Get
Involved in the 2008 Farm Bill Discussion
Policy
Committee Conference Calls
Members
of the Southern SAWG Farm Policy Committee and others
involved with agricultural policy throughout the region and from the
national level participate in monthly conference calls to share and
discuss ag policy information relevant to our local, regional, and
national partners.
SSAWG 2008 Policy Committee Conference Calls:
Please join our calls for up-to-the-minute news on the Farm Bill.
January 9
February 13
March 12
April 9
May 14
June 11
July 9
August 13
September 10
October 8
November 12
December 10
Calls generally take place at 9:00 am (central), 10:00 am (eastern) on the second Wednesday of the month.
To participate or if you have questions, contact Lydia Villanueva: 806.364.4445; toll-free: 866.684.4445; or email policy@ssawg.org.
About Farm Policy Education
Southern SAWG 's goal for Policy Education is to
increase political and institutional support for sustainable
agriculture. We do this through four avenues:
- We educate constituents and other supporters about
the impact of food and agriculture policies on farmers, their
communities, food security and the earth;
- We educate decision-makers about these impacts and
the alternatives;
- We monitor federally funded agriculture programs
and take action to ensure they are administered with transparency,
accountability, diversity and effectiveness; and
- We represent our region in the national-level
effort to change federal food and agriculture policies and programs.
Policy News
Senate Passes Farm Bill
House-Senate Conference to Determine Final Law
On December 14, 2007, the Senate passed its version of a Farm
Bill. It includes substantial progress as well as disappointments
for family farm, community food systems, and sustainable farming
constituents. Advancements include expanded conservation
incentives, community food systems funding, support for beginning and
minority farmers, farm-to-school program support, and
better markets and protections for contract farmers. Your calls
for support have been heard!
With final language still to be settled for the Farm Bill, now is not
the time to tire in advocacy efforts. Your calls and advocacy
efforts are still needed to inform and influence the piece of
legislation that when enacted into law will govern federal food and
farm policy over the next five years.
Read more...
Conference
Sessions on Policy
Each year, we
produce several sessions on critical policy issues and
sustainable agriculture programs for the Southern
SAWG Annual Conference. These help producers understand and
access programs, and learn effective measures for educating their
legislators.
At
the 2007 Conference, about 50
people gathered for a reception and a series of brief presentations on
key policy issues related to sustainable agriculture in the 2007 Farm
Bill, and the Kellogg Foundation-funded Food and Farm Policy Project.
Copies of several documents and summaries were circulated,
including: the Food and Farm Policy Project (FFPP) Declaration,
released on January 22; summaries of the Diversity Initiative and the
Healthy Foods and Communities Initiative; and four policy statements
(conservation, rural development, competition/concentration, and
research/extension) released by Midwest SAWG/Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition (SAC); and a summary of unmet policy needs for the South,
identified at a similar reception during the 2006 Southern SAWG
conference. For complete minutes of this meeting, click here
(.doc format).
Action
Alerts
We are working to
create and maintain email/phone/fax trees in all states
in our region to widely disseminate information and Action Alerts that both
educate and empower individuals to take action in support of
sustainable agriculture.
Partners and Collaborators
Southern
SAWG Farm Policy Committee Members:
Lydia
Villavueva, Southern SAWG Farm Policy Coordinator
Scott
Marlow, RAFI-USA
Marty
Mesh, Florida Organic Growers
Mark
Schonbeck, Virginia Association for Biological Farming
At
the national level, Southern SAWG is an official partner
of the National
Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, which brings together
diverse local, state, regional and national organizations to identify
problems and work on solutions, and to help grassroots concerns be
heard in Washington , D.C. Other farm policy partners include:
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Farm & Food Policy Project-W.K. Kellogg
Foundation
Community Food Security Coalition
National Family Farm Coalition
Farmers'
Legal Action Group, Inc.
Southern
SAWG is an active member of the Food and Farm Policy Project, which
culminated in a report: Seeking Balance in U.S. Food and Farm Policy
The
Southern SAWG Annual Conference and the state communication networks
also serve as forums for constituent organizations and individuals in
our network to discuss barriers to sustainable agriculture and ideas
for policy to address these. In this way, Southern SAWG ensures that
these Southern priorities are included in the national dialogue on
federal policy.
We are also one of five Sustainable
Agriculture Working Groups across the country working
independently, but collaboratively, to change federal food and
agriculture policy so that it promotes sustainable systems that keep
farmers on the land, protect our precious ecosystems, and provide safe,
secure and nutritious food for all.
Southern SAWG
also identifies and nominates qualified individuals to
serve on national and regional decision-making bodies of such programs
as the USDA Southern
Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program.
We also maintain strong relationships with the administration of the
SARE Program in order to ensure transparency and accountability in this
program.
Together with
committee members and our regional and national partners, we work to:
- Recommend federal sustainable agriculture
legislation;
- Educate Congressional leaders, especially those
from the South, about the importance of sustainable agriculture
legislation and amendments;
- Ensure that USDA and other federal
departments/agencies create new sustainable agriculture programs that
match the intent of the legislation authorizing them; and
- Ensure that these programs are actually
administered in support of sustainable agriculture.
If you would like more information about our Farm
Policy Education, contact Lydia Villanueva, policy@ssawg.org.
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