Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSWAG) April 2009 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
An organic garden at the White House... A sustainable and organic agriculture advocate in the top echelons of the USDA... It just goes to show how quickly things can change for the better. We salute First Lady Michelle Obama for her highly visible promotion of fresh, local, sustainable food in establishing the garden on the South Lawn. And we welcome Kathleen Merrigan, one of the developers of the National Organic Program, and director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Graduate Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, to her appointment as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, the number two post in the United States Department of Agriculture.
Just last month we featured the new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, as he addressed the Federation of Southern Cooperatives promising progressive change. President Obama’s and Vilsack’s choice of Merrigan, and her subsequent confirmation, helps put this commitment on solid sustainable ground.
In this issue, we have more good news. Southern SAWG is pleased to announce continuing support from the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) for our work, and we invite you to learn about several funding opportunities for farmers and educators.
And so we head into a busy month of growing and grant writing, encouraged by the words of Michelle Obama: “A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat.”
--Your friends at Southern SAWG
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| Last Updated: 4/15/2009 9:31:40 AM |
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