On Thursday, January 20, Wal-Mart executives joined First Lady Michelle Obama in Washington, D.C. to announce the launch of a new five-year initiative to provide Wal-Mart customers with healthier, more affordable food options. The industry giant plans to reduce the prices of its fruits and vegetables and lower the amount of fats, sugars and salts […]
NSAC’S Blog
Worldwatch Institute: “State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet”
On Wednesday, January 19, the Worldwatch Institute celebrated the publication of its fifteenth State of the World report with an afternoon of speakers and panels centered on agricultural development, hunger, and poverty alleviation. The new report, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet, focuses largely on agricultural innovations that reduce hunger, increase agricultural productivity, […]
Democrats Named to House Agriculture Committee
On Wednesday, January 19, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, announced the new Democratic members of that Committee, a slate dominated by New Englanders. Joining the Committee for the first time are Representatives Chellie Pingree (ME), Joe Courtney (CT), Peter Welch (VT), and James McGovern (MA). Also joining are Representatives […]
Proposed Rule Issued for Direct Marketing Program
On Wednesday, January 19, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service issued proposed rules for the Farmers’ Market Promotion Program (FMPP). The FMPP is a competitive grants program that makes federal funds available for projects to establish, expand, and promote farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture, internet sales, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer marketing opportunities. The FMPP […]
2012 Farm Bill Summit: The Road to Reform
On January 12-13, NSAC hosted a 2012 Farm Bill Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit brought together 125 participants representing 95 organizations, an impressive array of experts and activists engaged in furthering the aims of the public interest community in the next Farm Bill. Organizations included farm, conservation, rural development, public health, food system, […]
NSAC Annual Winter Meeting
On January 10-11, 75 people representing over 50 NSAC member organizations convened for the Annual Winter Meeting of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. This year’s meeting took place in Washington DC. The meeting began with a Progress Report on 2010 priorities, including a a celebration of our victories in getting appropriate food safety measures for […]
House Agriculture Committee Re-Organizes
As often happens following elections that shift the party in the majority, the new Republican leadership of the House Agriculture Committee reorganized the panel’s subcommittees. As we previously have reported, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) is the new Chair of the Full Committee, and former Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has been named Vice Chair. There are […]
First 2010 AFRI Awards Announced
USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) dribbled out two announcements last week on 2010 awards under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI is the largest of several NIFA competitive grants research, education and extension programs. On January 13, a grant award to Oregon State University for childhood obesity prevention in rural […]
CSP Conservation Enhancements and Practices Available for FY 2011 Sign-up
As we reported in a blog post earlier this month, USDA had finalized but not yet released the full list of conservation enhancements and conservation practices available for the FY 2011 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) sign-up. This new information, which includes revisions to environmental benefit scores and the descriptions of the new enhancements, is now […]
NOP Announces Draft “Made With Organic” Labeling Guidance
On Thursday, January 13th, the National Organic Program (NOP), administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), published draft guidance on “made with organic” product labeling. The guidance appears in the Federal Register and is open for public comment for the next two months. The document clarifies the acceptable wording for labels on products containing at […]
USDA Provides Update on Seasonal High Tunnel Pilot
On January 7, 2011, USDA released the latest results of its Seasonal High Tunnel Pilot Program, launched by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in December of 2009. As of early January 2011, USDA had distributed more than $13 million for the construction of 2,422 high tunnels in 43 states. The USDA press release includes […]
USDA Releases New School Lunch Nutrition Standards
On Thursday, January 13, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published revised nutrition requirements for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs in the Federal Register. The proposed changes, which are based on the recommendations in this 2009 report from the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, would increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat […]
USDA Releases First 2011 Request for Applications for AFRI
On Friday, January 7, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) released the first of seven 2011 requests for applications (RFA) for the Agriculture, Food and Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. AFRI is the largest of the NIFA competitive grants programs, which also include smaller specialized programs for sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and […]
Proposed “Good Performance” Rule Issued by RMA
On Thursday, January 6, USDA’s Risk Management Agency issued a proposed rule to provide “good performance” refunds to farmers with no or with a limited number of claims within a given period of time. The rule includes very specific provisions for new or beginning farmers who were not primary operators of a farm for more […]
President Obama Signs Food Safety Modernization Act into Law
On Tuesday, January 4, President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law, marking the end of the bill’s tumultuous road to passage and the beginning of what may prove to be another lengthy road to correctly implement and fund its provisions. As reported in a number of previous blog posts, the bill – […]
CSP 2011 Sign-Up Deadline Extended; New CSP Enhancements Approved and Scored
The application deadline to apply to enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for 2011 has just been extended from January 7 until January 21, 2011. The extension will provide a few more weeks for farmers and ranchers to consider whether to submit an application at their local USDA office. While CSP is a continuous […]
NSAC Announces Strategic Initiative Grant Award Winners
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is very excited to announce a new round of Strategic Initiative Grant (SIG) awards that will build our coalition’s grassroots strength for the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations and Farm Bill Campaigns. NSAC thinks the best way to achieve long-term food and farm policy change is to build the capacity of its […]
NSAC Featured on C-SPAN
This morning, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program dedicated 40 minutes to the work of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Host Libby Casey interviewed NSAC Executive Director Susan Prolman about the growth of the sustainable agriculture movement. The interview is part of a week-long C-SPAN series on food and agriculture. Also appearing this week are Chandler Goule […]
USDA Requests Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program Applications
On Friday, December 23, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a request for applications for FY2011 funding for the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP). Congress has yet to appropriate FY2011 funding for FSMIP. AMS program staff, however, decided to issue the notice prior to securing the funding to allow applicants time to leverage funding and […]
Congress Extends FY2010 Budget through March 4, 2011
Late on Tuesday, December 21, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) scheduled to expire on March 4, 2011, which will fund most federal government agencies at the level provided in their FY2010 Appropriations Bills. The Senate voted 79-16 on Sunday, December 19 to amend the House-passed CR (H.R. 3082). The amended CR then went to […]
Congress Sends Food Safety Bill to President’s Desk
On December 21, 2010, the House of Representatives voted 215-144 to pass the Senate version of the Food Safety Modernization Act, with the Tester-Hagan amendment protecting small farms intact. This final vote by the House ends weeks of procedural wrangling, and sends the bill to the President’s desk for enactment. As we reported in a […]
2011 Sign-up for EQIP Organic Initiative
On Monday, December 20, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced $50 million in available funding for the 2011 sign-up of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Organic Initiative. The EQIP Organic Initiative, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), provides financial and technical assistance to certified organic producers and producers transitioning to organic to […]
Senate Passes Food Safety Bill (Again)
In an unexpected late-night move, the Senate passed the Food Safety Modernization Act – with the Tester-Hagan amendment protecting small farms intact – by voice vote on Sunday, December 19th. The bill is expected to be taken up in the House of Representatives tomorrow. The food safety bill hit a roadblock after passing the Senate […]
ERS Issues New Report on Organic Contracts
On Monday, December 13, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) published a new report, “The Role of Contracts in the Organic Supply Chain: 2004 and 2007,” examining the extent and rationale behind contracting in the organic sector. The report, which is based on data collected from nationwide surveys of certified organic processors, manufacturers, and distributors, found […]