Organic farmers and a lot of other folks interested in organic food are laying the ground work now for a major Organic Summit meeting and endorsement of a new National Organic Action Plan. The “National Summit on Organic Food and Agriculture” is set to take place next February in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
It’ll be important to all those who care about the future of organic agriculture because the aim is to create a road map that will guide the Organic Movement through the next Farm Bill and beyond. I know, thinking about the next Farm Bill now, when folks are still sorting out what Congress created with its 2008 farm program seems a bit like cruel and unusual punishment. But 2012 really isn’t that far away, and folks like Liana Hoodes, with the National Organic Coalition, are keeping it in mind as they work on the National Summit on Organic Food and Agriculture.
Hoodes stopped by Farm Aid a few days ago to tell us more about the Summit meeting, which will draw more than 250 food and farm activists committed to organic agriculture.
To help in developing the Summit agenda and action plan, Farm Aid has funded close to a dozen grass roots dialogue meetings over the last two years. Comments were received from folks in 32 different states. Observations made by farmers, consumers, food retailers, researchers, and other people involved in building organic farming were recorded at the meetings, and will be considered for inclusion in the final action plan, which we are all looking forward to seeing and acting on after the first of the new year.
