From the Office of Secretary Vilsack
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced this week that schools participating in the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program will be eligible for expanded funding for 2011-2012.
Sec. Vilsack also announced yesterday that he has appointed 15 new members to the Minority Farmer Advisory Committee to help him implement outreach
Continue reading Farm and Food News 3/25/11
From the Nation’s Capitol
A USDA report released Tuesday shows that voluntary incentive-based efforts by farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have helped in reducing runoff. Still, the report revealed that 80 percent of the cropland in that area still needs additional conservation work.
This week, the USDA announced it will provide nearly $6 million in
Continue reading Farm and Food News 3/18/11
National attention to concerns about food security, access to locally grown foods, and public health issues has never been higher and this focus is bringing together a diverse group of supporters with a shared energy to protect our farms and food. Farmers, ranchers, chefs, soup kitchen volunteers, environmentalists, urban gardeners, town officials, and local food
Continue reading Rallying Around Our Farms and Food
New York State is losing farmland fast. The state has lost almost half a million acres of farmland to subdivisions, strip malls and scattered development in the last 25 years. In addition, New York’s remaining active agricultural land is capable of feeding only 6 million of the state’s 19 million residents. That’s only 30
Continue reading New Resource Helps Communities Save Local Farms
The past year has been full of challenges, but thanks to the hard work of our supporters we leave 2010 behind in a better position than ever before to protect our state’s precious farmland.
Last year, the state’s fiscal crisis resulted in a severe cut to farmland protection funding and left 64 farmers already approved for
Continue reading New York: The Year in Review
In New York State a farm is lost to development every three days. This startling reality has helped make the Empire State home to three of the Top Twenty Most Threatened Farming Regions in America. Together with our partners, we have made great strides in reducing the acres of farmland lost but much more
Continue reading New York State Food Policy Council Considers Farmland Protection
The Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) is New York’s primary source of dedicated environmental funding and helps protect the state’s working farms, water, air and environmental and public health. The Farmland Protection Program, a part of the EPF, funds the permanent protection of working farms and the development of town and county agriculture and farmland protection
Continue reading New York Cuts Farmland Protection Funding in Half
There was a time when talking about the actual growing of food as a reason to protect farmland from sprawling development garnered little attention. To be sure it was always on the list, but values such as wildlife habitat, scenic views, open space and cultural heritage often energized support for protecting farmland much more than
Continue reading Farmland and Food: Re-Connected
I am happy to announce that New York farmers have a new tool at their disposal for sorting through the sometimes confusing array of public programs available to them. The New York Agricultural Landowner Guide, which can be downloaded as a free PDF, describes over 60 public programs currently available to help farmers meet challenges ranging
Continue reading Every Three Days New York Loses a Farm: Enter New York Agricultural Landowner Guide