<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><p style="margin:1em 0px 3px">
<a name="148e2c77f205cd15_1" style="font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:18px" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/GreenlivingReview/%7E3/h4ngC5Pq2Ek/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">U.S.D.A. to Start Program to Support Local and Organic Farming</a>
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<span>Posted:</span> 05 Oct 2014 11:20 AM PDT</p>
<p align="justify"><img tabindex="0" class="" style="float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px; display: block;" alt="" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/09/29/business/farm/farm-master675.jpg" height="275" width="410"></p>The <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/agriculture_department/index.html?inline=nyt-org" target="_blank">United States Department of Agriculture</a> plans to announce <span tabindex="0" class=""><span class="">Monday</span></span>
that it will spend $52 million to support local and regional food
systems like farmers’ markets and food hubs and to spur research on
organic farming. <p align="justify">The local food movement has
been one of the fastest growing segments of the business, as consumers
seek to know more about where, how and by whom their food is grown.</p> <p align="justify">But
local farmers still struggle to market their food. Distribution systems
are intended to accommodate the needs of large-scale commercial farms
and growers. Grocery stores and restaurants largely rely on big
distribution centers and are only beginning to figure out how to
incorporate small batches of produce into their overall merchandise
mixes.</p> <p align="justify">Farmers’ markets are proliferating around
the country, increasing 76 percent to 8,268 since 2008, according to
the Agriculture Department, but they have trouble marketing themselves.
And few consumers are aware of a <a href="http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/" target="_blank">website</a> the department created to help them find a farmers market in their area.</p> <p align="justify">“These
types of local food systems are the cornerstones of our plans to
revitalize the rural economy,” Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary,
said in a telephone interview. “If you can connect local produce with
markets that are local, money gets rolled around in the local community
more directly compared to commercial agriculture where products get
shipped in large quantities somewhere else, helping the economy there.”</p> <p align="justify">The $52 million will be the first outlay to local and organic enterprises of the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/farm_bill_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">farm bill</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/us/politics/farm-bill.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias&" target="_blank">signed into law</a>
by President Obama in February, which tripled the amount of money aimed
at that sector to $291 million. The organic business, which has long
complained that the Agriculture Department does not support it
financially, will get $125 million over the next five years for research
and $50 million for conservation programs.</p> <p align="left">Read more: <a title="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html</a></p><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><font size="1"><b><span style="color:rgb(116,27,71)"><i>CHUCK SEARCY<br></i></span></b></font></div><font size="1"><b><span style="color:rgb(116,27,71)"><i></i></span></b></font></div><font size="1"><b><span style="color:rgb(116,27,71)"><i>M +8 490 342 0769<br></i></span></b></font></div><font size="1"><b><span style="color:rgb(116,27,71)"><i>E <a href="mailto:chuckusvn@gmail.com" target="_blank">chuckusvn@gmail.com</a><br></i></span></b></font></div><i><font size="1"><b><span style="color:rgb(116,27,71)">Sk chucksearcy</span></b><br></font></i></div></div>
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