The process to reauthorize the Farm Bill is never easy, but this time around it has been more challenging than ever. The anticipation of the next five-year Farm Bill has been met with federal budget pressures and Congressional stalemate. The good news is that Congress is making progress to pass this long-overdue bill, with versions now making their way through the Senate and the House. But what is in store for the Farm Bill in the coming months? How might this rocky start impact the final bill? On Monday, June 17 from 1 to 2 pm, please join me and other policy experts from American Farmland Trust for a free webinar to help answer these and other questions about the next Farm Bill. The webinar, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a New Farm Bill, will cover topics such as: - Challenges to conservation programs in the next Farm Bill and directions for the future;
- Proposed changes in conservation compliance that modernize the safety net, but do not place limits on crop insurance assistance;
- Opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of programs that help protect farm and ranch land; and
- Efforts that may help strengthen regional food systems.
Register today to learn more about the next Farm Bill. I hope you can join us! Sincerely, Jeremy Peters Director of Federal Policy American Farmland Trust
The South Carolina Food Policy Council will hold its next meeting at the Phillips Market Center, located at the State Farmers Market, in West Columbia on June 14. The cost to attend this one-day event is $10. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the program concludes at 4 p.m. Lunch will be sponsored by the Lowcountry Housing Trust. The meeting will consist of presentations and updates given about Sustainable Regional Food System Development, Farm to School, and updates from the 2012 Food Desert workshop, including the new release of the final report which can be viewed at: http://agriculture.sc.gov/scfoodpolicyscouncilFor more information, please contact Beth Crocker with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture at bcrocker@scda.sc.gov or 803-734-2210.
 Forwarding email from Lilia Smelkova Food Day Campaign Manager. Join us on Monday, April 1, at 2:00 pm Eastern/1:00 pm Central for a conversation with the organizer of a 15,000-person Food Day Festival in Savannah (the country's largest Food Day event), the host of a pop-up grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and the leader of a diverse Food Day coalition in Richmond, Virginia. This webinar will focus on how we can use Food Day to strengthen and unify the food movement in the South. Register here to learn about success stories from organizers from years past, and hear about how groups came together to build momentum, advance their work, and form long-lasting partnerships. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and engage with others in your region during the call. Presenters: - Rene Teran, Well FED Savannah; Organizer of Savannah Food Day Festival
- Jenga Mwendo, Lower Ninth Ward Food Access Coalition; Organizer of “Grocery Store for a Day” in New Orleans
- Stacy Luks, Slow Food Richmond; Food Day Richmond coalition leader
Please share the registration link with anyone who might be interested to participate in the discussion: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/221745559. Sincerely, Lilia Smelkova Food Day Campaign Manager
Food wasteland is not just junk food anymore. It's really WASTE!! For those doubting Thomas's out there, just go to your local supermarket or restaurants and see what is in the "trash" bins in back. Or, if you are hungry, go to your favorite Oriental Food or general food buffet to eat and watch not only how much food an individual will place on their plate, but how much of the food goes back as not-eaten and is discarded. Better yet, how much food did you throw away this week that was "old" or "discolored" or just didn't want?? The following is an extract from the 29 Jan 2013 e-mail I received from Lilia Smelkova, Food Day Campaign Manager on this subject. Lilia hits on a number of very good issues. Issues we all need to be aware of and correct. "Food waste is one of those issues that most of us are aware of at least on some level. We know we probably should have attempted to use that broccoli or cabbage in the crisper, but it just never happened and now it’s rotting in the garbage. The sad reality is that approximately 1.3 billion tons of food—or 1/3 of all food produced globally—ends up wasted. To combat this seemingly overwhelming problem, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and its partners launched a new global campaign last week called Think. Eat. Save. The program offers key findings about food waste in various countries (for example, in the United States, food waste arises primarily from the retail sector and on-farm mismanagement), as well as informative resources to help you take action in your community." ________________________________________________________________ To read how to control your food waste, go to the Food Day 2013 page on this website and see the 10 points presented by the Food Day 2013 Campaign and from the UNFAO. To start, simply follow this mantra - Buy Local and In Season.
Has anyone recycled discarded produce from supermarkets and maybe even restaurants as a source of compost? I was considering this as one of our projects to develop the compost for our bucket brigade and maybe even resale as a fund raiser at our local farmers market?
We have added a Quick Read Code commonly called a QR code and a Microsoft TAG code on the front page of our website so you can easliy scan the link to our website, include it in your smart device bookmarks and take us everywhere you go using your smart phone or device. If you don't have a scanner on your smart device, I recommend the Microsoft TAG reader/scaner. This application can read both QR and the Microsoft Tag codes. This reduces the number of scanner applications you have on your handheld device. We will continue to use both the QR Code for those scanners as well as the Microsoft Tag code. Go to http://gettag.mobi to download the scanner to your smart device.
I just updated the webste with the inclusion of the movie "The True Cost of Food" from the Sierra Club National.
"The True Cost of Food: A campaign to promote sustainable food choices from the Sierra Club National Sustainable Consumption Committee.
We, the consumers, through our food choices, can stop the practices
that harm our health, our planet, and our quality of life.
The True Cost of Food is a 15 minute educational and entertaining video about sustainable food."
I asked this question on two sites and didn't receive any responses.
So, I found and read a USDA white paper on Executive Order (E.O.) 13112, Invasive Species, dtd.Feb 3, 1999 (link #1 below) along with the actual EO document and read an interesting definition. E.O.13112 defines an invasive species as “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.”
The USDA white paper specifically lists "Altered Business"as an example of harm while the EO lists the full definitions used on page one of source#2 below.
Looks like the politicians are at it again - "Three governors and two lieutenant governors plan to tour Beef Products Inc.'s plant in South Sioux City, Neb., Thursday afternoon to show their support for the company and the several thousand jobs it creates in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas."
And after reading the amount of "beef" that the USDA is purchasing for their school lunch program as this quote from the on-line AP article illustrates, can't say I blame them. There is a LOT of money at stake. "The USDA this year is contracted to buy 111.5 million pounds of ground beef for the National School Lunch Program. About 7 million pounds of that is from BPI."
For the full story follow: http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20120329/US.Pink.Slime.Plant.Tour/?cid=hero_media
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