On November 10, Vernita Dore, Deputy Under Secretary of Rural Development, announced that 258 farm businesses from 47 states, Puerto Rico, and the Western Pacific will receive $34 million in grants from the Fiscal Year 2015 round of the Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) program…. Read More →
Local & Regional Food Systems
Group Food Safety Certification Coming in 2016
Since 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has been partnering with the Wallace Center at Winrock International to pilot a group food safety certification option called GroupGAP. USDA recently previewed the planned expansion of the GroupGAP pilot to a full program, which will become available nationwide in the spring of 2016. […]
Building on Farm to School Success: Act Today!
Looking at their school lunch trays, kids in northeast Iowa can now make a unique observation: “my dad grew that!” In a state where agriculture is one of its biggest economic drivers, “my dad grew that” was something kids couldn’t say about their school lunches until very recently: up to a few years ago, Iowa-grown […]
New Farm to School Census: Local Food Purchasing Increasing
On Tuesday, October 20, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new Farm to School Census data confirming the multiple benefits of farm to school programs for kids, communities, and farmers. These early results from the latest Farm to School Census provide data on the 2013-2014 school year. Early Results Are In – and […]
Funding Cycle Now Open for Next Year’s Community Food Project Grants
In addition to announcing awardees for the Community Food Projects Grant Program (CFP) on October 13, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) posted on its CFP webpage the latest Request for Application for fiscal year 2016. NIFA anticipates awarding approximately $8.64 million in grants through CFP. The deadline for applications is 5:00pm EST on Monday, […]
$9 Million Awarded to Increase Community Food Security
On Tuesday, October 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded $8.6 million through the Community Food Projects (CFP) competitive grant program to organizations dedicated to increasing food security in underserved communities through local solutions that also build up local food systems. The Community Food Projects program seeks to address food insecurity by supporting nonprofits, tribal organizations, […]
Guest Post: Touring Sustainable WA Farms with Representative Newhouse’s Staff and Tilth Producers
We’re pleased to share this piece from NSAC member organization Tilth Producers of Washington, written by Ariana Taylor-Stanley. It was originally published on Tilth Producers of Washington’s blog and has been reposted with permission. Congress on the Farm While Congress was on August recess, Tilth Producers hosted Kyle Kunkler, DC Agriculture Staffer for Congressman Dan Newhouse, for […]
NSAC Delivers 2016 Sustainable Agriculture Funding Requests
On Tuesday, October 6, NSAC delivered a letter to members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to support sustainable agriculture priorities in the final fiscal year 2016 appropriations legislation. Congress is currently debating funding levels for the remainder of 2016 fiscal year, which began on October 1. On the final day of […]
HFFI Award Promotes Local Sustainable Food System Growth
On October 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded over $5 million through its Community Economic Development Program’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). Republic Food Enterprise Center – Growing a Local, Sustainable Food System NSAC congratulates the nine CDCs in seven states that received awards this year from the HHS HFFI program. In […]
Grants Available to Incentivize SNAP Produce Purchases
USDA recently announced the availability of $16.8 million through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant program…… Read More →
Specialty Crop Grant Awards Announced by USDA
On October 5, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $63 million in grants for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) and over $50 million in grants for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). These awards help support farmers growing fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops, also known as “specialty crops,” […]
New USDA Awards to Build Local Food Systems and Food Security
On October 2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced nearly $35 million in awards from three grant programs to support local and regional food systems, enhance the effectiveness of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operations at farmers markets, and improve marketing opportunities for farms through state-based research and innovation. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack made […]
New Initiative to Fight Rural Child Poverty
As a follow-up to recent announcements by the White House on efforts to combat rural child poverty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week announced the selection of ten communities for the Rural Integration Models for Parents and Children to Thrive (Rural IMPACT) Demonstration project. […]
Who is Subject to FDA’s New FSMA Food Facilities Rule? – Part 3
This is the final post in our multi-part series analyzing FDA’s recently released Preventive Controls Rule for Human Food, and the rules and requirements for farms and facilities that may fall under its purview. The first post analyzed those farms and food enterprises that are exempt from the rule. The second post looked at exemptions […]
Who is Subject to FDA’s New FSMA Food Facilities Rule? – Part 2
This post is the second in a multi-part series analyzing FDA’s recently released Preventive Controls Rule for Human Food, and the rules and requirements for farms and facilities that may fall under its purview. The first post analyzed those farms and food enterprises that are exempt from the rule. This post explores exemptions from certain […]
What We Can Learn from the 2014 Organic Production Survey
Last week the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2014 Organic Production Survey. This is the first comprehensive survey of the organic industry since 2008…. Read More →
Who is Subject to FDA’s New FSMA Food Facilities Rule? – Part 1
This post is the first in a multi-part series analyzing FDA’s recently released Preventive Controls Rule for Human Food, and the rules and requirements for farms and facilities that may fall under its purview. This first post addresses those farms and food enterprises that are exempt from the rule. Subsequent posts will look at facilities […]
Bringing the Farm to the Kids in Georgia
“We can’t always get the kids to the farm, but we can bring the farm to the kids!” — Cleta Long, Nutrition Director, Bibb County School District From school gardens to farmer talks, more and more students in Georgia are learning where food comes from in school classrooms and cafeterias. The luckiest even get to […]
Child Nutrition Act Markup Postponed – Time for Renewed Action!
The highly anticipated Senate markup for the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization (CNR) that was scheduled for Thursday, September 17th, has been postponed. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), announced the postponement yesterday, September 14, 2015, noting in a statement that he is “continuing negotiations with ranking member [Debbie] Stabenow [D-MI] to get a bipartisan, […]
USDA Launches First Non-GE/GMO Weekly Report
This month the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published the first non-GE/GMO weekly report. AMS publishes the new report every Wednesday to provide prices for non-GE/GMO corn and soybeans. The non-GE/GMO weekly report aims to help producers that are thinking about transitioning to organic production, according to Craig Morris, Deputy Administrator of the Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program […]
New Report Highlights Successes of Farm to School Grantmaking
On Friday, September 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the release of a new report on the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, highlighting the successes of the program over its three year history. Authored by the USDA Farm to School Team, with assistance from PEER Associates and the Center for Rural Studies […]
$3 Million Available in New Specialty Crop Multi-State Program – Food Safety Highlighted
Federal grant funding totaling $3 million in funding is now available through the new Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP). The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a press release on Friday, September 4, 2015 and a Request for Application this week. The SCMP will provide funds to State departments of agriculture on a competitive basis […]
Members of Congress Call on FDA to Begin Outreach and Education to Farmers on New Food Safety Rules
With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) poised to release new food safety rules for produce growers and food facilities this fall, Members of Congress are drawing attention to the urgent need for outreach, education, and training – particularly as faced by small-scale farms newly subject to food safety requirements. Members of both the House […]
RMA Announces that Whole-Farm will be the First Universally Available Crop Insurance Policy
On August 27, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the expansion of the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) crop insurance policy to every state and every county, making WFRP the first crop insurance policy to be universally available nationwide. WFRP is a single crop insurance policy that insures all of a farmer’s crops and animals under […]