{"id":15633,"date":"2020-12-17T02:09:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T06:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-randy-dondero-copy-5\/"},"modified":"2020-12-17T02:18:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T06:18:47","slug":"meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"Two<\/figure>

Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers<\/h3>

June 2019
\nBy Betsy Garrold\n

\n\nJo Ann Myers comes from a farm family in northeastern Connecticut and spent a rather peripatetic lifestyle living in Alaska, Washington state and Kentucky while working on rural health systems. After that she and her husband, Wayne, finally landed in Waldoboro on the farm named after JoAnn's French Canadian ancestors, Beau Chemin Preservation Farm. Beau Chemin means \"beautiful path,\" which certainly describes Myers' journey.\n

\nHer previous work as a medical anthropologist led to her involvement with the Maine Migrant Health Program. There she met Dr. Elizabeth Hart, who was on the MOFGA board then and who invited Myers to join that board. Myers is now the board secretary and is on the Executive and Governance committees. The latter is meant to make the board more effective by dealing with the nuts and bolts of board operations, such as bylaws changes, board nominations, size and term limits.\n

\nMyers\u2019 most important contribution to the work of MOFGA involves chairing the Public Policy Committee. She works closely with Heather Spalding, MOFGA\u2019s deputy director, crafting policy statements on issues facing organic farmers.\n

\n\u201cMOFGA is really a great organization at all levels of the community,\u201d says Myers. \u201cFrom staff to the board and committees, everyone is smart and committed and such a pleasure to work with. The culture at MOFGA respects and allows for differing points of view, and that is a wonderful thing.\u201d\n

\nSpalding says, \u201cJo Ann\u2019s wisdom and gentle nature is a blessing for MOFGA. In addition to having vast experience as a rural health advocate and rare breeds livestock farmer, she is a great communicator, organizer and historian. Though she has been the recording secretary of the board for 14 years, she doesn\u2019t dwell on the past. She maintains a hopeful and positive outlook for our organic future, and she inspires the next generation of farmers, gardeners, volunteers and staff members who work with her. She is so thoughtful and careful about her decision-making, and we are blessed to have her leadership.\n

\n\u201cHer volunteerism really picked up,\u201d Spalding adds, \u201cabout the time MOFGA hitched its wagon to an incredibly powerful coalition, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine. The mission of the alliance is to advance policy initiatives promoting safer alternatives to the cocktail of industrial chemicals in everyday consumer products. MOFGA\u2019s engagement with the alliance demonstrated Jo Ann's belief that we can\u2019t have sustainable agriculture without sustainable communities. She really appreciates the interconnections of our broad base of supporters and works tirelessly to ensure that stakeholders feel heard and appreciated, even if their priorities are not immediately front and center for MOFGA. Jo Ann always sees the big picture and the opportunities to build strong relationships with allies across socio-economic, labor, political, educational, health and nonprofit sectors.\u201d\n

\nMyers and her husband described Beau Chemin Preservation Farm lovingly in the fall 2016 MOF&G. Their tagline, \u201cyesterday's breeds for tomorrow's needs,\u201d says it all. They raise critically endangered and threatened livestock breeds, such as Icelandic goats and Soay sheep. The Icelandic goats, a fiber and dairy breed, are part of an ongoing project to breed as pure a strain as possible despite USDA restrictions on importing livestock to breed. Featured on \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d as a snack for dragons, this goat species exists only in Iceland, and Myers is creating a gene pool in Maine.\n

\nBeau Chemin is MOFGA-certified for hay, seedlings and pick-your-own raspberries as well as ducklings from endangered species. Myers first became interested in organic policy in 1998 when the couple began the three-year process of getting certified. The USDA National Organic Program was being discussed then, and Myers attended a MOFGA meeting about whether Maine organic farmers would support this large government program. She heard many perspectives, which, along with her background in public health policy, led her to her current position of chair of the Public Policy Committee.\n

\nSo Myers continues her beautiful path fostering more enlightened public policy and encouraging the future by preserving the past.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers June 2019 By Betsy Garrold Jo Ann Myers comes from a farm family in northeastern Connecticut and spent a rather peripatetic lifestyle living in Alaska, Washington state and Kentucky while working on rural health systems. After that she and her husband, Wayne, finally landed in Waldoboro on the farm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15633","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers June 2019 By Betsy Garrold Jo Ann Myers comes from a farm family in northeastern Connecticut and spent a rather peripatetic lifestyle living in Alaska, Washington state and Kentucky while working on rural health systems. After that she and her husband, Wayne, finally landed in Waldoboro on the farm […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-17T06:18:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MOFGA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-17T06:09:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-17T06:18:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png\",\"width\":261,\"height\":287,\"caption\":\"Jo Ann Myers\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners\",\"description\":\"Helping farmers and gardeners grow organic food\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/logo-mofga.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/logo-mofga.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mofga.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/MOFGA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/mofga\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/maine-organic-farmers-&-gardeners-association\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MaineOrganicFarmers\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Maine_Organic_Farmers_and_Gardeners_Association\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners","og_description":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers June 2019 By Betsy Garrold Jo Ann Myers comes from a farm family in northeastern Connecticut and spent a rather peripatetic lifestyle living in Alaska, Washington state and Kentucky while working on rural health systems. After that she and her husband, Wayne, finally landed in Waldoboro on the farm […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/","og_site_name":"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners","article_modified_time":"2020-12-17T06:18:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@MOFGA","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/","name":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png","datePublished":"2020-12-17T06:09:44+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-17T06:18:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-Jo-Ann-Myers.png","width":261,"height":287,"caption":"Jo Ann Myers"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/meet-mofga-volunteer-jo-ann-myers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet MOFGA Volunteer Jo Ann Myers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/","name":"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners","description":"Helping farmers and gardeners grow organic food","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#organization","name":"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association","url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo-mofga.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo-mofga.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/MOFGA","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mofga\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/maine-organic-farmers-&-gardeners-association\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MaineOrganicFarmers","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maine_Organic_Farmers_and_Gardeners_Association"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mofga.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}