If anyone wants to see the original letter, I have it and can send the
pdf. The list denied me sending it for distribution.
Kind regards,
Wendy Sue
*************************************************
Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.
Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor
Providing Technical Assistance for Farmers, Apprentices, and Gardeners
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
PO Box 697
Richmond, VT 05477
(802)434-4122 phone
(802)434-4154 fax
[log in to unmask]
*************************************************
>
> The article first appeared in May 3rd at www.meatingplace.com, a meat
> industry website and reprinted at May 4th at
> www.ciclt.net/sn/new/n_detail.aspx?ClientCode=ncagbc&N_Id=21266, a website
> for North Carolina ag-business. Snopes as no mention of the article.
> Alan
>
> Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 07:16:50 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Fw: Senators accuse USDA of favoring "hobbyist" farmers
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Scott MacKenzie
>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 6:52 AM
> Subject: Fw: Senators accuse USDA of favoring "hobbyist"
> farmers
>
>
> I am not sure if this liget and if it is it sounds
> bad Scott
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: scott
> macKenzie
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 3:02 PM
> Subject: Fw: Senators accuse USDA of favoring "hobbyist"
> farmers
>
>
> FYI
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 2:11 PM
> Subject: [NODPA-ODAIRY] Senators accuse USDA of favoring "hobbyist"
> farmers
>
>
>
> Senators accuse USDA of favoring “hobbyist” farmers By
> Rita Jane Gabbett on 5/3/2010
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Three Republican senators asked Agriculture
> Secretary Tom Vilsack to justify USDA's Know Your Farmers,
> Know Your
> Food (KYF2) initiative, which they said subsidizes the
> "locavore
> niche market" and "hobbyist" producers instead of rural
> communities
> and the farmers who produce the vast majority of the nation's
> food
> supply.
>
> In a letter to Vilsack dated April 27, Senators John
> McCain (R-Ariz.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Pat Roberts
> (R-Kan.)
> asked for an itemized breakdown of all awards made under the
> KYF2
> initiative detailing amounts, receiving organizations and the
> USDA
> programs under which the awards were made.
>
> "In the name of
> promoting local food systems, the Department appears to be
> prioritizing Rural Development grant and loan programs for
> locavore
> projects in urban areas, apparently at the expense of rural
> communities with documented rural development needs," the
> letter
> charged. "Given our nation's crippling budgetary crisis, we
> also
> believe the federal government cannot afford to spend precious
> Rural
> Development funds on feel-good measures which are completely
> detached from the realities of production agriculture."
>
>
> Specifically, the senators pointed to an Aug. 26, 2009 memo
> from USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan which they said
> encouraged agency chiefs to take programs — such as the USDA
> Community Facilities Program originally intended for essential
> community facilities related to healthcare and public safety
> in
> rural areas — and re-imagine them as grant money for community
> cooking classes or refrigeration units in urban areas.
>
> They
> said the Merrigan memo also expressed her intent to use $31
> million
> in stimulus grants and another $930 million in stimulus loans
> for
> the KYF2 initiative.
>
> "American families and rural farmers
> are hurting in today's economy, and it's unclear to us how
> propping
> up the urban locavore markets addresses their needs," the
> senators
> wrote.
>
> Vilsack responds
>
> In an April 30 return
> letter to the Senators made available to Meatingplace,
> Vilsack defended KYF2 and Merrigan's memo.
>
> "I believe
> cultivating these new markets — not replacing old ones — is
> critical
> to revitalizing rural America," he wrote. He added that local
> and
> regional food systems can expand markets for producers of all
> sizes.
>
>
> "Further, I can assure you that when reviewing applications
> none of these programs are providing preference to local and
> regional food system projects, except as provided for in their
> existing regulatory rules or legislative authority, such as
> the 5
> percent set-aside established in the 2008 farm bill for
> business and
> industry," he added.
>
> Vilsack called Merrigan's Aug. 26 memo,
> "an example of our efforts to enhance awareness of our
> programs and
> utilize them more effectively."
>
> He went on to say, "For
> example, while the Community Facilities program will continue
> to
> support critical public safety needs, it serves as a reminder
> that
> communities can also utilize the program to finance other
> essential
> community facilities, which in turn create new economic
> opportunities for local and regional producers."
>
> In response
> to the Senators' request, Vilsack included a 90-page
> accounting of
> funding awards associated with its KYF2 concept.
>
> For
> example, $78,051 was granted to People's Grocery in Oakland,
> Calif.
> to purchase infrastructure to improve fresh food access in the
> West
> Oakland community. The grant was to establish a mid-sized,
> accessible food retail outlet to provide residents with
> adequate
> access to fresh and affordable foods, and strengthen and
> expand a
> sustainable supply chain of local farmers, producers and
> People's
> Grocery agricultural products.
>
> A grant of $29,700 went to
> the National Bison Association to develop curriculum, conduct
> workshops, develop educational resources, establish an on-line
> e-commerce site, develop point of sale informational material,
> and
> conduct an assessment of these actions for farmers and vendors
> selling at a new farmers market in Colorado.
>
>
>
>
>
> Ed
> Maltby
> Northeast Organic
> Dairy Producers Alliance
> Executive
> Director
> 30 Keets
> Rd
> Deerfield, MA
> 01342
> Tel:
> 413-772-0444
> Cell:
> 413-427-7323
> Fax:
> 866-554-9483
> Website: www.nodpa.com or www.organicmilk.org
> NODPA
> Pasture Page
> Join NODPA Facebook page
> Sustainable base
> pay-price; level playing field; organic integrity
> Thinking of transitioning to organic
> dairy?
> Got questions on Organic
> Dairy?
> Contact NODPA first and get the
> independent, unbiased facts.
>
> The purpose of
> the NODPA is to enable organic dairy family farms, situated across an
> extensive
> area, to maintain the sustainability of organic dairy
> farming.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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