June 2007 newsletter
Dear readers,
In our June edition of our newsletter, we tackle issues from colony collapse disorder to the farm bill basics to steps you can take to make local food a reality here in Wisconsin.
First up, Policy Program Intern, Laura Lipps, dives into the bee colony collapse disorder to understand what's got beekeepers and farmers a buzz.
Next, we cover what you can do to help fund the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin, a unique effort to increase access to fresh, healthy food in the state. It's good for our health and our economy!
Margaret Krome then demystifies the farm bill, that monstrous omnibus package of bills that Congress tackles every five years and shapes the future direction of our food, nutrition, and farming systems.
Finally, we have new workshops to share and a summer recipe that makes the tastes buds sing.
Have a great summer,
Jeanne Merrill
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
P.S. - If you have article topics you would like to see covered in future newsletters, please let us now. Drop us a line at newsletter@michaelfieldsaginst.org.
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Healthy Bees, Healthy Farms
By Laura Lipps, Policy Program Intern
Bees have gained a rare moment in the spotlight this year since a mysterious illness - termed "Colony Collapse Disorder" - has struck beehives all over the U.S. The disease doesn't affect yellow jackets (which are actually wasps, not true bees), but honeybees, and entire hives are dying with no recognizable cause.
The epidemic represents the current crisis in a decades-long decline in both domestic honeybee and wild bee populations.1 Scientists say that diseases such as mites, habitat loss, and the widespread use of pesticides, are largely to blame for previous declines.2,3 The combined effect is that a healthy bee is becoming harder and harder to find.
Healthy bees don't just benefit lovers of honey. Bees pollinate more than $15 billion worth of U.S. crops annually.3 This makes bees a major, but often hidden, component of agriculture. They also help gardens and wildflowers bloom, making them equally vital to a healthy environment.
Mt. Horeb beekeeper Eugene Woller has spent over 40 years keeping his honeybees healthy.
"Honeybees are the workhorses" of agriculture, he told me. "If they see they can make good honey, they go for it." Pollination - when bees transfer pollen from flower to flower, enabling fertilization - is just a byproduct for the honeybee, Woller explains, but an essential service to our farms.
Woller tends 600 hives for honey-making. He also takes his bees to local farms to pollinate crops, and they even help pollinate wildflowers in a nearby restored native prairie. But he doesn't move them long distances for pollination, like many large commercial beekeepers do, a practice that can put severe stress on bees' systems.
Woller hasn't seen any sign of Colony Collapse Disorder in his hives, but he is watching carefully. Officially, Wisconsin has not diagnosed any cases, although a national team of scientists has documented cases in Wisconsin.4 According to their current national survey, the disease is striking in over 25 states around the U.S, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.5 The scientists are looking at known bee-killing agents, including pesticides and various bee diseases, as the most likely causes. They are also examining factors that could be weakening bees' immune systems, such as poor nutrition and stress from being transported long-distance.6
What is clear is that pollinating bees need our help to recover. Here's how you can help create a healthy environment for bees to thrive:
- First, hold the urge to spray insecticides on your lawn or garden. Many kinds are toxic to honeybees and other pollinators,7 not just the nuisance yellow jackets or beetles.
- Get to know your bees! In addition to the honeybee, beneficial pollinators include bumble bees, solitary bees, leaf-cutter bees, and sweat bees - yet all can be confused with non-pollinating wasps or wood-boring carpenter bees.
- Finally, you can provide valuable habitat for pollinating bees by planting bee-friendly flowers such as summer sweet clover or fall asters - bees love a variety of plants in your garden to choose from! You can also set out nesting boxes for native and bumble bees, helping out pollinators and garden flowers alike.
Check out these websites for more information on bees as pollinators and Colony Collapse Disorder:
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Take Action: Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin
By Jeanne Merrill, Associate Policy Director
Phone calls and letters are needed now to Assembly and State Senate members to ask for their support to include the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program in the state budget.
Write or call today. It's best to send faxed or mailed letters or make phone calls. Email is less effective as members are swamped with email messages and may not see your message.
Background
The State Senate and Assembly are taking up their deliberations on the state budget. They will debate adding new amendments to the budget to fund a variety of programs.
Now is the time to write or call your representatives to request that they support for an amendment to the budget to fund the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program.
Here's what you can do:
If your State Senator or Assembly member is already signed on as a supporter of Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin (see list below), ask them to make the program a reality and support an amendment to the budget to fund Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin. It's important that they hear again from Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin supporters.
If you State Senator or Assembly member is not signed on as a supporter of Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin, it's not too late to ask for their support. Ask if they will support efforts to include Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin in the state budget.
Including a Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin amendment in the state budget is the only way to fund the program.
For list of phone numbers and addresses for your state representatives, please go to:
http://waml.legis.state.wi.us
or call: 1-800-362-9472 (hours: 8am to 4:30pm)
Why should your representatives support Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin? See below.
When calling your representatives, ask for the staff person who is working on the state budget. If you have to leave a message, include your address and phone number and ask for a response back to your request.
Please let us know what kind of response back you get that way we can let other people in your district know if they should continue to call or write. You can e-mail us or call 608-256-1859.
Why we need Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin
Our food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to kitchen. The Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin is an innovative state program that will increase access to fresh, local food. Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin is good for our economy and our health. In order to fund the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program, the state legislature must act to include the program in the current state budget that is up for debate.
Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Program
Wisconsin lacks critical infrastructure and resources, including food processing, distribution and marketing expertise, that's necessary to expand regional food markets for the state's farmers and increase the amount of fresh, locally produced food in our schools, grocery stores and restaurants. The Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin program will address these barriers by providing financial and technical assistance resources aimed at:
- Developing, expanding and enhancing regional food markets for Wisconsin producers and processors;
- Increasing consumer awareness and access to high quality, locally produced foods;
- Expanding regional agricultural tourism in Wisconsin; and
- Shift 10 percent of Wisconsin's food expenditures to regionally produced food.
Through the program, DATCP will offer technical assistance and a competitive grants program to farmers, community organizations, nonprofits and businesses to develop regional food markets. The program budget is $550,000 annually, including $225,000 in grant dollars.
For a full list of Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin supporters, follow the link below.
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From School Lunches to Organics: Understanding the 2007 Farm Bill
By Margaret Krome, Policy Program Director
What is it? Every several years Congress takes a comprehensive look at the nation's agricultural system, from policies on commodity production to conservation to school lunch programs and more. This review of policies and programs is a "reauthorization," setting into law basic guidelines on policies, including what programs will exist; maximum levels at which they may be funded; and restrictions on how they can operate. In agriculture, it's called a Farm Bill. 2007 is a year in which a Farm Bill is being prepared by Agriculture Committees of both houses of Congress.
Who cares? For years, many people thought the Farm Bill mattered only to farmers. But in the 1960s, Farm Bills began to include initiatives like the Food Stamps program. In the 1985 Farm Bill, environmental and conservation programs were added. Today, Farm Bills reflect priorities for how food and other crops are grown, whether farmers can make money growing them and consumers can afford to buy them, how soil, water and wildlife are treated, what goes into school lunches, and how rural communities fare. Because agriculture employs millions of people and engages every person who eats, drinks water, and wears clothing, it has become obvious why so many people care about what goes into this body of law governing agricultural production and availability of affordable food, fiber and fuel products.
Has getting involved made a difference? Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is proud of having helped develop provisions in past Farm Bills, including the Conservation Security Program, Value Added Producer Grants Program, and Farmers' Market Promotion Program in the 2002 Farm Bill. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars of funding have gone to support stewardship, new entrepreneurial activity, and direct markets. Such achievements are part of our work with other groups such as the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
What are some issues being discussed in the 2007 Farm Bill? Every Farm Bill is divided into subject areas, called "titles." This year's Farm Bill will include at least ten titles dealing with commodity programs, conservation, trade, nutrition programs, credit, rural development, research and related matters, forestry, energy and a variety of other topics. In the 2007 Farm Bill, groups we have worked with in the past as well as new partners are working together to advance an agenda. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's 2007 Farm Bill proposals include helping new farmers enter farming; creating new market opportunities and support for agriculturally-based entrepreneurism; the Conservation Security Program and other conservation provisions; a number of rural development initiatives, the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) program; Sustainable and Organic research; renewable energy proposals and other measures.
What is the schedule for Farm Bill action? Things are happening quickly. As of early June, several subcommittees of the House Agriculture Committee were already "marking up" or voting on provisions, with full Committee action likely by late June and House floor action by mid-July. The Senate is expected to begin action before its August recess with hopes of completion by sometime in September, followed by a House-Senate conference by early to mid-fall.
For more information, please contact Margaret Krome.
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Summer Workshops
We are pleased to announce our 2007 Garden Student Workshops. From cover crops, fermentation (pickling your veggies and fruits) to art in the garden, our workshops are designed for a wide range of interests and different levels of experience. For more details and to register, see our full list of upcoming workshops.
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Recipe: June Treat
This month you'll find rhubarb and strawberries at your local farmers' market. Below is a recipe from Epicurious that combines the two into a tasty summer treat.
Rhubarb strawberry pudding cake
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks (10 ounces)
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (5 ounces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400?F. Butter an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish.
Stir together water, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan, then stir in rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in strawberries.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl.
Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Reserve 1/2 cup fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it, spreading evenly. Drizzle reserved 1/2 cup fruit mixture over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.
Photo courtesty of USDA NRCS.
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