Healthy Food and Communities Plan Presented to Congressional Representatives
WASHINGTON, DC (March 19, 2007) – Over 200 members of the Community Food Coalition (CFSC) met with Congressional representatives today to urge support for the Healthy Food and Communities Initiative. Emily Jackson, director of the Growing Minds program at the Western North Carolina based Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), visited the offices of North Carolina Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr as well as 11 th district Representative Heath Shuler as part of the effort. The Healthy Food and Communities Initiative requests government action within the 2007 Farm Bill to increase the consumption of healthy food, improve opportunities for family farmers to sell to public schools, and to assist communities in meeting a greater share of their own food needs.
"We have one of the strongest local food movements anywhere in the country in Western North Carolina,” said Jackson. “We realize that in order to keep our family farms, we need to support them.”
ASAP joins CFSC in communicating to Congress that America's farm and food policies are out of balance. Over 35 million people are hungry or food insecure and 65 percent are obese or overweight. Both organizations are also concerned that the United States is losing 1.2 million acres of farmland every year, and that the number of farmers who are 65 years old outnumber those who are 35 by four to one. "Where will the next generation of farmers come from and who will grow our food," asked Thomas Forster, CFSC Policy Director.
The Healthy Food and Communities Initiative puts forward three sets of policy proposals designed to increase the nutritional health of all Americans, especially children, and to restore prosperity to the country's agricultural sector. The first proposal calls for the re-authorization and expansion of the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program, which will enable communities to address their own food insecurity, nutrition and agricultural challenges.
The second proposal requests the authorization of a new program that will rebuild America's agricultural infrastructure -- processing, storage, transportation -- that will enable smaller family farms, especially limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers, the opportunity to supply the burgeoning demand for locally produced food. This proposal also includes proposed changes in the federal rules and regulations that currently make it difficult for America's public schools to buy food from their region's own farmers. “ We have several school systems here that are purchasing food grown locally. Our children are getting the freshest food possible and our food dollars stay in our local economy,” said Jackson. “This measure would make it possible for more schools and farmers to work together."
The final proposal offers support for the expansion of a number of existing programs that now help low-income families live healthier and more productive lives. This proposal includes a request to streamline the Food Stamp Program as well as expand the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program and the Fresh Fruit and vegetable Pilot Program.
More information about these proposals can be found at www.foodsecurity.org and in Seeking the Balance in US Farm and Food Policy (www.farmandfoodproject.org), a document that recommends new directions for the 2007 Farm Bill, and has been endorsed by over 400 organizations.
ABOUT THE APPALACHIAN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PROJECT
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is a nonprofit organization that supports farmers and rural communities in the mountains of Western North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians by providing education, mentoring, promotion, web resources, and community and policy development. ASAP’s mission is to create and expand regional community-based and integrated food systems that are locally owned and controlled, environmentally sound, economically viable and health-promoting. As part of a national farm to school initiative, ASAP’s Growing Minds program consists of four components: local food served in schools, farm field trips, nutrition education, and school gardens. Currently at least one of these four components is being implemented in Madison, Mitchell and Yancey County schools, as well as Asheville City Schools.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY COALITION
The Community Food Security Coalition is a nonprofit organization that is comprised of 325-member organizations. The Coalition’s mission is to help all Americans have enough nutritious and affordable food to achieve healthy and fulfilling lives.
###
|
