The 2018 Farm Bill is finally here!

There will finally be a new Farm Bill this week. While the news has hyped it up to be a bipartisan compromise with improvements to our food assistance programs like SNAP benefits, and legalizing hemp farming, there are some major negatives for organic farming coming up. The trade off for these wins, are that that they are looking to weaken organic farming standards. This could be a serious threat to our current organic system because it would allow for the use of more synthetic chemicals in organic farming. If you want to read more about the new Farm Bill, click here.  To read the update on the rejection of the GOP’s proposed work requirements for SNAP benefits, click here. 

If you want to take action and make your voices heard and tell Congress to oppose the weakening of these standards, click here. 

15 Ways to Reduce Waste This Holiday Season 

Food waste is an issue we can’t ignore any longer, especially since almost 40% of waste happens on a consumer level. The holidays are a time where a lot of unseen waste happens, so as you are preparing to host, or bringing over food to your families house, be more conscious of your food waste. WBUR gives 15 easy ways to reduce your waste this season, starting from better prepping, to using ugly produce and the whole vegetable, to what to do with leftovers and composting scraps. Give a read here to see all the specifics. 

NY State Could Be the First to be Totally Carbon Free by 2050!

We have seen some movement in state legislature the past two months towards valuing the move away from fossil fuels and towards more sustainable energy sources. This is important because there is a new bill that will be on the table in Albany starting in January, 2019, The Climate and Community Protection Act, sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, is an expansive bill that requires New York State to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. By 2050, the bill would require the elimination of all greenhouse gas emissions. The bill is process-oriented. Baked into the plan is a climate action playbook that proponents say will guide the state from its current level of fossil fuel use down to zero.

To read the full article, click here. 

To take action for climate change, sign this petition, to tell the EPA not to let industrial farms off the hook for declaring their toxic air emissions.