by milecreekfarm

CSA Week 10

This Week’s Harvest

Farm News
As promised I will tell you about my time on Capital Hill in Washington DC. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read last week’s blog first, which will explain why I went to DC in March!
There are organizations similar to OEFFA all across the country, and all of them are just as focused on the Farm Bill this year as OEFFA is.  Together, led by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, they created Rally For Resilience, a three day event meant to highlight farmer led solutions to climate change and how the Farm Bill should make climate change policy a priority in the 2023 Farm Bill through the resources, assistance, and incentives put forth in the Bill. There was a rally and march to the capital one day and a lobbying day the next. This week I will talk about the rally and next week I will focus on the lobbying day. 


I went with an OEFFA delegation of farmers and advocates. All across the county cohorts like ours were organizing themselves similarly so that there were multiple delegations present. FACT (https://www.foodanimalconcernstrust.org), PASA (https://pasafarming.org), Land Stewardship Project (https://landstewardshipproject.org), Black Food Fund (https://blackfoodfund.co) are just a few of the organizations that helped send farmers to Capital Hill.
We had a rally at Freedom Plaza which featured speakers from farms across the country, an original tractor and participant from the ’79 Tractorcade on  Washington (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractorcade), and a special musical performance by John Mellencamp and video live stream message from Willie Nelson, who along with being an iconic American singer , was also founder of Farm Aid. From there we took to the streets and marched to the capital with signs like “Trust the Soilution” and “Root For Farmers If You Carrot All” 
I really enjoyed the youth, diversity and energy of the crowd. Farming can be lonely a lot of the time and being over 15 years in, feelings of being worn out can infiltrate my mindset. So to be around farmers with lots of passion and vigor was a great way for me to end winter and gear up for the upcoming season!  Next week I’ll write about the Lobby Day experience.


RECIPES
Moussaka with Eggplant and Potatoes https://spoonfulofsi.com/traditional-moussaka-with-eggplant-and-potatoes/#recipe
Vegetable Hash with Pinto Beans https://www.foodandspice.com/2013/08/potato-pepper-and-zucchini-skillet-hash.html
Smashed Cucumber Salad https://www.bonappetit.com/story/cucumber-tomato-egg-salad
Cucumber, Beet, Tomato Salad https://www.driftlessorganics.com/organic-cucumber-tomato-and-roasted-beet-salad/

Coming Up Next Week (our best guess) Salad mix, basil, tomatoes, sweet onions, beets, bell peppers, Sweet Italian Peppers, Shishito Peppers, Watermelon, Garlic, potatoes