Blog | NESAWG

Keep up with the latest policy news, USDA Funding Announcements, and food systems happenings in the Northeast.

Seeds of Resistance: A Personal Account of the Lumad Struggle for Land Sovereignty

Nov 14, 2019

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Value Chains and Climate Change, but no Sea Change – Report Back from NASDA 2019

Oct 16, 2019

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Why NESAWG is endorsing the Climate Strike

Sep 18, 2019

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VIABLE FARMS ENSURE BRIGHT FUTURES FOR RURAL NORTHEAST ECONOMIES

Jul 17, 2019

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NEW YORK PUBLIC & PRIVATE INVESTORS CONNECT RURAL GROWERS TO URBAN CONSUMERS

Jul 17, 2019

When the New York State Greenmarket Regional Food Hub (also known as the Hub) is completed in 2020, farmer Rogelio Batista will be selling his kale there to the numerous processors and retailers that place a premium on buying New York State-grown produce. Batista’s journey from packing lettuce in the fields of Orange County, New York to establishing his own farm business started when he first turned to the New Farmer Development Program (NFDP) at GrowNYC, then a six year-old project funded through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), that worked with farmers born in other countries wanting to adapt their skills to the Northeast. After receiving farm business development training, GrowNYC staff supported Batista to secure farmland, navigate the systems of northeast agriculture, and plug into GrowNYC’s network of Greenmarkets, where he first started selling. The NFDP also provided a micro-loan, funded by Heifer International to help Batista get started.

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“PASS” IT ON: PA FARMERS FEED THEIR NEIGHBORS AND IMPROVE THEIR BOTTOM LINES

Jul 15, 2019

Created in 2010 under the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) serves its state’s farmers and those most in need of access to health food through a program enabling the food industry to safely and efficiently donate, sell or otherwise provide food products to Pennsylvania’s charitable food organizations. PASS funds help to support Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry statewide – making connections between production agriculture and the non-profit sector responsible for making food available to those in need. PASS provides an alternative market for many farmers and food producers in the Commonwealth that currently have no outlet for safe, but somewhat inferior quality product. Without PASS, this product would otherwise be left in the field, be plowed under, or be landfilled. Producers, packers, and processors are reimbursed for costs involved in harvesting, processing, and/or packaging donated product.

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