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RFFP Founder Resigns (November 15, 2004) Tracy Frisch, founder of the Regional Farm & Food Project has resigned to pursue new ventures, finish building her passive solar house, and care for her land. Her farewell letter follows this letter. RFFP members and the board of directors are grateful to Tracy for her vision, activism, and years of hard work, and we wish her success. RFFP will continue to do the work Tracy began years ago, organizing farmers, food producers, activists and entrepreneurs to share ideas, learn new methods, and develop new markets. Board member, Billie Best, is stepping in as Interim Managing Director to keep the organization moving forward while the Board of Directors recruits new leadership. Billie is a well-known agriculture activist and an aspiring farmer with twenty years experience in marketing and strategic planning. She was a member of the University of New Hampshire Citizen Panel on the Future of Food in New England. She is on the steering committee of the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, and she is enrolled in Cornell University’s Growing Home: Food and Agriculture Based Community Development Program. For the past year she has been a frequent voice on the Farm & Food Show radio program sponsored each month by RFFP on WRPI 91.5fm - Troy. For more information please contact Billie Best at billie@farmandfood.org November 15, 2004 Dear RFFP community and friends: After almost 9 years, I am resigning from my position at the Regional Farm & Food Project effective November 15, 2004. I will continue on with a few projects including the NYS Cheese Makers Guild, the Group Mentoring Program, and others (to be announced), and will do my best to ensure that RFFP and I can honor our commitments. I am very proud of my achievements in developing this respected and important organization from scratch since founding it with a small group of you in 1996. The Regional Farm & Food Project made its mark as a pioneer in our field of local foods and sustainable agriculture here in the Northeast. I will always treasure your support and fellowship and all that I have learned from and with you. Together we have forged a strong and vibrant community of farmers and citizens with shared values. Looking back, I can recall a time when there were no networks and it was mighty lonely out there. Through the Regional Farm & Food Project, we started the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market, and initiated intensive farmer-to-farmer workshops and a mentoring program which are being emulated widely. Our value-added dairy project has morphed into the Cheese Guild. We were among the first to produce a farm map (the Farm Fresh Guide) and we began holding local foods dinners with chefs years before they became popular. Our farm tours are more popular than ever. All these efforts and many more have been elements leading to a tremendous shift in consciousness and a wonderful growth in farmer capacity. It has been an honor to participate in the transformation of people's lives and the region. One of my strongest talents is as an organizational entrepreneur. I have a gift and a passion for starting groups and projects, for applying my vision and community organizing skills to make things happen. However, maintaining and institutionalizing groups and programs over the long haul is far less stimulating and gratifying to me. This is the crux of why I am leaving. RFFP will doubtless change in ways that I have not imagined and even some that I may not embrace. Please give it time to evolve. Participate and continue to make it your organization. My relationships with so many of you are personally important to me and will keep being so. Ultimately, I expect to have more time to visit and deepen our friendships. And while my work and role are changing, I remain enthusiastic about sharing my knowledge, contacts, experience, and perspectives. In my quest for balance, I am eager to have my life back. I have multitasked for so long in the service of my ideals that I sometimes can't remember how to keep my awareness fully on one thing at a time. It is time for me to rediscover my own dreams. I intend to finish my passive solar house which I am largely building with my own labor and the help of friends. This Spring I will begin caring for the land I purchased over a year ago, with the possible goal of starting a small grazing farm. And I plan to explore in earnest my almost lifelong desire of writing for a wider audience. The urgency of the world situation and the future of my rural county also call out to me, and I aim to find my place in this regard, once I get settled. I want to stay in touch so feel free to call, write, or visit. You can find me at 1293 McClay Road, Greenwich, NY 12834 or by phone at 518/692-8242. I will not be checking email often or at all. Sincerely, |
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