Earlier this year, CT NOFA faced a critical funding crossroads. Well into our budgeted programming for the year, we faced sudden and substantial cuts to federally funded programming that constituted the majority of our work for 2025. Worse yet, we had already spent much of that money to advance this planned programming and were no longer certain to be reimbursed for it. This caused an internal financial crisis that threatened staff furloughs, deep programmatic cuts, and even the very existence of our organization.

But then, something moving happened.

In the midst of one of the most serious crises CT NOFA has faced, you – our supporters, friends, and advocates – pledged financial contributions that righted our ship, keeping us afloat in 2025 so that we could continue our mission of defending and expanding organic agriculture, food, and land care in Connecticut. Although our staff and programs still suffered partial cuts, thanks to your support, our organization was able to endure. For this, we are deeply grateful, and also introspective.

When CT NOFA was founded in 1982, it was an entirely grassroots organization. Our first winter “conference” had fewer than 30 attendees, and the conference lunch was a potluck. 40+ years later, our community is exponentially larger (and the conference lunch is catered). Still, the financial means by which we implement our work across the state is, more than ever, driven by government grants and mandates that can unexpectedly change or be discontinued when political power shifts occur. Sometimes protecting our soil, food, and environment is in fashion; sometimes it isn’t.

What doesn’t change is you. You still demand access to healthy, nutrient-dense, poison-free food for all. You still demand landscapes free of pesticides on which pollinators can flourish and enrich the biodiversity of our environment. And you still demand accountability from those who would seek to undermine those goals. In a political landscape riven with ideological division and plagued with uncertainty, we know that our work’s funding will always be at risk, but with the support of a community who believes in our mission and whom our work is in service of, we will persist in voicing your demands and educating and supporting all who wish to work in their furtherance.

As we look toward 2026, we want you to know that the grassroots heart of CT NOFA – the community members who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the work we do, and whose well-being was a foundational directive for CT NOFA – is our primary focus. Through more community-centric activities, gatherings, and resources, as well as expanded member discounts and benefits, we look forward to reengaging with you to build an interconnected community of farmers, gardeners, activists, scientists, landscape restorers, and organic advocates of all kinds. And we hope you’ll join us.

This fall, show your commitment to our work and our shared community by becoming a member of CT NOFA. Individual memberships are $50/year (or $30 for students and seniors) and business/organization memberships are $125/year. Already a member? You can still support us by renewing your membership for an additional year or making a direct financial contribution, both of which help provide the economic means for our staff to continue fulfilling CT NOFA’s programmatic mission.

If this year has taught us anything, it is that we rise or fall on the strength of our commitment to and actions on the things that matter most to us. At CT NOFA, healthy food for all matters to us, access to land for new farmers to grow it on matters to us, and the community of individuals required to make all this come to fruition matters to us. We’re excited to continue building it with you.