Tennessee FSA Supports Sustainable Agriculture

Tennessee FSA outreach staff recently participated in the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s (Southern SAWG) 18th annual conference in Chattanooga. The conference, “Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms,” was attended by over a thousand family farmers, organic growers, producers of community supported agriculture (CSA), cooperative farmers, researchers and educators from across the South. Southern SAWG is the region’s nonprofit leader in creating a sustainable food and farming system.

In addition to providing financial support and a major trade show exhibit, FSA provided educational support at the conference and promoted FSA’s loans and programs to a diverse audience of beginning, minority, limited resource, and socially-disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Tennessee FSA Outreach Coordinator Regan Soloman and Farm Loan Specialist Jeff Williams presented a workshop session titled “Assistance for New Farmers Under the 2008 Farm Bill.” Regan Soloman also facilitated an interactive breakout session on FSA programs at the Stakeholders’ Grant Writing Workshop. FSA Regional Public Affairs Specialist Murray Dale Watts and Alabama FSA Outreach Coordinator Vickie Lane also attended the conference to learn more about sustainable agriculture, connect with regional constituents, and assist at the trade show exhibit.

Geraldine Herring from the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Outreach, attended the workshop on FSA programs and said, “I am happy to see the Farm Service Agency is a sponsor of this remarkable conference, and I think it's very important that the Tennessee FSA specialists led this discussion on programs for new farmers in the 2008 Farm Bill. There has been a tremendous exchange of valuable information for farmers and USDA employees alike at this conference."

FSA participants to the Southern SAWG conference determined that while their assignment was initially to educate and provide outreach to the conference-goers on FSA programs, their mission at the conference also became focused on enhancing their own education about sustainable agriculture and cultivating relationships with potential new customers. It struck the kind of balance that makes perfect sense to those committed to the values expressed in sustainable agriculture.

Alabama FSA Outreach Coordinator Vickie Lane (left) meets with Victor Harris (right), publisher of Minority Landowner Magazine, at FSA’s exhibit.