AGRICULTURE, SOIL, SEED DIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY

Federal and state agricultural policies affect the safety and security of our nation’s food supply both now and far into the future. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), about 52 % of the land in the US is currently considered to be farmland. Agricultural policy has a significant impact on many issues of concern to The Garden Club of America: soil and plant health; climate change; water quality, quantity, and use; air quality; pollinators, native plants and invasive species; energy use; and overall public health.

The Garden Club of America supports federal, state, and local legislation, policy, and individual action that address the following:

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE AND SOIL HEALTH

• Support a strong and well-funded conservation title in the Farm Bill that provides the technical and financial resources for farmers to improve the soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on and surrounding their operations.
• Rebuild degraded soil and conserve healthy soil on farms and ranches across the country through regenerative and climate-smart agricultural practices such as no-till, composting, cover or perennial crops, crop rotation in varying sequences and intervals, silvopasture management, intensive grazing, agroforestry, and integrating livestock into crop production systems.
• Incentivize farming practices that eliminate or reduce the need for fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that may threaten biodiversity and human healthIncentivize farming practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration.
• Incentivize farming practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration
• Discourage deforestation.
• Support private conservation and/or public-private partnerships that permanently protect agricultural lands.
• Support state and federal funding programs that enable farmers to reinvest in operations and ensure access to land for future farmers.
• Support policies and legislation at the national, state and local levels that promote healthy, livable farm communities.
• Expand and protect pollinator habitat through regenerative agriculture practices and the use of native plants.

SEED DIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY

• Promote the use of native seeds and seed-saving initiatives such as seed banks.
• Support seed diversity in crop choices.
• Encourage the further study of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops to determine safety.
• Support science-based innovation and entrepreneurship in new processes and technologies that lead to improved analytics and encourage more efficient growing practices (ie. indoor vertical farms and hydroponic shipping container farms) including research and the development of alternative sources of protein such as plant-based products.
• Advocate for programs that encourage the production of more organically and locally grown food, urban agriculture (such as shipping container farms), and school gardens.
• Encourage responsible use of antibiotics in animal feed to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which impacts public health.
• Encourage the USDA and the US Food and Drug Administration to modernize the food safety oversight system to improve food safety protections.