Non-profit

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York

Website:

www.nofany.org

Location:

FARMINGTON, NY

Tax ID:

03-0259137

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $2,196,313
Expenses: $2,266,856
Assets: $1,025,921

Executive Director:

Bethany Wallis

Formation:

1983

Type:

Non-profit

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The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) is a left-of-center taxpayer funded group and one of the seven chapters of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. 1 2

Its leadership has included stridently left-wing individuals, such as a former executive director who advocated for the implementation of Venezuelan-style socialism,3 4 and a former board member who was a regular contributor to the website of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical socialist labor union. 5 6

NOFA-NY promotes a left-wing policy agenda, that includes strong support for the Green New Deal, land redistribution, and unionizing farmworkers and opposition to natural gas drilling. 7 8 9 NOFA-NY has opposed the use of zero carbon nuclear energy. 10

Background

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York promotes organic farming, provides certification of organic farm produce and livestock, and promotes sales of organic farm products for 1,000 organic farmers in New York. It relies mostly on federal funding, in the form of organic certification fees, which accounted for two-thirds of its more than $2.2 million in 2018 reported revenue. 11 12 13

NOFA-NY organic certification areas of responsibility include dairy, slaughterhouse, maple, crops, and livestock auction houses. 14

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York is a member of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA). There are six other chapters in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. 15

Leadership

Leadership positions at NOFA-NY have been filled by strident opponents of capitalism and supporters of left-wing economic agendas.

Former executive director Andrianna Natsoulas held that position until at least 2018. 16 She is a left-wing activist who has associated with the anti-capitalist group La Via Campesina,17 and advocates for a Venezuelan-style socialism. 18  She co-authored a 2015 commentary for the left-leaning news site Truthout that asserted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was a part of “institutional racism” and known as the “last plantation.” 19

Elizabeth Henderson was a NOFA-NY board member until at least 2018. 20 She supported the Green New Deal (GND) and openly promoted it as a beneficial path for organic farmers in a February 2019 essay for the Northeast Organic Farmers Association web page. 21 Throughout 2019 her commentaries on organic farming, labor policy and federal farming legislation were regularly featured on the website of the IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus—a subsidiary of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical socialist, anti-capitalist labor union. 22 Henderson advocates for mandating farm owners to provide benefits to all workers as a prerequisite for organic certification. 23

Policy Positions

The Green New Deal

In 2019, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York supported a coalition letter sent to the U.S. Congress to promote the policy objectives of the Green New Deal. The letter advocated the elimination by 2035 of every form of energy currently in large-scale use to power industrial civilization. The letter signatories also endorsed replacement of a market-driven economy with a “new green economy” that would be “built and governed by communities and workers.” 24

The Green New Deal (GND) refers to a 2019 U.S. House of Representatives resolution and various legislative proposals supported by radical environmentalist groups. 25

While details of the “Deal” are unclear and frequently change, an attempt to estimate the cost of the plan that critics call a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy” found it could cost Americans alone upwards of $90 trillion over a ten-year federal budget window if enacted. 26 A 2018 estimate by the World Economic Forum pegged the combined annual gross domestic product of every nation on the planet at $80 trillion. 27

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

NOFA-NY was one of more than 600 co-signing organizations on a January 2019 open letter to Congress titled “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” The signatories declared their support for new laws to bring about “100 percent decarbonization” of the transportation sector but denounced nuclear power as an example of “dirty energy” that should not be included in any legislation promoting the use of so-called “renewable energy.” 28

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. 29 An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. 30

Opposition to Natural Gas Drilling

In 2012 NOFA-NY passed a policy resolution calling for a worldwide prohibition on the use of hydraulic fracturing, a major tool used to extract oil and natural gas in the continental United States. 31

Opposition to Genetic Engineering

NOFA-NY opposed United States Department of Agriculture approval of open-air trials of a genetically-engineered diamondback moth. The natural diamondback is a crop destroying pest that otherwise must be killed with the spraying of pesticides. The genetically altered moths were designed with defective female larvae. If successful, the alteration would effectively sterilize and thus kill off a local moth population, eliminating the need for pesticides. 32

Liana Hoodes, NOFA-NY policy consultant, claimed the modified moths presented possible serious consequences to the environment and public health. She called for public hearings and a full environmental impact assessment. 33 NOFA-NY asserted the moths could affect farms’ organic certification. 34

Unionizing Farmworkers

A list of NOFA-NY policy resolutions includes one from 2001 calling for adding a provision to the National Labor Relations Act that would recognize monopoly collective bargaining for farm workers. Another resolution in 2010 reaffirmed support for collective bargaining for farm workers. 35

Land Redistribution

A 2017 NOFA-NY “agrarian reform” policy resolution declared that ownership of land should be reserved for “those who work it.” The resolution called for giving farmworkers “ownership and control of the land they work” and the return of territories to indigenous peoples. 36

Personal Marijuana Production and Use

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York seeks for the New York State Legislature to emulate the Massachusetts’ law that allow every state citizen to grow up to six marijuana plants for personal use. 37

Drivers Licenses

NOFA-NY approved a 2018 resolution seeking a state law that would grant drivers licenses to people regardless of immigration status. 38

References

  1. Sherwood, Julie. “Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY Helped More than 1,000 Farmers in 2013.” MPNnow. MPNnow, December 24, 2013. https://www.mpnnow.com/article/20131224/NEWS/131229884.
  2. “Who We Are – NOFA-NY – Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.” NOFA, June 12, 2020. https://nofany.org/about-us/about-nofa-ny/.
  3. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part II
  4. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part II
  5. Henderson, Elizabeth. “The Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act – What It Means for Organic Farms.” The Prying Mantis, November 19, 2019. https://ecology.iww.org/aggregator/sources/612?bot_test=1.
  6. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part II
  7. “Group Letter to Congress Urging Green New Deal Passage.” Earthworks, January 10, 2019. https://earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/.
  8. Powell, Devin. “Replacing Pesticides With Genetics.” The New York Times. The New York Times, August 31, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/science/replacing-pesticides-with-genetics.html.
  9. NOFA-NY Policy Resolutions. Accessed August 27, 2020. https://nofany.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NOFA-NY-Policy-Resolutions.pdf
  10. “Group letter to Congress urging Green New Deal passage.” Earthworks. January 10, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/
  11. Sherwood, Julie. “Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY Helped More than 1,000 Farmers in 2013.” MPNnow. MPNnow, December 24, 2013. https://www.mpnnow.com/article/20131224/NEWS/131229884.
  12. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part VII, Line 2a
  13. “About.” NOFA-NY. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://nofany.org/about-us/about-nofa-ny/
  14. “Learn about Organic Certification – NOFA-NY – Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.” NOFA, April 20, 2020. https://nofany.org/certification/about/.
  15. “About Us.” Northeast Organic Farming Association. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://nofa.org/about/.
  16. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part II
  17. Vivas, Esther. “La Via Campesina: Food Sovereignty and the Global Feminist Struggle – The Bullet.” Socialist Project, December 8, 2017. https://socialistproject.ca/2012/11/b719/
  18. Natsoulas , Andrianna. “Andrianna Natsoulas on Food Sovereignty and the Commons …” Commons Transition, October 2014. https://commonstransition.org/andrianna-natsoulas-on-food-sovereignty-and-the-commons/
  19. Natsoulas, Andrianna, Melissa Mendes, and Anne Elizabeth Moore. “Fighting Racism From the USDA, Black Farmers Gain Power Through Co-Ops.” Truthout. Truthout, October 13, 2015. https://truthout.org/articles/fighting-racism-from-the-usda-black-farmers-gain-power-through-co-ops/
  20. A 990: NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC, Return of NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,Part II
  21. Henderson, Elizabeth. “Nofa-Admin.” Northeast Organic Farming Association. nofa-admin https://nofa.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-logo-work3.png, March 31, 2020. https://nofa.org/2019/02/18/why-sustainable-agriculture-should-support-a-green-new-deal/.
  22. Henderson, Elizabeth. “The Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act – What It Means for Organic Farms.” The Prying Mantis, November 19, 2019. https://ecology.iww.org/aggregator/sources/612?bot_test=1.
  23. NARGI, LELA. “Does Your Food Label Guarantee Fair Farmworkers’ Rights? This One Does.” Civil Eats, October 28, 2019. https://civileats.com/2019/04/29/does-your-food-label-guarantee-fair-farmworkers-rights-this-one-does/.
  24. “Group Letter to Congress Urging Green New Deal Passage.” Earthworks, January 10, 2019. https://earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/.
  25. McConnell, Mitch. Twitter Post. March 25, 2019, 5:18 P.M. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1110289975386492929
  26. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, Dan Bosch, Ben Gitis, Dan Goldbeck, and Philip Rossetti. “The Green New Deal: Scope, Scale, and Implications.” American Action Forum. February 25, 2019. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-green-new-deal-scope-scale-and-implications
  27. “The world’s $80 trillion economy – in one chart.” World Economic Forum. 2018. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/the-80-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/
  28. “Group letter to Congress urging Green New Deal passage.” Earthworks. January 10, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/
  29. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
  30. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
  31. NOFA-NY Policy Resolutions. Accessed August 27, 2020. https://nofany.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NOFA-NY-Policy-Resolutions.pdf
  32. Powell, Devin. “Replacing Pesticides With Genetics.” The New York Times. The New York Times, August 31, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/science/replacing-pesticides-with-genetics.html.
  33. “NOFA-NY Denounces Permit of GE Moths.” Morning Ag Clips, July 10, 2017. https://www.morningagclips.com/nofa-ny-denounces-permit-of-ge-moths/.
  34. Powell, Devin. “Replacing Pesticides With Genetics.” The New York Times. The New York Times, August 31, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/science/replacing-pesticides-with-genetics.html.
  35. NOFA-NY Policy Resolutions. Accessed August 27, 2020. https://nofany.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NOFA-NY-Policy-Resolutions.pdf
  36. NOFA-NY Policy Resolutions. Accessed August 27, 2020. https://nofany.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NOFA-NY-Policy-Resolutions.pdf
  37. “Our Policy Work.” NOFA, July 1, 2020. https://nofany.org/advocacy/policy/
  38. NOFA-NY Policy Resolutions. Accessed August 27, 2020. https://nofany.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NOFA-NY-Policy-Resolutions.pdf.

Supported Movements

  1. Green New Deal (GND)
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: January 1, 1985

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $2,196,313 $2,266,856 $1,025,921 $334,103 N $541,381 $1,636,584 $2,970 $70,247 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,849,185 $1,996,196 $1,073,307 $319,200 N $284,423 $1,527,458 $1,758 $94,760 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,898,908 $1,771,293 $1,123,622 $222,504 Y $490,205 $1,361,736 $1,419 $70,985 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,882,719 $1,810,705 $990,461 $216,958 Y $554,106 $1,279,996 $2,187 $61,222 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,944,470 $1,734,205 $917,449 $236,497 Y $723,668 $1,181,801 $2,518 $61,735 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,807,814 $1,649,597 $643,344 $151,397 Y $575,186 $1,183,031 $1,509 $55,272 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $1,546,301 $1,470,017 $522,694 $188,963 Y $191,188 $1,307,828 $2,193 $60,750 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York

    1423 HATHAWAY DR
    FARMINGTON, NY 14425-8944