On June 22, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill in what has become a rare occurrence – unanimous, bipartisan approval. The Senate’s approval of the agriculture bill stood in stark contrast to what transpired in the House Appropriations Committee just a week earlier – an eight plus hour partisan slog that resulted in approval of the House’s FY2024 Agriculture spending bill along party lines. In this post, NSAC takes a closer look at the bill. … Read More →
FMLFPP
Funding available for rural farmers and cooperatives
On March 17, 2023, USDA Rural Development announced the availability of at least $31 million in total funding for Value-Added Producer (VAPG) projects and $3 million for Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG). The application window to apply is now open. Online applications will be accepted until May 11 for VAPG and May 16 for SDGG through grants.gov. Additional information on paper application deadlines is below. We encourage all readers to help get the word out to qualified individuals and groups…. Read More →
NSAC’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform: Investing in Healthy Communities
This is the second post in NSAC’s series covering key pillars of NSAC’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform, focusing on how the Farm Bill can invest in healthy rural and urban communities by strengthening the resilience of local and regional supply chains, increasing market opportunities for small and mid-sized farms and processors, enhancing job growth and local economic development through workforce development and training, and ensuring the most vulnerable have ample access to nutritious, culturally-relevant, locally-produced foods…. Read More →
Farmers and Advocates Fly-in to DC to Call for Climate and Sustainability Action in the 2023 Farm Bill
With the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization on the horizon, advocates and farmers from across the country gathered in Washington, DC last month to champion the federal programs important to them and their communities. NSAC hosted a cohort of farmers, ranchers, and food systems advocates for more than thirty meetings with Congressional leaders and senior USDA officials to encourage them to prioritize sustainable food and farm needs in the upcoming farm bill and in ongoing program implementation efforts. … Read More →
Digging into the 2023 Farm Bill: Senate Hearings Kick-Off the Long Road to the 2023 Farm Bill
NSAC details the recent Senate Agriculture Committee field hearing as a first step as part of the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization process. This is the first post in a multi-part series taking a deeper look into the 2023 Farm Bill process…. Read More →
What’s in the President’s Budget Request for Sustainable Agriculture?
The Biden-Harris Administration released the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 on March 28, 2022. The $5.8 trillion budget request comes several months late and includes the President’s discretionary spending plans and builds on the PBR FY 2022. NSAC outlines the Administration’s proposed budget as it pertains to the sustainable agriculture community and specifically: climate and conservation, research and food safety, local food and rural development, and farm loans and beginning and socially disadvantaged producers. … Read More →
USDA Opens Latest Round of Funding to Support Local and Regional Food Economy Development Projects
NSAC looks at USDA’s recently announced round of grant funding for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) and Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) program to build and expand local and regional food and agriculture markets. The deadline to apply for the FMLFPP and RFSP program is Monday, May 16, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Full details on the NSAC blog. … Read More →
USDA Programs Support Small Meat Processing Plants
There are a few existing federal programs that could be expanded to further support small, local, and regional meat and poultry processing plants and increase farmers’ access to slaughter and processing options…. Read More →
$23.5 Million to Support Local Food Projects Awarded
When consumers connect with farmers from their region, they not only get access to the freshest fruits, vegetables, and value-added goods, they also help to drive economic opportunity in rural and food producing communities. Developing the farm to fork supply chains that make those connections possible, however, is no small task. In order to help […]
From the Farm to the Hill: NSAC Hosts FY 2020 Farmer Fly-in
Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) brought in over a dozen farmers and advocates for the Coalition’s second “farmer fly-in” of 2019. Fly-in advocates from ten different states across the country came to DC to champion the federal programs important to them and their communities before congressional appropriators. Currently, Congress is negotiating federal […]
RFA Roundup: Bonanza of Spring Funding Opportunities
Grant funding announcements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been log jammed due to a series of government delays over the course of the last six months: passage of the 2018 Farm Bill was delayed by roughly three months, the last several appropriations and budget bills have been delayed, and the government shutdown […]
$23 Million Available for Local Food Programs
As part of our 2018 Farm Bill efforts, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) sought to strengthen programs and policies that support the growth of local food economies and support direct market opportunities for family farmers. One of the most significant achievements of those efforts was the development of the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), […]
Stories from the Field: Growing Hope
In Ypsilanti, Michigan, Growing Hope works to reduce food inequity and inequality among their fellow residents. Growing Hope’s vision is to see Ypsilanti transformed into “a community where all people–particularly those with barriers due to race, class, culture, language, ability, and mobility–have access to nourishing local food that is culturally appropriate and affordable, can grow […]
National Farm to School Month Spotlight: Missouri Coalition for the Environment
October is National Farm to School Month, the perfect time to share stories of farm to school (F2S) impact and innovation! This farm to school month, we have even more reasons to elevate F2S success stories because the next farm bill – which includes programs that have significant impact on F2S efforts, such as the […]
With the Farm Bill’s Future Uncertain, USDA Announces Local Food and Specialty Crop Awards
Local and regional food chains have long been part of the social and economic fabric for some American communities. With the American farm economy is in a multi-year downturn and commodity prices at historic lows, interest has peaked and family farmers nationwide are realizing that big economic opportunities can be found close to home. The […]
Celebrating Local Food by Taking Action for Family Farmers
Editor’s Note: This blog is a guest post written by Ben Feldman of the Farmers Market Coalition, a National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) Member group, and edited by Reana Kovalcik. Ben Feldman currently serves as the Policy Director for the national Farmers Market Coalition. He has spent his career working with farmers’ markets and the farmers […]
Draft Senate Farm Bill: Local & Regional Food and Rural Development
This is the fourth post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the draft farm bill released on June 8, 2018 by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Subsequent posts will focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and crop insurance and commodity subsidies. The bill is expected to be considered and “marked-up” (aka amended) by the full Agriculture Committee […]
$89 Million in Funding Available to Support Local Food Systems
Editor’s Note: USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is hosting two webinars to help prospective applicants better understand the application process and requirements. The first webinar is on Tuesday March 27 at 2 p.m. ET and will cover how to use Grants.gov. The second webinar will be held the following day, March 28 at 2 p.m. ET and will focus specifically […]
Harvesting Local Food Opportunities
For family farmers, fall is one of the busiest times of the year. While farmers are keeping busy harvesting their fields, food and farm advocates have been occupied with their own bumper crop of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program announcements. In fact, in the past two weeks, USDA awarded approximately $40 million in grants […]
Path to the 2018 Farm Bill: Programs with Expiring Funding
Editor’s Note: As a lead up to the 2018 Farm Bill, around which discussions and debate in Congress have already begun, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is previewing some of the major programs and policies that advocates need to know in order to effectively engage. The fourth post in our series, “Path to the 2018 […]
New Funding for Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion
USDA Farmers Market. Photo credit: USDA Over the past decade, the growth in local and regional food systems has been tremendous: farmers markets have shot up by 180 percent, regional food hubs have expanded by 288 percent, and school district participation in farm to school programs has increased by 430 percent. These systems are fast […]
Support Local Farmers, Celebrate National Farmers Market Week
Editor’s Note: To kick off National Farmers Market Week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) is excited to present this guest post from our member organization, the Farmers Market Coalition. National Farmers Market Week is from August 7-13, but many farmers’ markets go year round, so get out there and “shake the hand that feeds […]
New Funding Available for Local and Regional Food Systems
APPLICATION DEADLINE is this week – 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 12, 2016 Local and regional food systems are expanding nationwide. These systems create new economic opportunities for small and mid-sized family farmers, increase consumer access to fresh and healthy food, and improve rural livelihoods. Over the past decade, local and regional food systems have […]