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I received this today in my email box:
ACTION UPDATE ON COMMUNITY FOOD PROJECTS IN THE FARM BILL
Thank you for all your efforts to date on behalf of Community Food Projects and other progressive farm bill legislation. Unfortunately, despite all your efforts, funding for Community Food Project (CFP) remains discretionary at $30 million and not mandatory as it has been for 10 years. This means that right now, CFP has no mandatory funding for FY 2008. We need your help to change this in the Senate Farm Bill.
The key next step is to get CFP mandatory funding into the Senate's initial draft of the Farm Bill. Your efforts right now can make a big difference as to this outcome! The next few weeks are critical for input to the Senate's version.
NEXT STEPS FOR CFP ADVOCATES: Contact your Senators about Community Food Projects and ask them to fund CFP as close to $30 million in mandatory money as they can.
A. Calls and letters: As with the House, this is a great strategy for your Senators:
Call both your Senators and ask them to demand MANDATORY funding for Community Food Projects in the Senate mark up of the Farm Bill. If you don't know your Senators' contact information, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Or look it up here or here.
All Senators are important to contact, but if your Senators is on the Agriculture Committee, they especially need to hear from you because they are on the Senate Agriculture Committee and will be marking up the Farm Bill in September. See if your Senator is on the Agriculture Committee.
These quick phone calls will take only a few minutes of your time, but could make a huge impact on whether this program continues. At the end of this post are talking points and background on Community Food Project for you to use in your calls.
Faxed letters: If you can, request your Senators' fax numbers and compose a brief letter. See talking points below and add something about your own CFP projects or others in the district. (Note: emails are not preferred because they tend to get lost or ignored. Calls are recorded and faxed letters go right to the appropriate aide. Regular mail is not advisable).
B. Meeting with your legislators—especially in the Senate—is vital during this recess! Decisions are still being discussed and deals are being brokered, and we need you to stress the importance of small but powerful programs like Community Food Projects and the need to adequately fund them with mandatory money. Contact their local offices for appointments. Meeting with aides who handle the farm bill can be very effective.
C. Project site visits: While Congress is officially on recess, your legislators are likely to be in their home states and districts, attending summer fairs and events. Many of them will even accept invitations to tour community food projects such as farms, community gardens, farmers' markets, and other activities that highlight local food systems, especially if you invite the press along too! It's easy to find your legislators—just call their local office and ask to speak to their scheduler. They may also post events on their websites.
D. Letters to the Editor and editorials in local papers have also been extremely successful, and we encourage you to continue submitting them. Sample op-eds and letters to the editor can be found at Community Food Security Coalition under "Farm Bill Materials".
Updates, background, alerts and links on the Farm Bill (and there are others):
Community Food Security Coalition
Thank you for all your hard work and support, and we look forward to working together to make a big impact as the Farm Bill moves to the Senate.
This message is sponsored by the Community Food Security Coalition and its partners.
Talking Points:
Whom to call: Both of your Senators and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin
How to Call: The Capitol switch board can connect you to any Member’s office - (202) 224-3121
Or look it up here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/resources/pdf/senators_phone_list.pdf
What to say: Ask to speak to the person covering the farm bill. If you get their voice mail, please leave a detailed message. Here is an example:
"I am ____ from _____ and I am calling to urge Senator XXXXX to support mandatory funding for the Community Food Projects program. The House-passed Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) reauthorized the Community Food Projects program at $30 million, but stripped it of the mandatory funding base it has had for ten years. Without mandatory funding, the future of this program -- regarded as one of the most successful competitive grant programs within USDA -- will be jeopardized. Over its history, this program has funded over 240 innovative projects across the United States, promoting a wide variety of community-based solutions to local food system and food security problems and building stronger links between farmers and consumers. As the Senate begins to review Farm Bill, I am requesting that Community Food Projects program receives mandatory funding, as it has for the last 10 years.”
If you reach someone appropriate to talk to, here are Additional Talking Points:
First authorized in the 1996 Farm Bill, the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFP) has earned a reputation as a dynamic and adaptable force within the changing circumstances of community food needs. CFP has made grants to over 240 innovative community food projects, promoting a wide variety of community-based solutions to local food system and food security problems. At the current $5 million annual funding level, the program is forced to decline scores of worthy requests every year. In 2006, USDA received 186 proposals for funding, but $30 million worth of needed and fundable projects went unfunded due to the $5 million cap. The administrators of the CFP program highlight as one of the Department of Agriculture’s favorite programs for supporting farmers and consumers. Because of the success and popularity of the CFP program, it is clear that a significant expansion is warranted.
CFP’s purposes were clearly expressed by Congress, which established the program to assist non-profit, community-based organizations with the development of projects that would require a one-time infusion of federal assistance to become self-sustaining and were designed to:
- Meet the food needs of low-income people
- Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs
- Promote comprehensive responses to food, farm, and nutrition issues by combining the resources of multiple sectors of the food system.
Over the past ten years, CFP has played a major role in forging a national network of innovators who are eager to learn from each other, know how to put good ideas into action, and empower their communities to solve their own problems. In addition, CFP often creates vital linkages between rural and urban communities, ensuring that both are able to develop economic opportunities for food producers and consumers. As a result of these linkages, local planners now work with food program advocates, public health officials engage community development groups, and farmers see their futures increasingly tied to local markets.
BE SURE ALSO TO TALK ABOUT YOUR OWN PROJECT IF YOU HAVE BEEN FUNDED BY CFP.