The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group has put together a really user-friendly guide to the evolving Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill includes so many different programs, so many different action points calling for public input, that it is easy to get lost in the information – or was, because this guide is exactly what we need to engage in positive and productive ways, and to inform ourselves.
Every year, we update Seacoast Harvest, the local food guide we produce as a collaboration with Slow Food Seacoast. Which means we (lots of volunteers) contact every farm we can find in Rockingham, Strafford, and York Counties, revise the information contained in the guide, add more information, and try to print as many copies as we can, making the listings free to farmers and the guide free to area residents who are looking for local food.
Last year we printed 3,000 copies and are pretty well out (except for the ones I squirreled away to give out at our winter farmers’ markets.) This year we’d like to print 6,000 copies. Last year we listed 102 farms – but in the meantime, found another 120 that we will be contacting in addition this year. We’ve got a lot of good, important work ahead of us before the guide will be released in late May.
To reach these goals, we need your help. Consider making a donation to Seacoast Harvest. All the information you need, along with the ability to make a secure online donation, is here >