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Learn how policy and advocacy are tools for supporting local farms and food systems.

Share advocacy best practices.

Get input on challenges and opportunities.

Identify elements of an enabling policy agenda.

Explore CGA policy role; lay groundwork for coordinated advocacy capacity.

Session Overview

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Support CGA mission to build Mid-Atlantic grain economy.

Paradigm shift

From grain as commodity produced unsustainably.
To grain as a value-added product of local origin and superior quality produced sustainably by diversified farms connected to local, craft food businesses.

Goal of Advocacy – Build Grainshed, Shift Paradigm

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Policy is the enabling environment that either:

Helps by providing resources to farm and develop supply chain
Hinders with regulations that impose cost and compliance burden

Resources come from USDA and State agriculture and natural resources departments

Type of support = grants, low-interest loans, loan guarantees, technical assistance, improved plant varieties

Sources = programs for infrastructure development, marketing, conservation, rural development; cost-share for conservation and agricultural best management practices, agricultural research

Policy Helps or Hinders

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Influence legislation on an issue

Defend against cuts to critical public programs, including cuts to federal programs for local/sustainable agriculture and regional supply chains

Educate constituency about impact of a law or regulation

Change the culture - raise awareness of the value of the local grainshed and its merit as a sector to invest in

Build partnerships to cooperate on supply chain projects and seek grant funding

Build the movement for food system transformation

Purpose of Advocacy

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Capacities for Policy Change

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Grassroots Organizing

Influence policy decisions and gain access to public resources by organizing an effective advocacy voice.

Build power by involving a constituency in:

Framing the policy agenda – identifying issues (problems, barriers, support needed) and strategies to address them
Identifying targets to implement solutions
Engaging those targets – legislators, agency staff, donors, allies
Developing capacity for group action –communications, campaigns, advocacy skills, organization
Identifying allies, building a coalition

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Microlender

Food hub

Farmland preservation; promotes sound farming practices

Farmer education & advocacy network

Land Grant/Research Station

State association for sustainable agriculture

Allies = Stakeholders

Craft Millers Guild

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Who Are Your Allies?

To build the coalition for advocacy and food system transformation, engage stakeholders:

Farmers
Supply chain – millers, farmers markets, food hubs
Consumers and chefs interested in local, fresh foods
Grain end users –craft bakers, brewers, maltsters
Guilds and trade associations of craft food producers
Nonprofits for sustainable agriculture
Technical assistance and research – cooperative extension, soil and water conservation districts, land grant universities, research stations
Conservationist/environmentalist

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1. Local content requirement - create demand to grow the market and industry

GrowNYC Grains grew regional small grains market by building supply and demand

Required local content for products including baked goods sold in NYC farmers since 2009, 25% since 2019
Connected bakers and chefs to growers and processors
To supply demand, got local farmers to grow small grain and supported processing (milling) and distribution (food hub) infrastructure

NY farm brewery legislation (2021)

Required beer be made from local farm products to get Farm Brewery license and NY State product designation.
From 20% in 2018, local content must be 60% by 2028 and 90% by 2029.
Created demand for local products to grow brewing industry.

VA brewery law

Farm brewery law, unlike law for wineries, has no local content requirement, limiting incentive to grow grain locally and invest in local processing.

Policy Advocacy Examples

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Policy Advocacy Examples

Food safety regulations - play by the rules, engage regulators

Deep Roots Milling, Rosedale, VA

Anchors regional grain economy as primary producer and purchaser of VA-grown grain.
Operates last historic water-powered mill in VA.
January 2021 cease operations order issued for violation of new food safety standard requiring sealed buildings.
Worked with CGA, VA Senator Deeds, and VA department of agriculture (VDACS) to restart operations in April 2021 and develop scale and context appropriate exemption for manufacturers of low-risk food operating in historic buildings. https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1416667

Cottage Bakeries in MD

Artisanal baking falls under cottage laws allowing businesses to produce non-hazardous foods in small amounts in a residential kitchen without health department licensing or inspection.
A group of cottage bakers worked to increase sales limit and points of sale in MD cottage food law. This raised scrutiny on bakers and millers not operating within the rules, encouraging some to establish brick and mortar operations. https://forrager.com/law/maryland

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3. Letter writing

Campaign by Craft Millers Guild asking USDA to prioritize local sourcing in food assistance programs, leading to $900 million program for local governments to purchase local foods.
Campaign asking USDA to prioritize diversification of agricultural production in programs.

Consumer education and marketing

Flour Ambassadors seal to promote small mills.
Buy local pledge.
Regional branding.

Policy Advocacy Examples

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Biggest barriers = market price, availability of markets, distance to buyers
Difficult growing conditions
Higher management requirements vs corn-soy rotation
Insufficient profit lowers incentive to plant
Improved varieties - growing conditions, protein content
Infrastructure & machinery costs – eqpt specific to small-grain farming, dryers, seed cleaners, mills
Missing middle of supply chain = regional bottlenecks in processing (milling, cleaning), aggregation, cold storage, distribution

Barriers – Small Scale Grain Production & Milling

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Barriers - continued

Scale inefficiencies = high input costs drive need to charge higher prices vis-à-vis conventional products

Reunion Bakery in Staunton would source more flour in VA if millers could lower costs by increasing volume.

Food safety regulations - food facilities required to implement controls to prevent food safety hazards under federal FSMA (2011 Food Safety Modernization Act).

For milling: sourcing local grain, finding buyers for flours

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Consumer and chef interest in fresh/local flour, craft bread and brews.

Grassfed meat and organic produce provide model for success.

Micro millers connect farmers with market for flour.

Capturing value through milling and baking diversifies income for financial viability.

Opportunities

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Opportunities - continued

Local agriculture and craft foods support soil health and climate resilience.
Drivers to leverage for soil health and profitability - organic certification, system diversification, cover crop use
Add small grains to corn-soy rotation for soil health, diversified income stream
Livestock can use small grain production for feed and bedding that doesn’t find food-grade buyer
Cost share payments highly correlated with growing small grains.
Yet small farmers don’t participate in conservation programs.

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Discussion Questions

Provide name, place of residence, and role, i.e., farmer, miller, baker, etc. and type of grain you grow or use.

Primary concerns and barriers to growing, processing, and using grain and flour? Support to be successful in your farm or business?
Federal or state government programs you participate in.
Experience with investment programs for local/regional food systems or climate-smart commodities.
How affected by government funding freezes and staffing cuts?
Experience with government regulations.
How government policy and programs at state and federal levels can better support a regional grain economy?
Role of CGA play in policy advocacy.

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Once organized, what to mobilize for? Frame a policy agenda to address barriers and opportunities.

Get federal funding restored for local, sustainable agriculture and regional food system/value-chain investment.
Restore federal funding for state food safety inspectors who conduct federal inspections and certifications under Talmadge-Aiken program to retain context sensitivity in working cooperatively with food businesses in achieving regulatory compliance.
Champion local grains, fresh flour, and artisanal products through consumer education and outreach to policymakers.
Create market with local purchase requirements, including farm breweries.
Scale- and context-appropriate food safety regulation.
Ensure size and participant criteria of value-added producer and supply chain investment grant programs are inclusive of small farms and businesses and of milling, brewing, and malting activities.
Model micro-milling standards to guide regulators.
Level playing field with corn and soybeans and large farms:

Make federal loan and crop insurance programs and state conservation programs more accessible to small, diversified farms and specialty crops.
Consider review of threshold size criteria and sliding scale for rates.

Set priorities for public investment in local, climate-smart agriculture, farm system diversification, regional supply chain, and market development.
Fund agricultural research in improved varieties and technical assistance to address production barriers.

Policy Agenda for Regional Grain

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Resources

Who’s My Legislator – federal and state: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Programs for small and mid-sized farmers

USDA - access to capital, marketing, land management, food safety, technical assistance

https://www.usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/resources-small-and-mid-sized-farmers/programs-and-support-small-and-mid-sized-farmers

Maryland:

https://mda.maryland.gov/resource_conservation/Pages/Small-Farm-and-UrbanAgricultureProgram.aspx

https://mda.maryland.gov/maryland_products

Virginia:

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/costshar2

https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/marketing-and-economic-development.shtml

Capital and Technical assistance

USDA SE Regional Food Business Center – Business Builder grants to farms and food businesses for business, market, and supply chain development projects https://southeastrfbc.org/

Lauren DeSimone ldesimone@locusimpact.org, 804-939-6181.

SG Farm Services – help navigating food safety requirements and marketing certifications.

Stasia Greenewalt stasia@sgfarmservices.com, 434-989-2292

Foodshed Capital. Microlender providing low-cost capital and technical assistance to small, sustainable farms and food businesses. https://www.foodcap.org/

Grain projects

https://www.commongrainalliance.org/other-grain-projects

Food Safety Regulation

Understanding FSMA’s Preventive Controls Rule: A Guide for Grain Businesses. August 2021.

https://www.vermontlaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Understanding-FSMA.pdf

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Next Steps and Contacts

Interested in working on policy advocacy with CGA?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vFdZzhP6MKQ9zTPnpBn9hBaBOH5mCLb1

Ask Congress to restore federal funding for farms and local food system/value chain investment.

RAFI Policy Action Center https://rafiusa.quorum.us/priority-campaign

Join Common Grain Alliance!

https://www.commongrainalliance.org/join#join

Contacts:

Francesca Costantino labella_francesca@yahoo.com

Bev Paul bev@davenportpolicy.com