Sustainability Now! | Kelsey Voit+Bethany Pratt | Community Farm Alliance | Feb. 11, 2019

On this edition of Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, sets down his seed catalogues for a chat about the impact of the recently passed 2018 Farm Bill with two representatives from the Community Farm Alliance: Organizing director, Kelsey Voit, and Board Vice-Chair, Bethany Pratt.

More information about CFA is available at http://cfaky.org

Find more detailed analysis of the 2018 Farm Bill at the blog of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/

More info about heirs property rules is here:
USDA: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/whatyouneedtoknowheirproperty.pdf
Land Loss Prevention Project: https://www.landloss.org/heirproperty.html

Below is the information Kelsey refers to during the interview from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' The Federal Scoop:
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"Just months after Congress and the Trump Administration debated and renewed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through the farm bill, the Administration is now proposing to implement through executive action what it failed to secure through legislation: taking away food assistance from struggling workers and families through harsh cuts and changes to SNAP.

The deadline to submit public comments is April 2!

Federal law already limits SNAP eligibility to just three months out of every three years for unemployed and underemployed adults without dependent children unless they can document 20 hours of work a week. States can request waivers to exempt people from the time limit, such as those in areas with high unemployment or those who lack a high school diploma or face other high barriers to employment.

Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed making the existing time limit even harsher.  USDA’s proposed rule would undercut states’ ability to waive these time limits in many areas where there are too few jobs. By USDA’s own estimates, its proposal would eliminate SNAP benefits for 755,000 adults and cut SNAP benefits by $15 billion over 10 years.

Feeding America, the Food Research & Action Center, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities are helping coordinate a campaign to oppose this rule.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Submit comments at Regulations.gov, or by mail: Certification Policy Branch, Program Development Division, FNS, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. Customizable template comments are at http://bit.ly/SNAPRuleCampaign

2. Ask your grassroots networks to generate comments.
Digital comment platforms are available below, or you can leverage your own platform to tailor the page to your audience:
• Feeding America comment platform: http://bit.ly/FASNAPComments
• The Center for American Progress comment platform: http://handsoffsnap.org
• Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) comment platform: http://www.frac.org/timelimitcomments

3. Encourage others in your state to submit comments as well.
Comments are counted individually, so please don’t do a sign-on letter with multiple organizations listed — that would only count as one comment!

For additional resources and details about the SNAP comments campaign, please visit http://bit.ly/SNAPRuleCampaign."
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Sustainability Now! airs on FORward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is used by permission from the fantastic Louisville band, Appalatin. Explore their inspiring music at https://www.appalatin.com