In This Issue... (this Enews is still under construction, patience please)

• Sign on Letters

• Call to Action

• Calendar of Events

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National Campaign For Sustainable Agriculture
UPDATE and SIGN-ON LETTERS
Below are Sign-On Letters and some items that may be of interest:

1)  SIGN-ON LETTER: APPROPRIATIONS FOR FARM TO CAFETERIA PROGRAM (DUE THURSDAY, Noon):    Well, we missed this deadline, but you can still contact your congress persons and mention the letter.   Also, there may be a 2nd letter if enough people contact Steph.

Linked is a letter to be delivered to Congress urging $5 million in appropriations to address problems of climbing childhood obesity rates and struggling family farms by assisting schools in overcoming the barriers to purchasing locally-grown foods.

      TO SIGN ON, PLEASE CONTACT STEPH LARSEN (CFSC)at: Steph@foodsecurity.org or 202-543-8602.

http://www.agmatters.net/Development/Farm_CafeAppropsSignOnLet

Mar06.doc

http://www.agmatters.net/Development/Farm_CafeSignOnsMar06.xls

2)  SIGN-ON LETTER RE:  APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FARMERS MARKET PROMOTION PROGRAM:

Linked is a letter that will be delivered to members of the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees urging them to provide $5 million in

FY 07 funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Project (FMPP). (Although the FMPP was authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill, last year was the first time Congress funded the program ­ at a level of $1 million.  This funding will be made available through an RFP scheduled to be released in March.)

      TO SIGN ON THE LETTER, PLEASE CONTACT: SAC intern Julie Hudak at: hudjul24@evergreen.edu.   

DEADLINE:  5:00 pm, FRIDAY, MARCH 10.

http://www.agmatters.net/Development/FMPP_SignOnLetMar8_06.doc

3)  SIGN-ON LETTER RE: SEC. 9006 - RENEWABLE ENERGY & ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM

Sign on to a letter that will be sent to the House of Representatives and the Senate Subcommittees on Agriculture Appropriations to help protect funding for Sec. 9006 ­ the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Program. This program once again has been cut by the Administration's FY07 budget from its authorized $23 million to $10.2 million.

       TO SIGN ON, PLEASE CONTACT:  Jetta Wong, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, at: jwong@eesi.org or 202-662-1885.  (I’m sorry -- I was unable to link the letter.)

DEADLINE:  5:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 14.

SOLICITATION OF Sec. 9006 PROPOSALS:

On February 13, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service released a solicitation of proposals for Section 9006.  DEADLINE for Proposals: MAY 12, 2006

FEDERAL REGISTER:
http://www.eesi.org/publications/Press

4)   NCSA ON-FARM RENEWABLE ENERGY MEETING, FEB. 15, 2006  -- NOTES

The National Campaign convened a meeting regarding On-Farm Renewable Energy in Washington, DC on February 15.   Next steps:  the Stewardship Incentives Committee will be taking up the issue of developing sustainable criteria for energy crops, and the Rural Development Committee will be looking at USDA and DOE programs that offer renewable energy incentives to determine how these can be improved and made more available to small and mid-size farmers.  If you are not already a member of the National Campaign’s Stewardship Incentives Committee and/or the Rural Development Committee, I encourage you to join us. 

Linked are notes from the Feb. 15, ON-FARM RENEWABLE ENERGY MEETING:

http://www.agmatters.net/Development/NCSA_RenewableEnergyMtgNotes

Feb15_06_21.doc

5)  DEADLINE FOR VALUE ADDED PRODUCER GRANTS PROGRAM--MARCH 31:

Grant proposals for 2006 Value Added Producer Grants are due March 31.  If you need assistance writing your grant proposal or have questions, contact your state USDA Rural Development office.  For more information and templates for grant proposals, see:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/vadg.htm

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/templates.htm

6)  DEADLINE FOR CSP SIGN-UP -- MARCH 31

The 2006 Conservation Security Program sign-up ends March 31.  CSP is being offered this year in at least one watershed in every state.    For more information, maps of watersheds, and Self-Assessment Workbooks, see: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/2006_CSP_WS/index.html

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/pdf_files/CSPfy06self-assessment10_20.pdf

For CSP Outreach and Education Materials, see the Minnesota Project’s Website at:
http://www.mnproject.org/csp/index-csptools.html

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Call to Action     (under construction)

 If you have any questions, suggestions please

contact Jill Davies at rivercare@blackfoot.net.

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Further Information on Special EQIP Funds for Limited Resource and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

On December 12, 2005, NRCS announced that more than $10 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds will be used to assist limited resource and beginning farmers and ranchers nationwide to implement conservation practices on their land. This funding has since been allocated among individual states. USDA offers an online Limited Resource Farmer/Rancher Self-Determination Tool that you can use to see if you meet the definition. Farmers or ranchers interested in applying for these special EQIP funds should contact their state or local NRCS office. NRCS offices that need more information on this special program should contact Robert Molleur, the National Small, Limited Resource, and Beginning Farmers Program Manager for USDA-NRCS, at 202-720-6521.

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HEALTH: USA: Organic Diets Keep Kids Pesticide Free

By CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE, UPI Consumer Health Correspondent, 22 Feb 06
Children who switched their diets for only a few days to organic foods dramatically and immediately lowered the amount of toxic pesticides in their bodies, researchers report. Lead author Chensheng Lu of Emory University found that when kids eat organic foods, pesticides in their body plummet to undetectable levels -- even when following the diet for only five days.
"An organic diet does provide protective measures for pesticide exposure in kids," said Lu, who presented his research at a panel at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in St. Louis. His study appeared in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Full article at http://washtimes.com/upi/20060222-044543-1356r.htm

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Calendar of Events (more to come next time)

• March 27, 28, 29:  WSAWG Annual Meeting in conjunction with the SW Marketing Network Conference.   (see top article)

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