Introducing: Policy Caucuses
Join us for the official launch of the OEFFA Policy Caucuses!
Caucuses are a way for us to work together and amplify the voices of farmers and other OEFFA members to affect change in state and federal policies. OEFFA’s caucuses provide a space for community discussion, planning, and strategizing for policy change.
Each caucus reflects ongoing policy priorities set by OEFFA members and will replace the previous farm bill workgroups:
- Climate Change and Environmental Health: Advance climate resiliency and uplift agriculture as a solution to the climate crisis. Focuses on the various intersections of environmental health and agriculture.
- Policies related to soil health, PFAS contamination, NRCS programs and partnerships, and the H2Ohio Program
- Subcommittees: Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI)
- Policies related to soil health, PFAS contamination, NRCS programs and partnerships, and the H2Ohio Program
- Local and Regional Food Systems: Identify and advocate for policy changes that can support local food infrastructure and processing systems. Invest in ways that regional and local food systems can keep money local, promote sustainability, and secure a resilient food system.
- Policies related to marketing, nutrition, and infrastructure (like value-added processing facilities)
- Subcommittees: Rural Development (including topics like agrivoltaics, rural internet, gas, and power access) and Urban Agriculture (including topics like innovative farming techniques and access to grants)
- Policies related to marketing, nutrition, and infrastructure (like value-added processing facilities)
- Farm and Farmer Viability: Breaking down barriers in farming to ensure accessibility for all, promote farmer resilience, and make certain that agricultural government programs work for everyone by creating a system that is fair, functional, and informed.
- Policies related to farmer mental health and general well-being, access to child care, succession planning, Risk Management Agency, and crop insurance reform
- Subcommittees: Land Access and Beginning Farmers (including topics like funding and education) and Crop Insurance
- Policies related to farmer mental health and general well-being, access to child care, succession planning, Risk Management Agency, and crop insurance reform
- Consolidation: Address consolidation in food systems and advocate for policies that support small and medium farming operations. Looking at the overall ownership of agriculture systems and how the largest benefit the most.
- Policies related to meat processing facilities and access, large agribusinesses, regulation, anti-trust policies (controlling trusts or other monopolies), checkoff programs, and price setting
- Organic: Vigilantly safeguard organic integrity through action grounded in farmer experience and input. This group will be open to more than just organic farmers and will work towards supporting organic market infrastructure, access to technical assistance, and transitioning to organic through policy needs.
- Policies related to fighting organic fraud, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), organic research, and securing organic cost-share
We welcome any farmers, researchers, community members, and educators to participate in these caucus spaces. To participate in a caucus we ask that you be an OEFFA member.
Our team recognizes that this may be a barrier to participation and if you are unable to be an OEFFA member we still want you to engage. If this is the case for you, please reach out to our team (policy@oeffa.org) and we will make a note on our end so that we are aware. This is set in place so that we can be accessible to all community members but also have consistent sustainable agriculture supporters attending the meetings rather than people coming in and out each time.
Each caucus will operate through the lenses of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and urban and rural agriculture, which are integral needs for all agriculture communities across Ohio. These groups will meet approximately four times a year, and the subcommittees will meet at group-determined times.
Keep an eye out for website additions about this as we will be working to launch a caucus webpage this summer! If you have any questions or can’t make it to either session but still wish to join a caucus, please contact policy@oeffa.org.