farm bill news, CoV & 2gs gulabi gang benefit show

Dear Friends,

Thanks to all who came to the Make-Out Room show on Sunday. We (Conspiracy of Venus) are singing again this Saturday (5/3) at the Fort Gallery in Oakland, as a benefit for the Gulabi Gang, with Two Gallants and the Deciders. If you're staying in SF, please check out a few other great 5/3 show options in the events list above. And many more this week and beyond.

But wait! Before you get out your calendar, here's an important & condensed farm bill update (thanks to Tim Frank):

At the 11th hour, after staring at the possibility of simply renewing the current seriously flawed farm bill, House and Senate leaders finally broke their impasse this last weekend, reaching a tentative agreement on a new farm bill that would include many reforms we have fought hard for. These include significant new funding for food security, conservation, specialty crop and working lands conservation programs. This is good news, but not reason to rest easy. Lawmakers have this week to finalize major policy details, and absolutely nothing is guaranteed, so our continued engagement is critical. What they decide on this week could be the law of the land for the next 5 years. The tentative agreement calls for significant new mandatory money for many conservation and nutrition programs, but a number of important programs that support local food systems are awarded only discretionary funds which require approval every year and are much less dependable. We would like to make funding mandatory for the Farmers Market Promotion Program, Community Food Project grants and the Healthy Food Enterprise Development Center. These programs are needed to support new and expanded farmers markets, access to healthy food in underserved communities, and loans to rebuild local and regional food systems. If you have a chance to call your congressperson, let them know that funding for these local food systems should be mandatory. (If you're in SF, contact Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)

Now, please take a look at the just-updated list of bay area food/farming/music/movement & occasional art/social justice events above!!

xo
jessie