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Agricultural Policy & The Future of Organics

Session: Half Day Sessions

Start / End: 01:00 PM - 05:30 PM Thu

Presenters:

  • Alice Runde
  • Milo Petruziello
  • Michelle Ramirez-White
  • Sheila Everhart
  • Jean Bahn
  • Sylvia Burgos Toftness

Part 1: Join Alice Runde from the National Organic Coalition (NOC) and Milo Petruziello from the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) for an in-depth workshop on advocating for organic agriculture in Congress. This session will demystify the legislative process, including how the Farm Bill works and the current state of its reauthorization, and share good practices for engaging with legislators and their staffs. Whether you’re building a new relationship or engaging with an office that may not share your views, this session provides actionable tips for framing organic issues in ways that focus on farmers’ stories, resonate with policymakers, and foster collaboration. Walk away with the confidence to amplify the voice of organic farmers and make a meaningful impact.

Part 2: How can conservation and climate programs at the federal and state levels expand programming in the future to more effectively achieve goals of strengthening our local food systems? In this session we will examine programs that work to achieve farm to food access goals, and discuss how federal and state funding for climate and conservation work in agriculture could be re-imagined to achieve more local food systems goals in tandem. This will touch on ways current climate-smart funding is limited to large-scale producers, and to three main commodities, corn, beef, and soy. Federal and state programs that blend local food procurement and outreach work, like what was accomplished through the WI LFPA program, could achieve farm to food access goals in collaboration with conservation goals.

Part 3: Learn why a centralized office would meet high demand from farmers, and rural businesses involved in agricultural tourism. An increasing number of states and foreign countries now offer agritourism economic development assistance because it is a sustainable economic engine on the farm and in rural communities. This presentation will describe the demand for this technical assistance and how it would be provided in an Office of Agricultural Tourism and Rural Innovation (WIAgTRI). A panel of farmers and leaders from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association will describe steps being taken to move forward with this effort, including a biennium request: Jean Bahn, Government Relations Chair; Sylvia Burgos Toftness, Board President; and, Sheila Everhart, Executive Director.