Advocacy and Policy
The Farm Bill
Yes, we are still working on a Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill includes policies affecting agriculture and so much more. Nutrition programs in the Farm Bill feed 41 million people in this country. Nature-based solutions to climate change must start with more sustainable farming and soil health practices on the 52% of American land that is used for agriculture.
The Farm Bill remains in limbo and funding for nutrition and conservation programs are in doubt. Budget cutting is in fashion, and these two parts of the Farm Bill are likely to get cut.
That’s why the seven NOFA state chapters and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardners Association are mobilizing our membership to demand full funding for nutrition and conservation programs in the next Farm Bill. We have launched a new petition for you to sign online and at the winter conferences to keep the pressure on for as long as it takes to get a new bill. You can sign that petition, here.
We are calling on Congress to pass a farm bill that maintains the $20 Billion Inflation Reduction Act funding for conservation programming. The four main conservation programs funded by the IRA support climate-smart organic practices such as cover cropping and conservation crop rotation, practices that build soil health and increase crop yields. The results amount to a triple win: farms reduce greenhouse gas emissions while removing carbon from the atmosphere, increasing yields and thus the bottom line. These voluntary programs have been vastly underfunded and thousands of farmers have applied and been rejected for lack of funding in the past.
We are also calling on Congress to sustain public investments in SNAP and other nutrition programs for low-income children and seniors. It is our belief that access to affordable, nutritious food is a human right. Supplemental funding of nutrition programs during COVID greatly reduced poverty and food insecurity, especially in households with children, the elderly, or those with disabilities.
CT NOFA was honored to host Maya van Rossum, founder of the Green Amendments for the Generations movement, at our 2024 Winter Conference.
Green Amendments For the Generations is a grassroots non-profit organization inspiring a nationwide movement to secure constitutional recognition and protection of environmental rights in every state and ultimately at the federal level. Van Rossum is also the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed based advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries.
A skilled activist, attorney, strategist, and community organizer, she has testified multiple times, by invitation, before US Congressional Committees; was named among Philadelphia Business Journal’s Power 100 in 2019 and one of the “10 Most Influential People of 2015” When It Comes to Energy Issues by SNL Energy; is the recipient of the 2022 PA Interfaith Power & Light Visionary Award, the 2020 River Hero by River Network, and the Giraffe Hero award, given to those who have the courage to stick their necks out for the common good.
Advocacy and Policy Updates
CT NOFA Board Member Kaitlyn Kimball Discusses Storm Effects on Small Farms
HEAL Food Alliance Shares 2024 Voter Guide
2024 Winter Conference Keynote Address by Maya van Rossum Now Available Online
CT NOFA Opinion Piece Featured in CT Mirror
Advocacy Update – the Farm Bill is Back!
Environmental Rights for Connecticut — Now and in the Years to Come
Advocacy Alert – Legislative Session Ends on Wednesday!
