Put This Farm Bill Primer on Your Calendar
Earth Day (April 22) webinar will highlight our community's priorities
Earth Day Dishing on the Farm Bill
With Congress deliberating this year on the revision of the massive federal Farm Bill, it is crucial for advocates of a better food system to be up to speed on the big issues and to weigh in by contacting their congressional representatives.
This measure will govern all federal farm, food and food assistance programs for the next five years, and in order to help build the momentum for better-for-people and better-for-the-planet food, we need to press for new thinking and priorities.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance is helping by scheduling “Dishing on the Farm Bill: Get Up to Speed on National Farm Policy,” a virtual program to be held on Monday, April 22 (that’s Earth Day) at 12 p.m. central time.
Here’s the program description from the Alliance:
The Farm Bill impacts every bite of food we eat (and so much more!).
It's a major food and farm policy that comes up for renewal in Congress every five years, and sets policies that determine who, what, where, and how our food, fiber, and fuel is produced.
As you may know, late last year, Congress voted to extend the Farm Bill by one year when it nearly missed the deadline.
But we still haven’t seen a draft of the bill from either the House or Senate Agriculture Committees.
So what’s happening?! Join us to hear from our own insider on Capitol Hill in DC.
Mike Lavender, policy director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, will take us on a deep dive on what’s happening behind the scenes and what more we can do for an equitable, regenerative, and transformational Farm Bill.
If you can’t make it on April 22, you can register to receive a recording.
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
While St. Patrick’s Day is seen as a corned beef and cabbage feast day, Barb and I chose to go a different direction in the cuisine of her ancestral homeland.
Here we had wild-caught Sockeye salmon baked with fresh lemon juice and dill; champ, an Irish dish of mashed potatoes and spring onions; and roasted asparagus.
The champ ingredients were local: Yukon Gold potatoes from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois) and delicate young scallions from Jacobson Family Farms (Antioch, Illinois). Though I did use some Kerrygold Irish butter from grass-fed cows because it felt like the right thing to do.