November 25, 2020
As climate variability increases and energy costs continue to rise, producing on-farm, renewable energy has become an attractive option for many farmers and ranchers. In order to help producers save money and better utilize renewable energy, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides grants and loans to farmers and rural businesses interested in making […]
November 18, 2020
In October, the U.S. The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the inaugural round of grant awards for the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) program, providing $9.3 million in competitive grant funding for 23 projects. RFSP supports the formation of public-private partnerships working at the foodshed-level to transform local and regional food […]
October 8, 2020
Last Wednesday night with only a few hours to spare, Congress did what many observers and advocates for months had been citing as inevitable. They sent an appropriations Continuing Resolution (CR) to the President’s desk that puts off final decisions about Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 spending until after the November general election. The CR ensures […]
April 23, 2020
The nation’s food system and agriculture supply chains have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant impacts are being felt across the entire food and agriculture sector including the reduction in operation of restaurants, farmers markets, processing and packaging facilities, to name a few. Farmers and ranchers have voiced the strong need for intervention to […]
March 31, 2020
Local and regional food economy entrepreneurs and organizations received some long-awaited news earlier in March – the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) finally released the Request for Applications (RFA) for the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) Program. RFSP is a new program that supports foodshed-level approaches to developing regional food economies. […]
March 23, 2020
The following economic impact assessment was compiled on March 18, 2020 for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition by Dawn Thilmany, Becca Jablonski, Debra Tropp, Blake Angelo, and Sarah Low. More information about the authors can be found at the end of the document. Last updated March 21, 2020. Bottom Line Across key local and regional […]
January 14, 2020
In case you missed the NSAC/USDA webinar for prospective VAPG applicants on January 23, 2020, find the recording here. “Value-added” foods and goods are made from raw agricultural products (e.g., vegetables, grains, or dairy) that are minimally processed and then transformed into products like cheese, sauces, and breads. Specially labeled or marketed goods (e.g. “organic” […]
December 20, 2019
This week, after months of delay, Congress passed a much-anticipated deal to fund the government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2020. FY 2020 runs through September 30, 2020. The $1.4 trillion package of discretionary spending bills, which was divided up into two “minibuses”, was finally delivered this week after months of rigorous advocacy […]
December 17, 2019
The final appropriations package builds upon the sustainable agriculture community’s hard-fought farm bill wins and delivers much-needed support to family farmers across the country at a time when good news is increasingly hard to come by.
April 11, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Agricultural Census Shows Continued Shrinking of Ag in the MiddleNational Sustainable Agriculture Coalition expresses concern about increasing consolidation in agriculture, urges increased investment in Census “bright spots” like growing organic and local food sectors Washington, DC, April 11, 2019 – A new census […]