Resources for Taking Action

Social media is a powerful tool, especially if you know how to use it effectively. Find tips in this OEFFA factsheet for using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to connect with public officials, advertise events, and mobilize supporters around the issues you care about.

One of the best ways you can make a difference without leaving home is by writing an op-ed or letter to the editor of your local paper. This guide explains how you can put together a brief but impactful letter on food and agricultural issues.

Meeting with and calling your elected officials and their staff is one of the most important ways you can influence public policy. This guide includes tips on how to schedule, prepare for, and run an effective meeting, along with information to help you call your Congressional office.

NSAC offers an online advocacy toolkit which includes information about visiting, calling, and writing your member of Congress, writing effective op-eds, and an overview of the federal legislative process.

A list of Ohio and national newspapers and publications accepting letters to the editor, op-eds, or other types of guest submissions. Updated June 2023 (subject to change).

Meeting in-district with your member of Congress (MOC) or state legislator and/or their staff is a great way to build a relationship and ensure your voice and priorities are being heard. This guide can help with the process! 

In collaboration with OEFFA members and Erik Peterson of Bending the Arc Strategies, these statements of belief and narrative shifts were developed and now drive our daily work. 

In this short video, OEFFA member Debra Knapke shares best practices for submitting a comment to your members of Congress. 

In this short video, OEFFA Grassroots Policy Organizer Nicole Wolcott shares best practices for using social media to connect with your members of Congress. 

In this short video, OEFFA Policy Director Amalie Lipstreu shares best practices for calling your members of Congress.

This OEFFA tool will help you navigate the development of energy infrastructure on your farm so you can protect your organic integrity throughout this process. OEFFA also offers free technical assistance for organic farmers facing pipeline easements and other energy impacts. Contact OEFFA for assistance.

This OEFFA tool provides templates and tips for submitting written comments online and oral comments in person or through Zoom to the National Organic Standards Board.

OEFFA's comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Organic Standards Board, and other federal agencies regarding organic integrity, climate change, research, and more are archived 2017-present.

Organic farms do not use genetically engineered seed or feed, but the label goes above and beyond the absence of GE seed, as described in this OEFFA factsheet.

Read OEFFA's analysis of the USDA's 2016 Census of Organic Agriculture, highlighting Ohio.

FracTracker provides analysis of the proximity of organic farms and their watersheds to areas with active oil and gas drilling.

Find information about the administration of organics including the National Organic Standards Board which provides oversight and recommendations and holds two public meetings each year to accept comments.

This national alliance of organizations works to provide a voice in Washington for farmers, ranchers, environmentalists, consumers, and industry members involved in organic agriculture.

OFRF cultivates organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production.

In this series of five factsheets, OEFFA describes our member's vision for the 2023 Farm Bill: promoting soil health and climate resilience through conservation policy, increasing investments in local and regional food systems, addressing consolidation in the food and agriculture system, investing in organic and sustainable research, and providing more support for beginning and BIPOC farmers.

In 2022, OEFFA met with farmers and consumers across Ohio to learn about their vision for a sustainable food and farming system, revealing five key values that comprise the OEFFA Farm Bill Platform.

Five OEFFA members describe their vision for the new farm bill.

Marker bills are an important part of the legislative process, including the 2023 Farm Bill. Learn what a marker bill is and why we need them.

OEFFA introduces its Farm Bill Platform and describes ways to get involved in supporting the five planks.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's comprehensive 2023 Farm Bill Platform provides title-by-title recommendations across farm bill programs and policies detailing how Congress can better support farmers and ranchers.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition provides an overview of the farm bill, including what it covers and how the process works.

This Farm Action webinar and its panelists share how we can use the 2023 Farm Bill to reform policies and programs to better support diversified farm operations, contribute to resilient soils, and hold abusive corporations accountable.

Meeting in-district with your member of Congress (MOC) or state legislator and/or their staff is a great way to build a relationship and ensure your voice and priorities are being heard. This guide can help with the process! 

Read about why it is critical for Congress to follow through for farmers and protect agriculture conservation in the 2023 Farm Bill within Title II. This is our #1 priority for the 2023 Farm Bill. 

In September 2022, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association was one of more than 150 organizations to send a joint letter to President Biden, urging him to push for a transformational 2023 Farm Bill that reflects the values of his administration. 

This interactive resource highlights the origins of agriculture legislature, the first farm bill, and the laws that evolved over time. 

A one-pager highlighting why and how OEFFA and the Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI) are celebrating healthy soils during an Ohio Soil Health Week. 

OEFFA's Policy Team was joined by the Executive Director of ODA's Office of Farmland Preservation to discuss the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program

Meeting in-district with your member of Congress (MOC) or state legislator and/or their staff is a great way to build a relationship and ensure your voice and priorities are being heard. This guide can help with the process! 

In this series of factsheets, you can learn about OEFFA's Soil Health Ambassadors and our program designed to connect farmers who need help meeting their soil health goals with friendly growers, who often have decades of ecological farming experience.

This OEFFA factsheet provides an overview of the Ohio Soil Health Initiative.

This report by OEFFA, Ohio Farmers Market Network, Ohio Food Policy Network, and Produce Perks Midwest captures how local food systems were impacted by COVID-19 and offers eight policy recommendations Ohio’s decision-makers can implement to invest in Ohio’s farmers and build food security.

Read OEFFA's analysis of the USDA's 2017 Census of Agriculture, highlighting Ohio.

The Ohio Food Policy Network is a grassroots network that represents interested people and organizations in our state who share values and a common vision for the food system in Ohio.

American Farmland Trust provides maps, data, scorecards, and more information on the location and quality of agricultural land, the threats posed by development, and state-level policies.

Find the names and contact information for your representatives to the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives quickly using your address and zip code. If you need a four digit zip code extension, it can be obtained through the U.S. Postal Service here. You can also find and track bills by bill number, sponsor, or keyword.

OEFFA's Outreach (2501) Program is intended to integrate and facilitate inclusion in the work that we do for farmers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) by providing education, technical assistance, and network building. 

OEFFA has partnered with the Agricultural Justice Project to offer Food Justice Certification, standards which address ethical working and living conditions for agricultural system workers and fair trade and pricing for farms and agricultural businesses.

The National Young Farmers Coalition offers publications, research, and resources for beginning and BIPOC farmers centered on racial equity, immigration, labor justice, and more.

Find news releases and other information about beginning and BIPOC farmers from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

This National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition report provides a scientific review of the climate crisis and describes how agriculture affects and is affected by the climate.

The next farm bill must be a climate bill. See what other Ohio farmers have to say about being on the frontlines of the climate crisis. 

This OEFFA factsheet provides an overview of the negative impacts genetic engineering has on farmers, the environment, and eaters.

This OEFFA factsheet describes some of the ways genetic engineering negatively impacts our natural ecosystem.

Organic farms do not use genetically engineered seed or feed, but the label goes above and beyond the absence of GE seed, as described in this OEFFA factsheet.

A flawed "bioengineered" label for genetically engineered food debuted in 2020. Learn how to understand this label when you see it.

In this Cleveland Plain Dealer op-ed, former OEFFA Policy Director Amalie Lipstreu calls for reforms to federal crop insurance programs.

This informative infographic provides a visual overview of U.S. crop insurance subsidies.

Crop insurance is critical to protect farmers from unforeseen weather events, but according to this Land Stewardship Project report, the program's torn safety net boosts corporate bottom lines while harming family farmers and the land they depend on.

This National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition article provides an overview of the corporate consolidation in the livestock industry and policy measures that could address it.

Crop insurance should be Fair, Functional, and Informed. OEFFA members came together to share their proposals for how crop insurance should work for everyone. 

This webinar, from the Organic Farmers Association, is helpful for specialty, transitioning, and organic producers wanting to access crop insurance.