Regional Approaches to Climate Change or REACCH is sharing 13 case studies of innovative ways farmers in the Northwest manage climate-change risk. The hope is to inspire other farmers to improve the resiliency and sustainability of their farms. The case study series features dryland, irrigated, rangeland and dairy farmers, and the documents have been compiled and are featured online in text, PDF, and video. Farming practices such as tillage, residue management, crop rotations, soil organic amendments and resource-use efficiency, enables farmers to overcome barriers.

Read about the project more here.

“Farmers adapt to challenges in unique ways. Some of these strategies are unique to a specific location, while others are universal to agriculture. By adopting farming practices such as tillage, residue management, crop rotations, soil organic amendments and resource-use efficiency farmers have been able to overcome barriers, often in unexpected ways. Innovative approaches used by Pacific Northwest farmers to improve on-farm sustainability and longevity are being featured in a series of case studies.

The REACCH Producer Survey showed that other farmers are the most trusted source of information for producers. The goal of these case studies is to inspire others to take management risks on their farms that can improve their overall sustainability and resiliency into the future, by showcasing producers who have done so successfully. Case studies are in progress and will be added to this page as they are completed.”

Community Food Systems Planning: A Strategic Opportunity for Improving Food Security, Health, and Wellbeing

Tomorrow, on Thursday, June 29^th, 2017 from 11:00am to 12:30pm in Rome, Italy, Dr. Samina Raja will be presenting as part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations before its 40th annual conference session this July.

The presentation will provide insight on how food systems can be addressed by harnessing the power of planning to strengthen communities’ food systems. Places such as cities, towns, and villages that humans inhabit are routinely designed and planned by planners representing local and other sub-national governments to provide a host of services and infrastructure including roads, sewer, housing, and jobs. Unfortunately, planners largely overlook the food systems when planning for future of communities. Integrating food systems thinking into urban/regional/territorial planning has emerged as a global need. Such integration – commonly known as food systems planning – is a fairly new area of planning practice. At its best, food systems planning is rooted in the collaborative partnership among food system community stakeholders, including farmers, retailers, processors and consumers, and the local and regional governments. The seminar will serve as basis of discussion of the challenges and opportunities in the horizon to implement community food system planning.

Wednesday June 21st was the release of Nourishing Communities: From Fractured Food Systems to Transformative Pathways, a volume that builds on existing alternative food initiatives and food movements research to explore how a systems approach can bring about health and well-being through enhanced collaboration. It includes chapters by current and former GFC team members: Jill Clark, Caitlin Marquis, Subhashni Raj, and Samina Raja. Two chapters from the team feature a case study of Buffalo-Erie metropolitan area, NY and a case study of Franklin County, Ohio.

Chapters describe the myriad ways community-driven actors work to foster food systems that are socially just, embed food in local economies, regenerate the environment and actively engage citizens. Drawing on case studies, interviews and Participatory Action Research projects, the editors share the stories behind community-driven efforts to develop sustainable food systems, and present a critical assessment of both the tensions and the achievements of these initiatives.

The volume is unique in its focus on approaches and methodologies that both support and recognize the value of community-based practices. Throughout the book the editors identify success stories, challenges and opportunities that link practitioner experience to critical debates in food studies, practice and policy. By making current practices visible to scholars, the volume speaks to people engaged in the co-creation of knowledge, and documents a crucial point in the evolution of a rapidly expanding and dynamic sustainable food systems movement. Entrenched food insecurity, climate change induced crop failures, rural-urban migration, escalating rates of malnutrition related diseases, and aging farm populations are increasingly common obstacles for communities around the world. Merging private, public and civil society spheres, the book gives voice to actors from across the sustainable food system movement including small businesses, not-for- profits, eaters, farmers and government. Insights into the potential for market restructuring, knowledge sharing, planning and bridging civic-political divides come from across Canada, the United States and Mexico, making this a key resource for policy-makers, students, citizens, and practitioners.

When sharing the book, please use this hashtag: #nourishingcommunities

View the book here.

Editors:

• Irena Knezevic: https://carleton.ca/sjc/profile/knezevic-irena/
• Alison Blay-Palmer: http://alisonblaypalmer.com/; @blaypalmer
• Charles Levkoe: https://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/L/clevkoe/node/32220; @CharlesLevkoe
• Phil Mount: http://nourishingontario.ca/phil-mount/
• Erin Nelson: http://www.ids.uoguelph.ca/?q=ids-affiliated-faculty/erin-nelson

Reposted from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Blog.

“If Congress were to enact the Administration’s budget proposal as written, USDA would be subject to a discretionary funding cut of 21 percent ($47 billion over 10 years). If Trump’s proposed farm bill policy changes are added in, another $228 billion would be cut from USDA programs over the next 10 years.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (NSAC) and our allies in the anti-hunger and nutrition communities strongly oppose the President’s proposal to cut $193 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program over the next ten years. SNAP helps connect millions of children and their families with healthy foods every year, and also opens market opportunities to local and regional farmers. The majority of the “savings” from the SNAP cut ($116 billion) would be made by block-granting the program to states, effectively putting them on the hook to match as much as 25 percent of the program’s costs by 2023. Putting additional restrictions on the eligibility of able-bodied adults would make up $49 billion of the total cut, and a new application fee on retailers who participate in the program would represent $252 million of the cut. This fee would include not only brick and mortar retailers, but also farmers markets interested in expanding access to healthy, local foods for SNAP families.

Rural development programs take the brunt of the cuts in the budget, including a 26 percent reduction in overall funding. The entire discretionary budget for the Rural Business and Cooperative Service – $95 million – is proposed to be eliminated. The budget also requests several policy changes to the farm bill that would eliminate a host of Rural Development programs, including the Rural Energy for America Program, Rural Economic Development Program, and elements of the Rural Utilities Service. Combined, these eliminations would reduce investment in rural America by at least $2 billion. The budget includes 2018 Farm Bill proposals to eliminate two critical local and regional food system support programs, the Specialty Crop Block Grant program (SCBG), and the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP). FMLFPP supports the expansion of local and regional food markets by helping farmers connect with consumer and overcome barrier to expanding local and regional markets. According to the President’s proposal, Guaranteed Farm Ownership loans would be cut by $250 million, Direct Operating Loans would be cut by $225 million, and Guaranteed Operation Loans would be cut by $566 million. The budget also includes deep cuts to USDA’s research programs, including a 30 percent cut to the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. The proposal also slices 7 percent from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).”

The ultimate fate of the FY 2018 proposed cuts and eliminations will rest with the Congressional Appropriations Committees as they fashion their 2018 spending bills later this year.”

Last month, Chautauqua County Community of Opportunity (COO) Growing Food Connections Steering Committee members reviewed the results of a rural food systems assessment of Chautauqua County prepared by graduate students at the University at Buffalo.

Community members also traded experiences with a guest speaker from Douglas County, Kansas, Community of Innovation (COI). Rural communities are leading the way in food systems transformation.

NESAWG or Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, is hosting a 1-day workshop in Petersburg, NY for multi-racial, multi-sector farmers and food justice advocates committed to take action for equitable food systems. It will be held at Soulfire Farm, 1972 NY HWY 2 on June 10th 2017 from 9am to 4pm. See more details below. To register, please visit: http://nesawg.org/events/food-justice-20.

Workshop Goals

• To understand how racism permeates our food system by exploring the historical and current examples of land theft, labor exploitation, racial violence, and frontlines resistance.
• To reflect upon our current role as – farmers, activists, artists, and movement builders— in perpetuating or dismantling racism in the food system.
• To develop relationships of mutual understanding and plan for collective action between organizations and individuals working on food justice in this region.
• To develop concrete action plans to dismantle racism and other oppressions in the local food system.

Who Is Welcome? This program is designed for a multi-racial, multi-sector group of farmers and food justice activists committed to take action for an equitable food system. All adults are welcome to apply. We will select participants to ensure a diverse group in terms of ethnicity, gender, class, and sector. This is not a 101, so some familiarity with food justice is expected.

What is the cost? The workshop is sliding scale $20-70. Lunch is potluck – please bring a dish with 6-8 servings. Snacks and tea provided by the farm.

Simplified Agenda

• 9:00-9:15 Registration
• 9:15-9:45 Welcome, Goals, Safer Space Agreements
• 9:45-10:15 History of Institutionalized Racism in the Food System
• 9:45-10:15 Reflection on Our Roles in the Food System
• 10:15-10:30 Break
• 10:30-12:00 Action Planning Part 1 – Problem Definition
• 12:00-1:00 Lunch Break
• 1:00-2:00 Action Planning Part 2 – Organizational Self-Assessment
• 2:00-3:30 Action Planning Part 3 – SMART Goals and Strategic Objectives
• 3:30-4:00 Closing Circle and Reflections

This past year the state of Maryland passed a bill that provides farmers with a modest tax credit for donating excess produce to soup kitchens, food pantries, and food hubs. The state, like many others, has a long history of having perishable foods not make it to market and go to waste. This bill connects the dots by not only compensating farmers for recovering what would have been wasted food but also serving nutritious food to populations who may not have otherwise had access to it. Although the bill took three years to pass by the Senate and House,with some tweaking it is now passed.

Read more here.

The Food System Lab at Cylburn is offering a hands-on summer institute 2 credit course to explore the connections between urban agriculture and public health. The course will examine people, practices, policies, and public health significance of urban agriculture. Based at the Center for a Livable Future’s Food System Lab at Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore, the course provides hands on training through its small urban farm  and aquaponics system. The course will also include lectures by faculty and local experts and field trips to local farms and farmers markets.

For more information click here.

Growing Food Connections has partnered with the American Farmland Trust in developing and publishing the Community Guide to Planning for Agriculture and Food Systems. The guide, titled GROWING LOCAL, is a result of the research and findings collected from the GFC project. It is intended for farmers, municipal and county officials, agricultural organizations, local food policy councils, county health agencies, planning commissions, and citizens’ groups concerned about sustaining healthy farms and assuring universal access to healthy food.

Access the guide here.

Farm Aid has produced a new documentary called  Homeplace Under Fire which celebrates over 30 years of work by Farm Advocates. A Farm Advocate, as defined by Farm Aid, is someone who works one-on-one with individual farmers to help them navigate the complex world of farm lending, state and federal regulations, contracts, and government programs.  This enables farmers to stay on their own land and have sustainable success in their business. Farm Advocates often additionally uncover biases, injustices, unflawed servicing, or identify opportunities for legal action at a broad systems level. The film identifies and recognizes individuals who are advocates and their work – many Farm Advocates are now in their 80s.

The trailer can be viewed here.