Contact: Kate Clancy, Wallace Institute Agriculture Policy Project
(301) 441-8777
RETAINING FARMS AND FARMLAND TOPS
PROJECT'S INITIAL LISTS OF GOALS
GREENBELT, MD (Friday, May 7, 1999) -- Local working groups
participating in a nationwide agriculture policy project have listed their
top agricultural concerns as the loss of farms and farmland, and the need
for increased marketing opportunities. The Agriculture Policy Project of
the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture is a grassroots
effort to develop innovative, on-the-ground food and agriculture policies
that will benefit American farmers and the constituencies they serve.
The first phase of the project, now in progress, consists of local
farm policy roundtables in 12 communities around the country (see end of
release for list and local contacts). Their goal is to bring together
farmers, local officials, business leaders, and others to identify critical
food and agriculture-related challenges in their communities, and to develop
and implement workable solutions. Eight of the 12 roundtables have
completed their first round of workshops.
"This is a great opportunity to influence national farm policies
from the ground-up," said Project Director Kate Clancy. "It's never been
done on this scale before, and we're very excited by the prospects, and by
the progress we've made so far."
The needs for policy change from all 12 local roundtables, several
regional meetings, and a national meeting will be the starting point for the
development of new local and national policy recommendations. These will be
presented to the Administration and Congress. At the same time, the
Agriculture Policy Project will fund local projects to implement the
recommendations of the roundtables.
The local roundtables represent many of the country's major
cropping and production systems, as well as the other components of the food
system: for example, corn and soybean growing in Indiana; beef production in
Nebraska, Texas, and Colorado; and fruit and vegetable growing in California
and southeastern Massachusetts.
"To maintain the economic viability of farmed land in southeastern
Massachusetts, we must support, develop, and implement policies based on
local needs and decisions," said Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA). "The
Wallace Institute Agriculture Policy Project has provided the opportunity
for local people to plan a course of action to solve their own problems."
In addition to farmland preservation and marketing opportunities,
other policy issues under discussion include:
C Effects of agriculture on air quality
C Reconnecting farming to communities
C Agricultural diversification
C New farmers
C Inner city food access
C Watershed impacts
"Grassroots planning on farm issues and farmland conservation can
send a powerful message to legislators at all levels," said Tim Warman, vice
president for programs at American Farmland Trust, a non-profit dedicated to
protecting farmland. "The Agriculture Policy Project has initiated the
important process of mobilizing key individuals to envision the future of
farming in their communities, to identify challenges to that future, and to
start the search for solutions."
LOCAL FARM POLICY ROUNDTABLES
Here are the locations and contacts for the eight local farm policy
roundtables which have completed their first round of workshops.
COLORADO: C.J. Mucklow, Routt County Extension; (970)
879-0825; e-mail cjmucklow@yampa.com
IDAHO: John Pitney, (208) 368-0019
INDIANA: Dave Swaim, (765) 245-2573; e-mail
dswaim@tctc.com
MASSACHUSETTS: Irene Winkler, RC&D, USDA-NRCS, (508) 295-1317 ext. 130;
e-mail iwinkler@ma.nrcs.usda.gov
MICHIGAN: Don Hamilton, (616) 228-7545
NEBRASKA: Terry Gompert, Knox County Extension, (402)
288-4224; e-mail tgompert1@unl.edu
NORTH CAROLINA: Gary Gumz, Mountain Partners in Agriculture, (828)
649-9452; e-mail ggumz@madison.main.nc.us
TEXAS: Lydia Villanueva, Promised Land Network, (806)
364-4445
The Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture is a
nonprofit, tax-exempt research and education organization established in
1983 to encourage and facilitate the adoption of low-cost,
resource-conserving, and environmentally sound farming systems. The Wallace
Institute Agriculture Policy Project is a five-year project, funded by the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation, involving local, regional, and national
participants in the development of long-term policies for sustainable food
and agriculture systems.
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