COLUMBUS — The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) has named the 2019 recipients of its Stewardship and Service awards.
Guy and Sandy Ashmore, of Clinton County, received the Stewardship Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the sustainable agriculture community, and Mike Hogan, of Franklin County, received the Service Award, which recognizes extraordinary service in support of sustainable agriculture.
The announcements were made Feb. 15-16 in Dayton as part of OEFFA’s 40th annual conference, “Just Farming: The Path Before Us.”
Ashmores
Guy and Sandy Ashmore are co-farmers and owners of That Guy’s Family Farm, a certified organic 48-acre farm in southwest Ohio.
They wholesale produce through Local Food Connection and Dorothy Lane Markets, and sell at a farmers market, their farm store, and through a winter and summer community supported agriculture (CSA) program.
They started farming in 1978 using conventional practices and raising confinement hogs.
In 1988 they joined OEFFA, describing it as a “turning point in our farming practices and ultimately our lives.” Their first acres were certified organic in 1998.
By 2005, their entire farm was certified organic.
The Ashmores have also helped to train the next generation of farmers. They’ve hired apprentices since 2011 and recently started hosting apprentices through OEFFA’s Begin Farming program. They have held OEFFA farm tours, led OEFFA conference workshops, and are active members in their OEFFA chapter.
They received the Snail of Approval from Slow Food Cincinnati in 2018, were elected to Dorothy Lane Market’s Vendor Honor Roll, and have been featured in Edible Ohio Valley, Ohio Farmer, and Rural Life Today.
Hogan
Hogan is a Franklin County Extension educator and associate professor in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University, specializing in urban agriculture, local foods, sustainable agriculture, small farm management, marketing and food safety.
He has spent his 32-year career working with sustainable, alternative, organic and small-scale farmers. For the past several years, he has focused on increasing urban food production and food access in Columbus.
As co-coordinator for the Ohio U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program for the past 21 years, he has helped train agricultural professionals in sustainable practices, disseminated SARE research and project results, and promoted the availability of SARE resources.
For more than a decade, Hogan has partnered with OEFFA on the Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series, and has offered regular workshops as part of the organization’s annual conference.
