The first Monday of each month is Member Monday where we feature a member photo or video on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) is proud of our members, and we take great pleasure in highlighting their operations and the awesome work they are conducting in sustainable farming, animal husbandry, artisanal production, and homesteading. See below for February’s member video!
Ghost Dog Dairy
Ghost Dog Dairy is an independent family farm run by Steve and Kathy Fortmann, both Navy Veterans. The farm includes a 40-goat micro-dairy, pastured pork, and organic garlic. They grow their own organic forage and bedding straw on 60 acres of hilltop fields in the North East Kingdom of Vermont in Hardwick. Their goats milk is processed on-farm into Farm Dog Formula, a powerful probiotic kefir for dogs, as well as artisan soaps hand-crafted by Kathy. The farm uses “ley-farming” techniques borrowed from the UK, building fertility through pasture restoration and pig-tillage on Vermont Land Trust protected property. The Fortmanns believe in Goats, Garlic and Freedom of the consumer to buy from local farmers.
“A few years ago, Vermont tried to ban raw milk for pets and we reached out to FTCLDF and got some great help. We ended up spending time in legislature and rewriting the regulation. There are a lot of different farming organizations we can be a part of, but Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is the most important one for us. Small farms won’t survive in our country without direct farm to consumer relationships, and these relationships are under constant threat from industry interest groups and regulators.”
-Steve Fortmann, Ghost Dog Dairy, Hardwick VT
Find out more about this farm:
www.ghostdogdairy.com
www.instagram.com/p/CVDHP-rgltf
Membership
Thank you to all of our wonderful members! We are membership-based and couldn’t do the work we do without you! Learn more about membership here.
If you’re a member and would like to share your photos with us, email [email protected] for more details.
YOUR FUND AT WORK
Services provided by FTCLDF go beyond legal representation for members in court cases.
Educational and policy work also provide an avenue for FTCLDF to build grassroots activism to create the most favorable regulatory climate possible. In addition to advising on bill language, FTCLDF supports favorable legislation via action alerts and social media outreach.
You can protect access to real foods from small farms by becoming a member or donating today.