Call Your Representative Today -
Urge Support for Organic Research in the Farm Bill!
Last week, House Agriculture Committee
Chair Colin Peterson released his mark-up of the Farm
Bill that will be heard by the full House Ag Committee
on July 17, 18, and 19. (You can read a brief synopsis
of the organic provisions on our website.) Unfortunately,
the Chairman’s bill is missing several key components
that support organic and sustainable agriculture. Most
notably for organics, there is no mandatory money for
the Organic Research Extension Initiative (OREI), the
program that provides grants for organic agriculture
research. Mandatory money is money that is secured over
the 5-year life of the Farm Bill. Instead of mandatory
money, there is an annual authorization for up to $25
million, which means it will only be funded each year
through the appropriations process. Authorized funding
is in no way secure and will require advocacy efforts
every year to ensure that this critical program is funded
at all.
Tell Chairman Peterson and your Member
of Congress to support mandatory funding of $15 million
for OREI, in addition to the authorized funding! This
amount is a tiny percentage of the entire agriculture
research budget, but will provide critical information
to US organic growers to help them meet the growing
consumer demand for organic food as well as other farmers
interested in transitioning to organic operations. Organic
agriculture benefits the environment and rural economies,
and is well-deserving of increased research dollars.
If your Representative is a member of
the House Agriculture Committee, your call is especially
important!
Contact Info
House Agriculture Chairman Colin Peterson
Phone: (202) 225-2165
Email: agriculture@mail.house.gov
Sample Phone Rap
“Hi my name is _________, and I am a constituent.
I am calling to urge Representative ________ to support
MANDATORY funding of at least $15 million for organic
agriculture research in the farm bill. Organic agriculture
benefits the environment and rural economies, but without
more research and extension, organic farmers won’t
be able to meet the growing consumer demand for organic
food. Please support including this funding in the Farm
Bill. Thank you.”
Thank you for taking action! If you would
like to find more information on the 2007 Farm Bill,
visit our Federal
Legislation Page.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to join OFRF's Organic
Farming Action Network, visit https://ofrf.org/subscribe/ofan.html.
|
