Organic Research, COVID Relief Funding, More
Organic Research, COVID Relief Funding, Budget Reconciliation, New Employee, and More in This Week’s News from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Over $30 Million Awarded for Organic Research, Education, and Extension
This month, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced that it has awarded more than $30 million to 33 projects focused on organic research and education for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. These projects were awarded under the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and the Organic Transitions Program (ORG). Both programs fund research, education, and extension projects to improve yields, quality, and profitability for producers and processors who have adopted organic standards. ORG’s focus, however, is on supporting existing and transitioning organic producers to adopt organic practices and improve their market competitiveness.
COVID Relief Funding Soon Available for Farmers Markets, Processors and Underserved Farmers
With farmers pulling long hours at the height of harvest season, and cases of the coronavirus skyrocketing across the country, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon be providing additional funding to help many in our food and farm supply chains who were left out of previous aid programs.
Starting in early October 2021, USDA will be accepting applications for its Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program and will be doling out more than $650 million in aid to food processors, distributors, farmers markets, and producers who have been impacted by the pandemic.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Budget Reconciliation
At this point if you are paying attention to the news you are likely aware of the $3.5 trillion climate change and social program spending package Congressional Democrats are putting together and preparing to pass alongside the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that has already passed the Senate.
Welcome Gabe Lewis! NSAC’s New Grassroots Fellow
Gabrielle (she/her) holds a B.S. in Biology with concentrations in Microbiology and Humanitarian affairs from James Madison University. Following her undergraduate studies, she served as a Fulbright student researcher at the University of Lagos in Nigeria where she continued her work with the HHMI SEA-PHAGES program searching for novel bacteriophages and serving as a teaching assistant for the UNILAG SEA-PHAGES program. After returning to her hometown in Virginia she nurtured her love for the land, building community, growing and eating good food. In the last year she has participated in several beginning farmer programs in the D/M/V. She is now focused on learning all she can about the Virginia native landscape, agroforestry, and restoring and decolonizing her relationship with the land we live with.
What We’re Reading
In this space we share suggested readings that NSAC staff find relevant to the Coalition’s mission and work. The opinions expressed in these readings are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an official NSAC policy or position.
“Growing Uncertainty in the Central Valley”
Across the state, many produce farmers were weighing the market prices of their crops against the rising cost of water. To meet their contracts, some had overplanted, and now they found it was more cost-effective to kill certain crops than to proceed with the harvest. Others had already scaled back and planted less.
“World’s Youth Take to the Streets Again to Battle Climate Change”
Young people around the world took to the streets on Friday to demand urgent action to avert disastrous climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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