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Seed Policy · February 1, 2019

OSA Joins Grassroots Partners in D.C. for Farm Bill Next Steps

NSAC members who participated in the winter meeting this week posed for a group shot before heading to the Hill. Photo credit: NSAC

In January, OSA joined our National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) grassroots partners in Washington, D.C., to strategize and advocate for federal policies that support sustainable agriculture. We’re a proud represented member of NSAC – a national coalition made up of over a hundred grassroots organizations with a mission to advocate for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities.

NSAC members meet remotely to strategize throughout the year and in person twice a year – once outside of Washington, D.C., and another for our winter meeting in D.C., where we also have the opportunity to visit our legislators on the Hill. This year’s winter meeting took place earlier this week when our coalition gathered for two days of strategy and learning. We spent the first day and a half reviewing Farm Bill wins and losses, and our plan for moving into the next phase of advocacy around the bill. On the second day, we engaged in racial justice trainings – an absolutely crucial focus of our coalition’s work. The meeting concluded with a panel of local food justice leaders discussing sustainable agriculture and unsustainable inequities.

Now that the Farm Bill has been signed into law, our work shifts to the appropriations process. It’s during this time that the House and Senate make decisions on how much funding will be allocated to carry out Farm Bill priorities. This is a crucial time for continued policy work and we met with partners on our NSAC Research, Education, and Extension Committee to strategize how to move forward important wins for organic research and farming that we got in the new Farm Bill.

On day three of our winter meeting, coalition members met with their representatives and senators to discuss our NSAC goals. OSA’s Cathleen McCluskey is located in our Madison, Wisconsin, office and joined other Wisconsin NSAC members to meet with staffers from Senators Baldwin (D-WI) and Johnson (R-WI) offices. She also met with Senator Cantwell’s (D-WA) staff to discuss organic seed research needs in Washington State and concerns over the proposed NIFA/ERS move.

Are any of your elected officials on an agricultural appropriations committee? See the list of House members here and the Senate members here. We’ll be reaching out to those of you who’ve signed up to receive our policy alerts over the next few months while we continue to advocate for seed and plant breeding research funding and other important asks in the new Farm Bill.

If you want to hear from us about important times to weigh in on policy and advocacy issues, sign up for our newsletter and check the box to receive action alerts.

  • nsac2019_REE
    The Research, Education, and Extension Committee strategized next steps for appropriations in the Farm Bill wins we made. Photo credit: NSAC
  • nsac2019_WI-group
    OSA's Cathleen McCluskey joined her Wisconsin coalition members for Hill visits. Photo credit: John Mesko, MOSES
  • nsac2019_panel
    The winter meeting concluded with a local panel discussing social justice and sustainable agriculture issues in the D.C. area. Photo credit: OSA

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Categories: Seed Policy

Tags: Farm Bill, Seed policy

Cathleen McCluskey

Cathleen McCluskey is the outreach director at Organic Seed Alliance. Cathleen supports OSA communications, and coordination of regional and national outreach efforts, and is the chair of the biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference.

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