My hopes weren't high as I looked around the annual Congressional Farm Breakfast in Raleigh last week, held by Congressmen Brad Miller and David Price (both D-NC). The attendees were mostly older white men in suits who looked more ready to go to an office afterward than a field, not the usual colorful sustainability group. Turns out nearly a third were bound for classrooms or labs at NCSU.
I'd sent Congressman Miller's staff a heads-up a week before about an email on local sustainable-agriculture lists warning about risks associated with Roundup Ready crops, especially promiscuous alfalfa. If no one else asked about it, I would.
But except for being unprepared on the Roundup Ready crops, the presentations were far more green than I'd hoped. Read below the fold to learn how the government is supporting fresh produce, better treatment for animals, community gardens, clean water, and institutional use of local food.
The breakfast itself reflected the mixed message of the meeting. The biscuits came from Murphy House, a local restaurant that told me the sausage came from Bass Farms in Spring Hope and the ham from Stevens Sausage in Smithfield: "Most people want to use North Carolina products if they can." But the orange juice came in individual plastic bottles, with no recycling bins available. Maybe next year they will serve North Carolina apple cider and provide a recycling bin?
Encouraging Rural Living. Local juice would complement the keynote speaker's mission. Randy Gore, State Director of the NC Rural Initiative, a federal program devoted to the future of rural communities has the good looks and energy of The Rock, but with about half the mass and a strong Down East accent.
Gore impressed the crowd, citing 47 Rural Development programs in North Carolina, bringing in $2.2B in funds, including $150M for clean water and sewage treatment. He's spoke enthusiastically about strengthening the use of locally raised food by government supported hospitals, universities, prisons, and military bases. Fort Bragg brings about 160,000 people to the area. Gore said:
There's no reason for a soldier to go into the PX and see a turkey market "grown in California" when we grow so many in Pender County.
The Director supports agricultural exports in other cases. Gore mentioned poultry farmers facing bankruptcy when their contracts were canceled who are now raising flounder for New York. Other Rural Initiative projects include creating new
food-processing plants, such as the one opening next month in Hillsborough, broadband Internet access, and even improved Department of Social Services facilities. In North Hampton county, Gore said, 47% of the residents have a reason to visit a DSS facility every year.
Roundup Ready Crops. Midway through the Q&A period, I asked Congressman Miller what our government is doing to protect organic and sustainable farmers, the general public, and the environment from potentially risky techniques such as using Round Up Ready crops. For example, Dr. Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University, has written to Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack asking the government to stop deregulating Roundup-Ready crops, particularly alfalfa, because they may encourage a newly discovered pathogen grow or spread, resulting in animal miscarriages and infertility. Dr. Huber writes, "In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency."
I was surprised that Miller seemed surprised by my question. He said that use of genetically modified organisms was a technical issue, but with the world food shortages, we needed to use GMO plants unless they were proven harmful. A little later in the Q&A, he readdressed my question, saying that he hadn't had time to look at the briefing from his staff but that my question was based on concerns from well-respected scientists (ie: folks, she's not a nut). He offered to meet with me to discuss the matter further, which we'll do on March 25th. At that meeting, I'll be sure to cite the new UN report on agroecology, which shows crop yields doubling by using environmental techniques instead of oil-based fertilizers and pesticides, the UN report which so, um, delighted Jill Richardson.
Other Green Initiatives. The meeting opened with presentations by County Extension staffers. Laura Martin talked about efforts to help farmers diversity tobacco farms by growing fresh produce and about working with beef producers to ensure that the cattle are well treated. She said people of her generation care about where their food comes from and how it is raised. Carol Mitchell talked about programs to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables, including farm-to-school programs and helping more farmers' markets accept EBT cards (food stamps).
Farm stats. Here are some of my favorites from the flurry of numbers at this briefing:
- Even though Wake County is part of the Research Triangle, we have 827 farms and sell $79M in agricultural products every year.
- The number of farmers in Wake County is increasing. Our average farmer is 59 years old.
- We have 20 pick-your-own farms and 28 CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription programs.
- 1 in 4 Americans get sick from bad food every year; 5,000 die.
- NCSU received $20M in federal funding last year for agricultural research.
- County extension services are facing a 5-6% cut in the federal budget this year. That's $7M in North Carolina alone.
Make Farms, Not War? Both the Congressmen's remarks and questions from the audience brought up financial concerns several times. Congressmen Miller expressed frustration that his amendment to break up the too-big-to-fail banks was not included in the financial regulation bill, but felt the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a positive step. Congressman Price talked about how Senator McCain snickered at a "beaver control" bill, but that this was a case where a little money could go a long way to
prevent flooding. He also expressed frustration at the current focus on just 12% of the U.S. budget: the discretionary spending. Audience members suggested extracting oil from North Dakota and Nebraska and reducing red tape for solar projects. Unfortunately, no one brought up saving tax dollars by reducing our military presence in the Middle East.