CT NOFA > Blog > An Update on CT NOFA’s Status Amidst the Federal Funding Freeze
An Update on CT NOFA’s Status Amidst the Federal Funding Freeze
April 1, 2025
We’re Here to Stay
In our previous update, we discussed the potential effects of the federal grant funding freeze on CT NOFA’s ability to continue our full slate of programs and services. Although our pledged grant funds continue to be frozen and are without a timeline for resolution, we want to be clear about our position: while some of our programs and communications will become more limited in scope, CT NOFA is not shutting down.
While we’re not closing our doors, our short-term capacity, unfortunately, has been diminished. The prominence of federal grant funded programs in our budget for this year, along with the abruptness of their suspension, has left us with limited near-term solutions. Due to this, our small team is now working on reduced hours. The time they have available to them will be prioritized toward the following programs.
OLC does not directly utilize federal grants, but the program relies on administrative support from CT NOFA to fulfill its mission of accrediting organic land care professionals (AOLCPs). Our intent is to provide full support for OLC, allowing it to proceed without disruption and continue to develop and nurture partnerships that provide benefits and opportunities for AOLCPs.
Despite the elimination of funds to support our Advocacy Director (who has, instead, generously volunteered her time), we will be able to continue fighting for organic agriculture, farmland preservation and access, local food in schools and child care, and the environmental rights of Connecticut residents, both in terms of education and political action.
The important work of our soil health educational programming will continue this year. Upcoming series will teach gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers the properties of healthy, living soil and how to care for it in order to grow nutrient-dense food and help sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
CT NOFA’s participation in TOPP – a program that leverages mentorship and technical assistance to help conventional growers complete the transition to certified organic status – is tied directly to federal grant funds that have been frozen. The program’s intent, to increase the breadth and scope of organic agriculture, is core to CT NOFA’s mission. As such, we will continue to dedicate limited staff time toward this work with the hope that full efforts can be reinstated if federal or other funds make it possible. As stated in our previous update, we’re on track to increase the number of organic farms in Connecticut by more than 20% for the period 2024-25, and as we bring additional farms into the program over the course of this year, that percentage will continue to rise. In the meantime, we are working with our partner organizations within TOPP to find a resolution – or, at the very least, any type of clarity on funding status – from the USDA’s new Secretary.
The Future
It is clear that CT NOFA’s path forward, in years to come, will require a new way of pursuing our goals of a more organic Connecticut, one less impacted by political pendulum swings and more rooted in the community we have always served.
When we were founded, all of CT NOFA’s work was done by volunteers who were avid supporters of organic and sustainable agriculture. We were a wholly grassroots organization, and while we don’t expect to return entirely to that humble origin, we hope it serves as a reminder, both to us and to those who work with us: so long as people in Connecticut want to fight for the protection and expansion of organic agriculture, fair and sustainable food systems, and vibrant and healthy ecosystems, we’ll be here with you.
Our board of directors and staff are thinking strategically about new ways to move our mission forward, and as that plan takes form, we’ll look forward to sharing it with you. Meanwhile, your support is greatly appreciated. You can support us by:
The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill!
The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut’s Senators to reject this Farm Bill.
In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years.
Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.
