Webinar: The Farm Bill & You: What it is and how to get involved
February 26th at 4:00 p.m. (CST)
To register, click here.
Join Illinois Stewardship Alliance and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalitionfor this FREE webinar about the federal farm bill, why it matters and how to get involved.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance's interim Executive Director, Wes King, will present about what the federal farm bill is and why it is important for citizens and farmers to get involved and advocate for reforms that will support local food systems and sustainable agriculture. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's Assistant Policy Director, Ariane Lotti, and Grassroots Director, Sarah Hackney, will give participants an update on where things stand with congressional attempts to develop and pass a new 5-year farm bill, and ways citizens and farmers can support a progressive reform minded farm bill that supports local food systems and sustainable agriculture.
Citizens, farmers, consumers, food system stakeholders, food entrepreneurs, environmentalists, localvores, foodies... all are welcome!
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Webinar: How to Use the 2012 Federal Transportation Bill to Strengthen Rural Economies
Sponsored by Transportation for America
Wednesday, February 27th, 12:00 p.m. (CST)
To register, click here.
Participate in an online presentation to learn how to use MAP-21 to fund rural transportation priorities and strengthen your community.
Investing in a variety of transportation options -- like public transportation, vanpooling, bicycling, walking and safe roads and bridges -- are crucial for stronger, more resilient communities in our nation's rural areas. It's important to know how our new federal transportation bill (MAP-21) has changed the way communities can access transportation dollars and what these funds can be used for.
The panelists for this discussion include:
- John Robert Smith, President and CEO, Reconnecting America and Former Mayor of Meridian, MS (moderator)
- Charles W. Fluharty, President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI)
- Chris Zeilinger, Director of Policy Development, Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
- Georgia Gann, Deputy Director of Government Affairs, Transportation for America
_____________________________________________________________ Food Safety Modernization Act holding Chicago Meeting Monday, March 11th, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (CST) Tuesday, March 12th, 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. (CST) For more information and to register, click here. IAPO's agenda includes a focus on increasing access to fresh, healthy foods by building a strong local food system in Illinois, promoting farm-to-school programs, and increasing farmer's markets and other direct-to-consumer sources for local foods. As public health advocates, we are also dedicated to ensuring that the food the public purchases and consumes is safe - we must prevent outbreaks of food-borne illness that can sicken and sometimes kill. This makes food safety regulation and enforcement an important issue for IAPO from a number of perspectives; some of which were explored last fall at the Healthy Farms, Healthy People Symposium held last October. A report from that event will be coming out at the end of February.
Lend your voice to the discussion on food safety when the USDA holds two meetings in Chicago concerning proposed rules for Preventive Controls in Human Food and Produce Safety Standards on March 11, 2013, 8:30 am -5:00 pm and March 12, 2013, 8:30 am -12:00 pm at The Westin-Michigan Avenue, 909 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
The purpose of this public meeting is to discuss the proposed rules to establish standards for growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce for human consumption (the produce safety proposed rule) and for current good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for human food (the preventive controls for human food proposed rule). These rules would establish the foundation of, and central framework for, the modern food safety system envisioned by Congress in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
Attend and give your comments on the proposed rules, learn about the rule making process (including how to submit comments, data and other information to the rule making dockets), and ask questions about the proposed rules.
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