This week’s selection of Choice Bits keeps closer to home — read about a new bison farm in Berwick seeking to use ranching as a way to foster community; how new federal rules affect the local fishing industry; and a new venture called Northern Girl that will process local produce:

Grass fed and growing: Berwick farm showcases bison and a theater

Within three months, the two friends had plans to turn Guptill’s family farm into a working bison ranch. But more than creating a bison farm, they envisioned a intentional community where people would come together to create sustainable agriculture, an educational center and a local marketplace for culture, food and the arts. ”We were talking about it one night in Boston over a six-pack of Sierra Nevada, and it just seemed to make a lot of sense,” said Guptill…

 — [1] Fosters

NH fishermen say they’re sinking under new federal rules

“For years it was suggested that fishermen redirect their efforts, and we did that, and a lot of us are paying for it because we didn’t have a history,” said Padi Anderson, founder of the nonprofit organization Granite State Fish and wife of Rye fisherman Mike Anderson.

— [2] Union Leader

Natural Foodie: Dealing with the desire for locally-sourced veggies

Sisters Marada and Leah Cook, who run the Crown O’Maine Organic Cooperative distribution company, make their living selling locally grown and raised foods, and often serve as de facto spokespeople for Maine’s local food movement. But Marada has a confession to make: “I’m a mom, and I buy baby carrots from California every week.”

 

— [3] The Portland Press Herald