
On March 21-24, 2023 NOFA-NY’s Katie Baildon, Liana Hoodes, and Zaid Kurdieh headed to Washington D.C. They joined other members of the National Organic Coalition (NOC) for the 2023 D.C. Fly-in where they met with Congressional offices to urge them to support NOC’s top priorities for advancing organic in the 2023 Farm Bill including:
- A proposed Opportunities in Organic Program, which will establish a suite of flexible, easy-to-access tools to reduce barriers to organic agriculture.
- Strengthening organic integrity, which is all about ensuring the continuous improvement of USDA’s organic standards.
- Expanding organic research, which will provide tools to address production, marketing and environmental challenges.
- Strengthening USDA’s conservation programs for organic farmers, which highlights that organic farming is climate-smart and environmentally sound.
The NOFA-NY team met with the offices of four of our congressional reps Congressman Molinaro (NY-19), Congressman Langworthy (NY-23), Senator Gillibrand, and Senator Schumer.
Katie Baildon is NOFA-NY’s policy manager, Liana Hoodes is NOFA-NY’s policy advisor, and Zaid Kurdieh is the owner of Norwich Meadows Farm and a member of NOFA-NY’s Board of Directors.