http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770423057&source=rss

CITIZEN-TIMES.com
Local farm group to testify before Congress

John Boyle
April 23, 2007 3:12 pm

ASHEVILLE - Emily Jackson, the Growing Minds program director at the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, will testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday during a hearing about the 2007 Farm Bill. Jackson will speak on food procurement policies in public schools and how changes could help local farmers.

“I will tell the committee that farmers and children will benefit if they amend the Farm Bill - with a no-cost provision - to state that a geographic preference can be used when writing a bid for school food,” Jackson said in a press release. “There is confusion in schools about the USDA’s rules related to local food procurement, which means that even with competitive prices and a desire to support farmers in their region, schools are hesitant to purchase local products from family farmers.”

Jackson and more than 200 fellow members of the Community Food Security Coalition met with North Carolina’s congressional delegation last month, urging support for the Healthy Food and Communities Initiative. The initiative requests government action in the upcoming Farm Bill to increase the consumption of healthy food, to assist communities in producing more of their own food, and to improve opportunities for family farmers to sell to public schools.

Asheville City Schools, and the schools systems of Madison, Mitchell, Rutherford, and Yancey counties procure some food from local sources.

The hearing will be broadcast live on the Internet. Visit:
http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2723. For more information about the ASAP Growing Minds Program, visit www.growing-minds.org