>>> "A Northeast Farm Bill Agenda: Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill" is a collaboration of the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture 
Working Group (that's us!), New England Farmers Union Educational Foundation, Wholesome Wave, and others. Use this document to shape your organization's approach to the 2012 Farm Bill and beyond. Dozens of organizations in our region participated in the months-long process of creating this rich resource which gives voice to the specific needs of the Northeast. Not only does it include policy and funding priorities, it is an excellent overview of the current state of our regional farm and food system. Download/view NortheastFarmBillAgenda-7.pdf 

>>>  Farm Bill update from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 

Next Steps in the Senate and the House
The burst of activity a few weeks ago around the Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill markup was an important step in the multi-step farm bill reauthorization process.  In an earlier 10-post series we summarized action and results of the Senate markup.  The next steps in the Senate and the House are the subject of this post. Read more...

Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Hearing on Commodity and Crop Insurance Subsidies
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a series of farm bill hearings to examine commodity and crop insurance programs in advance of writing their version of what will hopefully become the 2012 Farm Bill.  The full House Agriculture Committee expects to mark up and vote on a new farm bill sometime in June, likely the second half of June. Read more...

>>> Greenhorns, a community of more than 5,000 young farmers and activists, is celebrated in a new book of essays: Greenhorns: 50 Dispatches from the New Farmers' Movement (Storey), edited by three of the group's leading members. Funny, sad, serious, and light-hearted, these essays touch on everything from financing and machinery to family, community building, and social change. 

>>> The Farmers Market Advocacy Toolkit created by the Farmers Market Coalition is a guide to communicating about farmers markets to legislative leaders. Focus is on the Farmers Market Promotion Program, but the toolkit may also be useful in communicating about programs like WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs, SNAP/EBT, and other issues important to the success of farmers markets. 

>>> Rhode Island college students learn the problem of food deserts is more complicated than they thought. Then they apply their design skills to changing food culture in low income communities.

Learn more about recent research debunking conventional wisdom on food deserts in this New York Times article.

>>> How does the FDA allow manufacturers to put non-food stuff in our food? Learn the truth about six common food ingredients in this article from huffingtonpost.com: 6 Ingredients You May Not Want in Your Food. Guess where artificial raspberry flavor comes from?

>>> Study implicates US food industry as cause of Mexican obesity epidemic. The study, "Exporting obesity: US farm and trade policy and the transformation of the Mexican consumer food environment" was co-authored by the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. Read/download their summary of the report here.

>>> The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm: The Cultivator's Guide to Small-Scale Organic Herb Production by Peg Schafer (Chelsea Green). Detailed information on growing and harvesting organic Chinese medicinal herbs, complete with medicinal and culinary uses. Vegetable and CSA farmers will find this book of great interest for adding value-added crops to their repertoire, and beginner growers looking to incorporate medicinals into their gardens will find this an invaluable guide to understanding where herbal medicine comes from.

>>> Contradictions in the Anti-Hunger Movement by Andy Fisher (March 6, 2012) spotlights the largest anti-hunger organizations and their largest corporate donors, and asks why the movement isn't more active in addressing the root causes of hunger: low wages and high housing costs. Could it be that having Walmart executives on their board of directors stifles public policy advocacy?

>>> Farm-to-Baby.com — several farms just outside New York City provide fresh vegetables to be made into food for babies through this website-based entrepreneurial venture delivering baby food daily in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Subscribers to the service may return used glass jars when the next order is delivered.

>>> NESAWG announces new steering committee members

Thank you to the many people in our region who expressed interest in joining NESAWG's steering committee. Our 2012 new committee members are Gary Bloss (PA), Doris Huang (PA), Arthur Lerner (CT), Qiana Mickie (NY), and Mari Pierce-Quinonez (MA). Continuing on the steering committee for another term are Billie Best (MA), Kathy Lawrence (NY) and Michael Rozyne (MA). Learn more about all of them here.