[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 140 (Wednesday, August 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ENID WONNACOTT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on behalf of all Vermonters, I would like 
to honor Enid Wonnacott of Huntington, VT, who this month will be 
inducted into the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame in recognition of 
her more than 30 years of agricultural leadership in Vermont and the 
Nation. Enid became the executive director of the Northeast Organic 
Farming Association of Vermont, NOFA-VT, in 1987, the same year that I 
became chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry. Enid has been a national leader in advancing the 
importance of organic agriculture. She provided important technical and 
advocacy support as I worked on the National Organic Standards Act as 
part of the 1990 farm bill--which has in turn resulted in making 
organic agriculture a $60 billion annual industry--with Vermont as a 
leader. Thirty years later, Enid continues to provide advice on organic 
agriculture and nutrition issues.
  Enid Wonnacott's many accomplishments are presented in detail in her 
much deserved nomination to the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the nomination printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame 2018 Inductee Enid Wonnacott

       Enid has served as the Executive Director of The Northeast 
     Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) since 1987. 
     Over the course of her tenure, thanks to her leadership, 
     Vermont's organic industry has grown immensely, from just 57 
     certified farms in 1990, to more than 700, today. Enid has 
     worked tirelessly to help ensure all Vermonters have access 
     to local, organic foods, and began a pioneering farm share 
     program more than 20 years ago to provide subsidized farm 
     shares for low-income Vermonters. As the National Organic 
     Program was developed, Enid worked to implement a national 
     certification program that kept the needs of Vermont's family 
     farms at the forefront. Over the past three decades, she has 
     nurtured and guided more than 70 staff and 20 interns, 
     secured consistent grant and donor funding, and led NOFA-VT 
     to become a national leader in organic advocacy, food access, 
     and farm to school education. She has made an indelible mark 
     on both the local, and national, organic movement. Enid grew 
     up in Weybridge, and has lived on a small farmstead in 
     Huntington with her husband, Harry, and children, Lila and 
     Eli, for the past thirty years.

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