On Wednesday, September 14, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced the award of $25 million in grants through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) to a variety of organizations serving “food deserts” throughout the United States. A total of 12 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in nine states will receive funding. These […]
Food Safety
USDA Proposes New Animal ID and Tracing Regulation
On Thursday, August 11, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a proposed rule with national official identification and documentation requirements for the traceability of livestock moving interstate. Animals covered by the proposed rule include cattle, bison, sheep, goats, swine, horses and other equines, captive cervids and poultry. USDA’s stated purpose for implementing the […]
Tester – Now More Than Ever
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release August 17, 2011 Contact: Helen Dombalis 202-547-5754 Tester – Now More Than Ever Washington, DC August 17, 2011 – Some national produce industry groups seem to be exploiting a recent outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, thought to have originated in strawberries from an Oregon farm, for the […]
2011 Healthy Food Enterprise Awards Announced
In mid-July the Healthy Food Enterprise Development (HUFED) Center announced its 2011 HUFED awards. The Center is administered by the Wallace Center at Winrock International, an NSAC member organization. A total of $630,000 will be awarded to 17 enterprises over the next two years for “innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to resolve barriers to healthy food […]
Wild Farm Alliance and Community Alliance with Family Farmers Guide to Food Safety and Wildlife Conservation
The Wild Farm Alliance (WFA), in collaboration with Community Alliance with Family Farmers, has released a new brochure, Farming With Food Safety and Conservation in Mind, that provides an overview of how producers can co-manage the goals food safety and wildlife conservation through their farming practices. Unfortunately, outbreaks of food-borne illness in recent years have […]
Celebrate National Farmers Market Week – August 7-13
On July 20, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proclaimed August 7th to the 13th, 2011 as National Farmers Market Week. This marks the twelfth year that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proclaimed a National Farmers Market Week. All across the country next week, non-profit organizations, USDA agencies, farmers, and consumers will […]
People’s Garden Grant Program
On Tuesday, July 26, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) of USDA announced the availability of grants of up to $150,000 through its People’s Garden Grant Program. The program will fund projects to facilitate the creation of produce, recreational, and/or wildlife gardens in urban and rural areas, which will provide opportunities for food […]
NSAC Opposes National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement
On Thursday, July 28, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition filed its comments on the proposed National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (NLGMA) with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). NSAC urged USDA to withdraw the proposal. The NLGMA attempts to create a new federal marketing agreement to establish food safety rules that would be agreed to by […]
A Hard Week in Congress for Clean Water
On Tuesday, July 12, the House Appropriations Committee approved an appropriations bill for the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies that would slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding by 18-precent. The full House is expected to vote on the bill the week of July 25th. The bill also includes several riders to severely limit […]
Big Ag To Write Food-Safety Rules
Did you hear about this new unnecessary and damaging food safety rule we sent an alert about a few weeks ago? A new rule is being proposed for spinach, lettuce, and cabbage by a “marketing agency” that doesn’t have food safety jurisdiction or staff. But that’s not the worst of it. The most powerful “Big […]
USDA Announces New Farm To School Resources
On Tuesday, July 12, USDA announced several new resources for locally-sourced school food initiatives. At the 2011 School Nutrition Association national convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan addressed 4,500 school nutrition professionals about the Obama administration’s efforts to improve the health and nutrition of school and institutional meals, most notably the […]
An Action Packed June
It’s been a busy month at NSAC with four separate advocacy campaigns put in play. On June 28th, NSAC and a broad coalition of farm, conservation, wildlife, and forestry organizations representing millions of Americans orchestrated a National Day of Action to protest huge cuts to farm bill conservation programs and an attack on local and […]
Secretary Vilsack Includes Organic Agriculture Leaders on Biotech Advisory Committee
On June 24, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced 22 appointments to the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture. The Committee, commonly referred to as AC21, has been dormant since 2009. The new members hail from 16 states, and a handful of appointees are important advocates for organic agriculture. Secretary Vilsack stated […]
Senator Feinstein Sponsors Bill to Restrict Antibiotic Use in Livestock Industry
On Friday June 17, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), S. 1211, which aims to reduce the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry. If the bill becomes law, it would: Phase out the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in the livestock industry; Require new applications […]
Genetic Diversity and Food Security
The July 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine carries an excellent piece on the importance of preserving both genetic diversity and farmer knowledge in meeting the world’s growing demand for food. Food Ark, by Charles Siebert, highlights the efforts of several seed banks around the world including the Seed Saver’s Exchange in Decorah, Iowa and […]
House Agriculture Committee to Hold 2012 Farm Bill Hearings
The House Agriculture Committee will begin preparatory hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill next week. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) spoke about the upcoming hearings during debate of the agriculture appropriations bill by the full House this week. “The process of developing the 2012 farm bill would begin in the Agriculture Committee next […]
Pfizer Suspends Use of Poultry Arsenic Drug
The Food and Drug Administration announced on June 8 that a major drug company voluntarily agreed to suspend US sales of an arsenical drug used in poultry production. This step follows an FDA study that found higher levels of arsenic in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) than in untreated chickens. Pfizer Inc. […]
Opposition to NLGMA Rises
In late April, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a proposed national food safety rule for leafy greens. Structured as a marketing agreement – a legal tool normally used for achieving orderly marketing and promotion of particular commodities – the AMS food safety rule covers only leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, and cabbage). It will […]
“Big Ag” at it Again
Last year we won a hard fought battle, securing appropriate food safety rules in the Food Safety Modernization Act for small-to-midsized farms and processors producing fresh and healthy food for local and regional markets. Now, out of left field, a marketing agency – the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) — has issued a proposed national […]
Health Promotion and Economic Development Funding Can Support Sustainable Agriculture
On May 20, the Obama administration announced the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a sixteen-agency collaboration that will offer up to $33 million in funding to encourage public-private partnerships of regional industry clusters. Regional industry clusters (RICs) that promote workforce development and a broad base of related industries can apply for up to $2.2 million […]
Lawsuit to Restrict Antibiotic Use in Industrial Animal Production
On Wednesday, May 25, NSAC members the Food Animal Concerns Trust and the Union of Concerned Scientists joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Public Citizen in a lawsuit to compel the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to respond to citizen petitions requesting that FDA take action […]
House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Passes FY2012 Funding Bill
On Tuesday, March 24, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies passed by voice vote its fiscal year (FY) 2012 agriculture appropriations bill, which would cut USDA and FDA discretionary programs by 13.4 percent on top of a similar amount in the FY 2011 bill completed last month. […]
House FY2012 Appropriations Bill Would Slash Conservation, Rural Development, and Research Programs
On Monday, May 23, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies released a draft of its fiscal year (FY) 2012 agriculture appropriations bill. The Subcommittee will debate, potentially amend, and almost certainly pass the bill on Tuesday during an afternoon markup. Before the bill can become law, […]
National Genetics Board Being Re-Established
On Monday, May 16, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) published a notice or intent and request for nominations in the Federal Register for the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council. The Council has been dormant but is in the process of being re-established. Its purpose is to formulate recommendations on actions and policies with respect […]