Dear Rebecca,

Welcome to the December 2021 edition of The Buzz. This has been a very busy fall for the CFSA Policy Team. We have continued to advocate at the state level and federal priorities.

In North Carolina, the General Assembly (NCGA) included $2 million for CFSA’s FarmsSHARE program! In South Carolina, CFSA successfully lobbied the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to include $24 million in local food system infrastructure and marketing allocations in the department’s official request to the Governor. The SC General Assembly is expected to approve the recommendations in early 2022.

Our advocacy continues on the federal level as well. Believe it or not, the 2023 Farm Bill is just around the corner! Even though this important legislation seems far away, the time to begin our preparation is now. Advocacy for important priorities begins in earnest next year.

For this reason, we joined with the NC Food System Advocacy Coalition to hold the Farm Storm campaign. Farm Storm educated nearly 200 people from more than 85 farms and organizations about the farm bill. More than a third of the participants participated in a listening session with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition!

To learn more about what our policy team accomplished in 2021, check out our new blog post, CFSA Policy Team Achievements in 2021.

In solidarity,
Nick

Nick Wood, CFSA Advocacy Manager

PS – Want to work with CFSA? We’re currently hiring for two full-time positions:

• Development Director
• Local Produce Safety Coordinator

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the positions will remain open until filled. Apply today or share these postings with someone who may be interested.