The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announces its fourth annual Growing Green Awards to recognize individuals who have demonstrated original leadership in the field of sustainable food. Through this national award, NRDC will recognize extraordinary contributions that advance ecologically integrated farming practices, climate stewardship, water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility from farm to fork.

High demand requires high efficiency. But organic farmers can’t use the technologies common to conventional agriculture – like pesticides and genetic engineering – to increase yields. As such, there’s a misconception that they stubbornly shun technology, preferring age-old tradition over modern methods. But that’s not the case. Through recent technological developments, these farmers can use their understanding of natural processes – the mating habits of pests, for example – to optimize yields. The surprising results can make you wonder where to draw the line between technology and nature.

By this time of year, when the harvest season is coming to an end, my shelves are lined with colorful jars of pickles and preserves, and the freezer is stuffed with fruit from the garden and veggies from my CSA share. I’ve got chutneys, jams, dried mushrooms, sauerkraut, dilly beans, marmalades, corn relish, and much more.

One Christmas a few years ago a dear friend bought me a burlap bag and, I think, a flock of chicks from Heifer International. I didn’t have to carry six furry, cheeping little birds home in that bag – rather, I had a small card noting that these chicks had been given in my honor, to a family who could use them to establish a livelihood for themselves.

There were no pickup trucks in the BMW-packed parking lot, and few farmers with dirt under their fingernails could be found milling about the sleek hotel lobby. But the place was swarming with venture capitalists from some of Silicon Valley’s marquee firms looking to grow profits with investments in sustainable agriculture.

Severine von Tscharner Fleming is the director of the forthcoming film The Greenhorns and founder of the crucial new young farmer organization of the same name. Here’s her no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners perspective on the young farmers movement. Make no mistake, this woman is dedicated and smart—and she’s recruiting.

I recently joined Slow Food Austin for a farm tour at Johnson’s Backyard Garden in Austin, TX, where we spent the morning visiting with Brenton Johnson and touring their farm.

Throughout much of agriculture, a remarkable span of 10,000 years, farmers were largely the stewards of the land and the crops that they grew. Seeds collected from one year’s harvest were selected, stored, and used again for successive growing seasons.

Asheville, NC prides itself on a thriving farm-to-table scene and flourishing network of family farms. While the city owes that reputation to many active organizations and individuals, one local non-profit, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, laid the groundwork for city’s food future.

The GM story as told by the Biotech giants paints the future as a happy and prosperous place: Farmers are profitable, everyone is well fed and the environment is protected.

The real GM story is not so happy. It is a story of market control, environmental degradation and deceived farmers and consumers.