Happy Holidays from IATP!

Dear Friends,

This morning, I completed one of my last tasks before the holidays, a call with the Obama Transition Team.

We brought together a small group of farm and food system leaders to lay out recommendations for specific actions the new administration can take on Day One to promote more fair and sustainable agriculture in America. A number of major groups and coalitions joined IATP for the call including the National Family Farm Coalition, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Western Organization of Resource Councils, writer Michael Pollan, researchers such as Robert Lawrence (Johns Hopkins) and Tim Wise (Tufts University) and business leader George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley.

We made a strong case for the proposition that local food and sustainable farming are quintessentially Green Jobs and should be central to Obama’s economic stimulus plan. We spelled out a number of things that without new legislation or funding, the USDA can do immediately: enforce existing laws and regulations to control anti-competitive behavior by agribusiness, streamline the process to allow farmers markets to accept WIC coupons and speed up implementation of a new provision in the Farm Bill to extend credit for starting local food enterprises.

It was an exciting way to end 2008 and a reminder that your support of IATP makes a big difference in the world. Thank you!

We look forward to 2009 and to helping the Obama administration make good on its strong commitments to rural America.

The best to you this holiday season,

Jim Harkness
IATP President