Don’t miss these items in local food and agriculture news from around our region:
NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COALITION (NSAC)
House Farm Bill Fails on Every Level
Farm and food groups urge Congress to vote no on anti-farmer, anti-family, anti-environment farm bill
Washington, DC, May 17, 2018
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition — the nation’s longest-operating and largest sustainable agriculture policy organization — urged Members of Congress to vote “no” on H.R. 2, the House farm bill.
“This bill is an insult to the American family farmers and rural communities who are responsible for putting food on our families’ tables each night,” said Greg Fogel, NSAC Policy Director. “For over 30 years, our coalition has been fighting for a stronger, more sustainable and equitable food and farm system – and we’ve seen real progress being made. Congress has advanced many important issues in recent years, including efforts to strengthen working lands conservation and increase support for beginning farmers and ranchers. The farm bill before the House today, however, will go down in history as being one of the most anti-farmer bills ever seen. It is a shame that the bill drafters have thrown away the bipartisan legacy of the farm bill, and instead chosen to provide unlimited subsidies to mega-farms, undermine rural entrepreneurship and make it more difficult for farmers to access new markets, and decimate our natural resources by cutting support for working lands conservation programs and eliminating the Conservation Stewardship Program completely. We sincerely hope that Members will do the right thing this week, and vote no on this bill.”
For more details on the House farm bill and how it will irreparably harm American farmers and families, see NSAC’s blog. For more information on how you can take action, see their Action Alerts page.
About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities.
FARM TO INSTITUTION NEW ENGLAND (FINE)
FINE is Launching a New England Campus Farms Working Group!
Now accepting applications for the co-chair of this new working group
The New England Farm & Sea to Campus Network (FSC Network), an initiative of FINE, is launching a new working group focused on campus farms! This group is an outgrowth of the New England Campus Farmer Summit FINE co-hosted at Stonehill College in February. During that event, it became clear that campus farmers in New England want more ways to collaborate and stay connected.
Bridget Meigs of Stonehill College has agreed to be one of the co-chairs of the new working group focused on campus farmers, and we’re looking for a committed and motivated campus farm advocate to co-lead the campus farms working group and join the FSC Network steering committee.
SAVE THE DATE!
The Farm to Institution New England team is pleased to announce that their 2019 New England Farm to Institution Summit will be held on April 2-4, 2019, at UMass Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Thanks to FINE’s strong network of local and regional food system partners, their 2015 and 2017 summits were both tremendous successes. FINE is eager to once again serve as the principal summit host, working with many partners to bring our region the third biennial New England Farm to Institution Summit. Collectively, we are committed to curating an event that meets the needs of our growing and dynamic network of stakeholders to mobilize institutions to transform our food system.
The 2019 New England Farm to Institution Summit steering committee is already busy laying the groundwork for the summit theme, structure, outreach, and funding elements. We invite you to save the date and stay tuned for more information!
If you’re interested in having an active role in shaping the summit, contact FINE to learn more.
PVD FEST
This year the PVDFest organizers are planning to make it a Zero Waste event by banning things such as straws, styrofoam, and plastic bags. They are currently creating a Zero Waste Team that will help educate the community on how to distribute their waste into the correct bins, along with why reducing and sorting our waste is so vital for our global and local environments.
If you’re passionate about composting, recycling, and mitigating waste — volunteer to help!
To volunteer, all you have to do is click this link and select Zero Waste Team on the application.
