NSAC Archives for the 'Local Food and Marketing' Category
Guest Blog: Insuring and Financing Healthy Farms
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Editor’s Note: We want to thank Jeffrey O’Hara from NSAC member the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) for his contribution. Dr. O’Hara is an agricultural economist in the Food & Environment Program at UCS; his expertise includes local food systems and community development. Farm policy has historically disregarded whether domestic crop production is aligned with Read the Rest…
USDA Releases Food Hub Resource Guide
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Last Friday, April 20th, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the launch of USDA’s online food hub resource guide. Food hubs, which can concentrate multiple producers’ processing, distribution, and marketing efforts at a single site, attract local consumers and allow smaller-sized farms to compete in larger markets. The new guide acts a resource for small and Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Draft Farm Bill – Local Food and Rural Development Drilldown
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Agricultural policy that bolsters community economic development serves as a cornerstone of NSAC’s advocacy. Within this framework, we support strong Rural Development programs that target small business development and job creation. Similarly, NSAC recognizes the economic opportunities inherent in food produced for local markets and thus urge Congress to address infrastructure and information barriers to Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Draft Farm Bill – Research Drilldown
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
In sum, the research title of the recently released draft Senate farm bill was not a strong one for sustainable agriculture. NSAC and its member organizations had several proposals for how to strengthen the focus on research that benefits and is relevant for organic and sustainable production systems, contained in our platform, Farming for the Read the Rest…
Request for Applications for Farm to School Grants
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
On April 17, USDA announced new funding that aims to provide fresh, healthy food for children in schools across America, and to bolster and sustain local farmers and ranchers. The agency said today that $3.5 million in funding will be available to help local school districts organize and implement Farm to School programs. These critical Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Writes a Farm Bill
Friday, April 13th, 2012
The Senate Agriculture Committee is on track to meet its timeline for marking up a farm bill later this month. Agriculture staffers in the Senate have been meeting throughout the two-week Congressional Easter recess to discuss issues and proposals. The Senate Agriculture Committee leadership is writing a draft of the farm bill – known as Read the Rest…
Apply Now for 2012 Farmers’ Market Promotion Program
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
On April 6, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will publish the 2012 Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) for the Farmers’ Market Promotion Program (FMPP) in the Federal Register. For 2012, $10 million dollars in competitive grant funds are available for projects that expand direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Grant funds may be used for the establishment Read the Rest…
National Public Health Week: April 2-8, 2012
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
April 2 marks the beginning of National Public Health Week, organized annually by the American Public Health Association to bring attention to current issues in public health. The first day’s “tools and tips” from APHA focus on healthy eating and supporting local food efforts. With alarming trends in overweight and obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related Read the Rest…
Path to the Farm Bill: House Budget Complicates Farm Bill, but Senate Committee Will Begin Anyway
Friday, March 30th, 2012
On Thursday, March 29, the House approved the FY 13 Budget Resolution introduced by Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) by a 228-191 vote, with all Democrats and 10 Republicans voting no. The budget resolution will not be taken up by the Senate and hence will only control spending actions in the House. The resolution Read the Rest…
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations; NSAC Delivers FY 2013 Appropriations Testimony to Senate
Friday, March 30th, 2012
On Thursday, March 29, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee held its first hearing on USDA’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request. The Subcommittee will consider USDA’s requests as it writes its funding bill for the year. Individual funding requests by Senators and outside groups were also due yesterday. You can download and read our FY Read the Rest…
