Archives for “Betting the Farm”

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: Co Housing Alive and Well in Maine
Key Discussion Points:
1. What is the concept of co-housing?
2. What motivated you and others to create this option for folks in the Belfast area?
3. How would you describe your mission and long term vision?
4. What were some of the high points and challenges over the last 5 years?
5. Where are you now? What would we see if we drove on to the site? (housing, amenities, agriculture, woodlands)
6. Introduce us to the community of residents in general, and then the guests you have brought along.
7. What attracted you most about co-housing and the ecovillage in particular?
8. What are the highlights of living in this community, for you and your families?
9. What was the process like for you as a homeowner/community member (describe the process/path that led you to where you are?
10. Alyne Cistone—what led you to take on the role of Executive Director of Island Housing Trust? what do you understand about the history and mission of Island Housing Trust?
a.What tools do you use to try to create affordable community workforce housing?
b. (including affordability covenants)
c. What is the history of the Ripples Hill Project and where are you now?
11. Annika—what attracted you and your family to Ripples co-housing project?
a. What was the process like to get to your home?
b. What do you and your family value most about living there?
12. Wrap-up For Sanna– What lessons have you learned from helping to birth and nurture the Belfast Co-Housing and Ecovillage? Advice for other communities/organizers?
13. Resources, including your website….What are your hopes for the future?

Guests:
A) Sanna McKim, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
B)Nessa Dertnig, Resident, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
C) Jon Ippolito, Resident, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
D) Alyne Cistone, Island Housing Trust
E) Annika, resident Ripples Hill co housing project, Mt Desert

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Producer/Host: Ron Beard
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Maine’s Own Organic Milk and Betting the Farm, a documentary film
Key Discussion Points:
a) Questions for Bill
What is your own background and how did you become involved in MOOMilk?
What is MOOMilk doing that is so rare and inspiring in today’s “economy as usual”—what is different about your business model? (low profit corporation)
What has been the sometimes difficult road from start-up to present day, some of which was covered in Betting the Farm?

Questions for Aaron Bell (by phone at about 10:15)
Give us an overview of Tide Mill Organic Farm, that you and your wife Carly DelSignore operate in Washington County
How did you learn that you were being dropped by Hood Milk, and what led you to consider another model, that became MOOMilk?
How would you describe the difference in approach that MOOMilk is taking to selling your milk?
What signs do you have that this approach will work in the long run?
What does this approach say about the future of small farms in Maine?
Betting the Farm chronicles your lives as you faced very difficult challenges… looking back, what led you to persevere in the face of those challenges?
What are you most pleased viewers will take away from the film? What do you want your customers to know about your life, your way of farming?

Interview with Cecily and Jason (from October 26 Talk of the Towns)
How did you come to work together? What led to the creation of Pull Start Pictures?
What do you remember about your own introduction to film, growing up?
How did you each get started telling stories through film?
How do you approach the process of making a film?
What led you to the story of Maine’s Own Organic Milk, and what inspired you to believe there was a full-length documentary there?

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Bill Eldridge, CEO, MOOMilk
B) Aaron Bell, Tide Mill Organic Farm (733 2551)
C) Cecily Pingree, Pull Start Pictures (recording)
D) Jason Mann, Pull Start Pictures (recording)

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