Food Hub aggregating a diverse array of hyper-local foods in Bradford, New Hampshire, it also acts as a “gathering, nurturing, and educational space.” Here in Maine, another MOFGA-certified farm runs a farm stand with similar goals. Turn to page 18 to read about Replenova Farm, which inspires its community with seasonal meals available at its farm store in Durham, Maine, that are served alongside local products from other farms. In addition to growing organic vegetables for its take-out counter, Replenova Farm grows produce to donate to food pantries. We see another example of the good work being done to broaden access to local organic food on page 14. Growing to Give, based in Brunswick, Maine, is a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating organic vegetables using climate-friendly methods and donating them to local folks struggling with food insecurity. And an innovative model for fuel assistance, wood banks, is connecting people across the state and helping to alleviate the “heat or eat” dilemma faced by many Mainers in need (see page 30 to learn more).

Of course, MOFGA is also forging connections around organic food, farming, and gardening more directly within our community. The livestock column in this issue shares about a cohort of beef and dairy farmers coming together to learn from each other in the face of rising grain costs (see page 29). The Maine Heritage Orchard, a hub of connection for organic orchardists, heritage fruit explorers, and apple enthusiasts located on MOFGA’s campus in Unity, Maine, is celebrating a decade of dedication and preservation this year — which you can read all about starting on page 36. (Mary Weitzman’s update includes a new discovery that traces a Maine apple back to French settlers, reshaping “our understanding of apple lineage and early agriculture in North America.”) We hope you’ll join MOFGA as we celebrate this milestone, perhaps at the annual Seed Swap & Scion Exchange in March, or another orcharding event this season! MOFGA’s annual Common Ground Country Fair, our largest point of community connection for the year, always features orchard-related speakers, workshops, and displays as part of the 1,000-plus exhibitors and speakers at the event. Flip to page 39 to learn how you can start planning to gather and connect around organic food and agriculture at this year’s Fair, and deepen your own ties to organic production.