Don’t miss these items in local food and agriculture news from around our region:
CONGRESS-APPROVED FARM BILL HONORS WHOLESOME WAVE’S LATE CO-FOUNDER GUS SCHUMACHER!
Gus championed Nutrition Incentive programs, including our Bonus Bucks program for SNAP recipients, from their very inception. It is quite fitting that this funding stream that now funds Bonus Bucks is named for him!
Everyone at Wholesome Wave is abuzz today with news that the US Congress voted across all sides of the political aisle to approve the 2018 Farm Bill. Not only does this piece of legislation reauthorize and increase funding for nutrition incentive programs nationwide, it changes the name of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Program to the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program.
Gus’s legacy will live on while honoring his belief that all Americans, regardless of income, should be able to choose healthy fruits and vegetables for their families. Read the full press release on Wholesome Wave’s website.
THE 2018 FARM BILL FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) is thrilled that the final 2018 Farm Bill contains huge wins for programs that support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, organic research, and local/regional food programs — including the establishment of permanent, baseline funding!
We’re proud to have helped secure these wins, but our work is far from finished. There are some very real disappointments in the bill, including major cuts to working lands conservation programs and the widening of subsidy loopholes that benefit mega-farms. Your support can help us fight these bad provisions and bring home more victories for America’s farmers in the future.
NSAC staff are publishing deep dive farm bill analyses and identifying opportunities for grassroots advocacy. Once the bill is passed into law, we’ll move quickly into the rule-making and implementation stages of the work — which will offer key opportunities to solidify our wins and mitigate losses going forward.
Stay updated on the Farm Bill and support the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Check out the Rhode Ahead Cookbook holiday edition from Blue Cross Blue Shield RI.
LOCAL SPECIALTY CROP & LOCAL FOOD TRADE SHOW
Registration Open for the Local Food & Specialty Crop Trade Show
The Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts (SBN) is offering our 8th Local Food Trade Show. The 2019 Local Food Trade Show is designed to facilitate connections and stimulate business relationships between producers and wholesale buyers of local food, with a focus on specialty crop food products in Massachusetts.
Local Specialty Crop Trade Show
Exhibitors will include New England based farmers, produce distributors and local specialty crop producers (products made with 50% or more specialty crops also qualify). Please view the USDA definition of specialty crops here. Please note that crops must be produced in the U.S. or U.S. Territory. This Trade Show is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Exhibition booths are free for specialty crop farmers and other specialty crop producers.Local Food Trade Show
This trade show is open to all non-specialty crop food producers including meat and dairy farms, fisheries, baked goods and other added value producers. Exhibition booths are $150.00. *$25 Discount for SBN MembersWho should attend?
Any wholesale buyers, who are interested in purchasing Massachusetts or New England-produced food items. These buyers can be supermarkets, co-ops, restaurants, hotels, institutions, schools, food processors in search of ingredients, distributors, or anyone else interested in local purchasing options.*This event is intended for commercial buyers, not individual consumers.*
