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 […]
Local & Regional Food Systems
National Public Health Week: April 2-8, 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 […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Budget Complicates Farm Bill, but Senate Committee Will Begin Anyway
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 […]
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations; NSAC Delivers FY 2013 Appropriations Testimony to Senate
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 […]
Court Orders FDA to Resume Hearings Examining Antibiotic Use in Animal Feed
On Thursday, March 22, U.S. District Court of Southern New York Judge Theodore H. Katz ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reissue its proposal to examine the use of certain antibiotics in animal feed. According to the Market Forces (UCS), nearly 70 percent of all antibiotics used in this country are given to animals […]
USDA Releases Report on Food Hubs
Last week, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan released a new USDA report, Moving Food Along the Value Chain: Innovations in Regional Food Distribution, that highlights the work of eight food distributors across the country. These food distributors, better known as food hubs, facilitate connections between producers and consumers at a local and regional level. Last […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: NSAC Releases 2012 Farm Bill Policy Platform
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released its 2012 Farm Bill policy platform, Farming for the Future: A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2012 Food & Farm Bill. The platform is the culmination of two years of policy work with a broad, diverse coalition of over 90 grassroots organizations from across the country. It […]
House Holds Agriculture Appropriations Hearings
Earlier this month, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee held a series of four hearings on the Obama Administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The hearings precede and are meant to inform the markup of a FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill. The four hearings covered the President’s budget […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Mayors Outline Farm Bill Priorities in Letter to Congressional Agriculture Committee Leaders
On Tuesday, March 6th, the mayors of ten large cities–including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia–sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of both Congressional Agriculture Committees regarding the 2012 Farm Bill. This letter emphasized the importance of a 2012 reauthorization and outlined the mayors’ priorities which included food security, public health, economic […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Agriculture Committee’s New York Field Hearing
On March 9, the House Agriculture Committee held the first of four Farm Bill field hearings in Saranac Lake, New York. The state is fifth in the nation in specialty crop production and a major dairy state, so the hearing included the concerns of dairy farmers and specialty crop farmers. The transcripts of witness testimony […]
Organic and High Tunnel Deadline Approaching
The second of three cut-off dates for organic, on-farm energy, and seasonal high tunnel cost share is coming up on March 30. The Organic, On-Farm Energy, and Seasonal High Tunnel Initiatives are offered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). NRCS will have three ranking periods in 2012 for […]
USDA Highlights Revenue Protection Tool Developed by NSAC Member
USDA’s March 8th blog featured a new online revenue protection tool from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) developed by NSAC member organization, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), and Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Jeff Schahczenski, a member of NSAC’s Organizational Council, was the lead developer of AGR-Lite Wizard, an online tool […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Holds Hearing on Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production, and Nutrition
In its “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill” series, NSAC gets into the details of the 2012 Farm Bill debate. On Wednesday, March 7, the Senate Agriculture Committee held the third of four hearings for the 2012 Farm Bill. Hearings are an important part in the farm bill process because they bring attention to critical […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Briefing on Local Food and Nutrition
In its “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill” series, NSAC gets into the details of the 2012 Farm Bill debate. On March 1, a briefing on local food policy issues held in the Senate Agriculture Committee room helped educate Senate offices in advance of action on the 2012 Farm Bill. Entitled “Spurring Economic Growth and […]
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: USDA Releases Report and Compass
On Wednesday, February 29 USDA released its Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) report and introduced the Compass, an expansive new resource for the KYF2 initiative. The initiative was launched in 2009 to enhance coordination and efficiency among the various USDA agencies and programs that work to build local and regional farm and food […]
Federal Investments in Local Food Boost Economic Growth — USDA Releases Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Report and Compass
For Immediate Release February 29, 2012 Contact: Helen Dombalis, 202-547-5754 Washington, DC, February 29, 2012 – Today USDA released a comprehensive report on its Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, launched in 2009 to enhance coordination among federal programs that in various ways help to build local and regional farm and food systems. “This […]
2011 Community Food Projects Awardees Named
On Wednesday, February 15, USDA announced the 2011 recipients of the Community Food Projects grants. Community Food Projects, a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) program, seeks to fight hunger and food security through community-driven food systems, specifically in low-income communities. The year’s 27 grants totaled $4.8 million. Projects funded include a teen-run […]
New Ally for Sustainable Agriculture in the Finance Department
Non-profit, community lenders get involved in healthy food supply chain by guest bloggers Nessa Richman, Brightseed Strategies and Patty Cantrell, Regional Food Solutions Loan funds, credit unions, community development corporations—these mission-driven organizations traditionally provide credit and financial services to poor and underserved urban and rural areas. Yet food and farming rarely registered on their radar […]
Obama’s FY 2013 USDA Budget Request
On Monday, February 13, President Obama submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. For sustainable agriculture interests, the budget proposal is a mixed bag, with big cuts to working lands conservation programs, and both cuts and increases to discretionary spending accounts for sustainable agriculture programs. As far as the upcoming 2012 […]
USDA Solicits Applications for Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
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 […]
Farmers Speak to the Value of Their Value-Added Producer Grants — USDA Announces Awards Today
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 […]
Lenders Learn how to Bank on Small Farms, Local Food
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 […]
U.S. Conference of Mayors Establishes Food Policy Task Force
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’ […]
It’s Time: Help us Speak up for Sustainable Agriculture
Check out our Path to the 2012 Farm Bill blog series for updates on the 2012 Farm Bill process – and be sure to sign up for NSAC Action Alerts to stay in the loop on speaking out and taking action! The summer’s bounty may feel far away, but even in January, farmers and ranchers […]