ITEM

Benjamin Wilcox, interviewed by Anu Dudley, September 21, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine.

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Identifier
NA 3075 (local)
Date
September 21 2003 (Date created)
Summary

Wilcox talks about his ownership with Tom Roberts of Part and Parcel Farm; being a baby boomer; changes in economics over the last thirty years; higher education via the G.I. Bill; getting his degree in architecture; moving to Maine from California; the Deerings’ “Living the Good Life” and Elliott Porter’s “Summer Islands;” building boats in Wiscasset; settling in Dixmont as a homesteader and opening Piecemeal Farm; subsistence as an organic farmer; wage rates in Maine versus those in California; living in relative poverty; Rob Johnson of Johnny’s Selected Seeds; problems with cash flow; Farmer’s Markets in Newport, Skowhegan, Brewer, Belfast, and Camden, Maine; transporting Maine goods to Chelsea Market in Boston, Massachusetts; support for growers; coordinating the Atlantic Co-op Supply; Tom Roberts of Moose Produce and Fed Co; phosphate as a fertilizer; experiences with the Common Ground Fair; difficulties as an organic farmer; opening the Farmer’s Market at the Common Ground Fair in 1988; fair expansion; wholesaling; serving as the middle man; supply and demand in organic farming; retailing; marketing strategies for organic farmers; being self-sufficient as an organic farmer; economization; farm development; training employees; MOFA and MOFGA conferences; colleague Ellie Coleman; obstacles to organic farming; MOFGA’s expansion; the future of organic farming; reasons for growing his own food; and the evolution of MOFGA. 

Creator and/or Contributor
Benjamin Wilcox (interviewee), Anu Dudley (interviewer)
Language
English (Languages)
Other Subject Headings
Generations (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Organic farming (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Economic history (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Higher education (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Back-to-the-land movements (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Shipbuilding (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Poverty (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Farmers' Markets (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Cooperatives (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Fertilizers (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Wages (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Marketing (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Agricultural fairs (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Self reliant living (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Maine Organic Farmers' and Gardeners' Association (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Occupational training (Ethnographic Thesaurus (ET))
Temporal Coverage
1970 - 2003
Geographic Coverage
Unity, Maine (Geonames)
Dixmont, Maine (Geonames)
Wiscasset, Maine (Geonames)
Newport, Maine (Geonames)
Skowhegan, Maine (Geonames)
Boston, Massachusetts (Geonames)
Brewer, Maine (Geonames)
Belfast, Maine (Geonames)
Camden, Maine (Geonames)
New Hampshire, United States (Geonames)
Vermont, United States (Geonames)
Bar Harbor, Maine (Geonames)
San Francisco, California (Geonames)
Materials Designation
sound cassettes (analog)
texts
Related Entities:
Benjamin Wilcox (interviewee)
Anu Dudley (interviewer)
Related Subjects:
Rob Johnston (subject)
Related Objects
First page of notes for NA 3075