NSAC Archives for the 'Local Food and Marketing' Category
USDA Solicits Applications for Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has announced this year’s request for Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP) proposals. FSMIP promotes research projects that advance the marketing, distribution, and transportation of U.S. agricultural products both domestically and internationally. Under this program, USDA matches grant funds for qualified state agencies such as state departments of agriculture and state agricultural Read the Rest…
Farmers Speak to the Value of Their Value-Added Producer Grants — USDA Announces Awards Today
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
For Immediate Release February 3, 2012 Contact: Helen Dombalis 202-547-5754 Farmers Speak to the Value of Their Value-Added Producer Grants – USDA Announces Awards Today — Washington, DC February 3, 2012 – Today USDA announced the recipients of the most recent rounds of Value-Added Producer Grants. The awards, which cover two funding cycles, span 298 Read the Rest…
Lenders Learn how to Bank on Small Farms, Local Food
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Financing team offers training as part of healthy food initiative By Patty Cantrell Nic Welty employs himself full time year-round raising lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens in three low-cost passive solar greenhouses, which together cover less than one acre of land. His Nine Bean Rows farm near Traverse City, MI, is one of many Read the Rest…
U.S. Conference of Mayors Establishes Food Policy Task Force
Friday, January 27th, 2012
At its January meeting in Washington, DC, the U.S. Conference of Mayors established a food policy task force to be headed up by Mayor Tom Menino of Boston and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore. The group will spend the next six months collecting information and drafting a report for consideration at the Conference of Mayors’ Read the Rest…
It’s Time: Help us Speak up for Sustainable Agriculture
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Stay tuned for a detailed blog post on the 2012 Farm Bill next week. The summer’s bounty may feel far away, but even in January, farmers and ranchers are busy – unloading hay for cattle on the snowy range, selecting next summer’s most-delicious tomato seeds, or harvesting fresh grapefruit for your breakfast table. Here in Read the Rest…
Healthy Food Financing Initiative FY 2012 Appropriations Funding
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
As we reported in an earlier blog post, in mid-December Congress passed a “megabus” appropriations bill that included FY 2012 appropriations funding for numerous departments including Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Included in this package is $32 million in funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. HFFI aims to Read the Rest…
Food and Farm Bill Alive in 2012!
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Dear Supporters, We previously reported to you that a 2011 Food and Farm Bill appeared imminent. Days before Thanksgiving the Congressional “Super Committee” failed to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. With that, the 2011 Farm Bill proposal intended for inclusion in the Super Committee’s deficit reduction bill is thus no more. The Read the Rest…
The Farm Bill is Dead! Long Live the Farm Bill! – Part Two
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
In part one of this post, we discuss what might be next for the ongoing congressional budget debate and in turn for the new farm bill. In part two we turn to details about what was in the short-lived and now dead 2011 Farm Bill deal. What We Know About the Farm Bill that Did Read the Rest…
Senate Bill Would Promote Lending to Local Food Entrepreneurs
Friday, November 18th, 2011
On November 17, an innovative bill that would establish a revolving loan fund program that would support local farm businesses and market gardens was introduced in the Senate. The Growing Opportunities for Agriculture and Responding to Markets (GO FARM) Act of 2011 (S.1888) was introduced by Senators Robert Casey (D-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA). The Read the Rest…
USDA Blogs about Farmers Market Data
Friday, November 18th, 2011
In the last month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted two blogs about exciting farmers market research and initiatives. USDA has updated its geo-coded dataset for farmers markets based on the 2011 National Farmers Market Directory. In a blog posted on October 27, 2011, titled “Data-Lovers Rejoice: More Farmers Market Geocodes Available,” USDA Read the Rest…
