Kansas Family Farms Day at the Capitol
March 24, Kansas State Capitol, Topeka KS
The day will start at 9:00 AM in the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium with a briefing/press conference, followed by coffee and rolls on the first floor, south of the rotunda. Through the day, attendees are welcome to sit in on House and Senate proceedings and possibly meet personally with and deliver information to their respective legislators. Lunch will be on your own.
Who: Representatives from the Kansas Farmers Union, Kansas Rural Center, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, Salina Diocese Catholic Rural Life, Climate + Energy Project, Kansas National Farmers Organization, Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, Kansas Sierra Club, & Kansas Natural Resources Council will be on hand to discuss legislative issues that directly affect their members, as well as share information about their respective groups at booths in the rotunda.
What & Why: It is important for farmers, ranchers, and rural Kansans to advocate on behalf of legislation that benefits family farms and rural communities. It is equally important for those individuals to speak out against legislation that does direct harm to those same family farms and rural communities.
When: 9:00 AM Tuesday, March 24th
Where: Kansas State Capitol Vistors Center Auditorium
The day will begin with a briefing/press conference, followed by coffee and rolls on the first floor, south of the rotunda.
Through the day, attendees are welcome to sit in on House and Senate proceedings and possibly meet personally with and deliver information to their respective legislators. Free tours of the Capitol are available through the Visitors Center. Lunch will be on your own.
Free two-hour parking is available in the parking garage on the north side of the Capitol building. Metered parking is available around the perimeter of the building.
Don’t hesitate to email Nick at kfu.nick@gmail.com or call 785-527-0941 with any questions.
KFUF receives Farm Aid grant to plan and host Kansas Family Farms Day at Kansas Capitol
The Kansas Farmers Union Foundation was recently awarded a grant from Farm Aid to promote fair farm policies and a grassroots organizing campaign to defend and bolster family farm-centered agriculture. KFUF will receive $6,000 to build advocacy leadership while also battling the removal of Kansas’ corporate agriculture laws.
This funding will support Kansas Farmers Union’s work towards three goals in the coming year:
- Equip a new generation of advocate farmers with the tools necessary to stand up to intimidation by industrialized agriculture;
- Establish stronger educational and working relationships with Kansas legislators; and
- Create an advocacy network that can be tapped when other Kansas ag and rural life issues surface in the future.
Kansas Family Farms Day, to be held during the 2015 Kansas Legislative Session, is the main project event. Hosted by KFU and Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition, the day will feature a local foods legislative breakfast, family farm advocates rally, and visits with members of the Kansas Legislature. Ally organizations such as Kansas Rural Center, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, Kansas National Farmers Organization and their members will also be invited to participate.
Building personal relationships between members and their legislators, while promoting a proactive discussion of the corporate agriculture issue, is our best chance to preserve what little remains of the law that protects family farmers from the expansion of corporate agriculture and to maintain the county option.
“The corporate laws were not challenged during the 2014 session, being an election year, but we fully expect the issue to be aggressively moved forward during the 2015 session,” said KFU President Donn Teske. “It is extremely important legislators know how we feel about the corporate agriculture issue, as well as other issues facing Kansas family farmers, ranchers, and their rural communities.”
A date for the Kansas Family Farms Day will be set by mid-January. Members are encouraged to sign-up below for email updates on the event. You can also contact Nick (785.527.0941 or kfu.nick@gmail.com) with questions or to donate farm products for the local foods legislative breakfast.
Farm Aid works throughout the year to build a thriving family farm-centered system of agriculture while also funding family farm and rural service organizations through its annual grant program.
“Farm Aid sends money to hardworking folks who share Farm Aid’s mission to strengthen family farmers. These grants support their work and invest in projects that build a thriving future for family farm agriculture and good food for all in both rural and urban communities,” said Farm Aid President Willie Nelson.
In 2014, Farm Aid granted $585,700 to 83 family farm organizations in 36 states and the District of Columbia; grants ranged from $500 to $20,000. Farm Aid grant funds are invested in programs that help farm families stay on their land, build local markets, confront the threat of corporate control of agriculture, train new farmers, and support farmer-to-farmer programs for more sustainable agricultural practices.