Public Backs Package of Bills That Would Tackle Pollution, Food Insecurity, Affordable Housing
The Food Security and Agricultural Jobs Act
The legislation (H5955) would take a ground-up approach to the state’s food insecurity crisis – a crisis that, according to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, affects one in four households.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Leonela Felix, D-Pawtucket, would increase access to fresh produce while increasing local growing capacity and sustainable agricultural jobs. Farming in Rhode Island has dropped dramatically in the past century, according to the bill.
Today, about 90 percent of food consumed in New England is grown outside the region. The bill would “unhook” Rhode Island from global trends, Felix said.
The bill would establish a trifecta of programs, identified as separate acts within the bill, to be overseen by a new agricultural jobs bureau under the control of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Agriculture.
Under the Regenerative Agriculture Program Act, the bureau would incentivize sustainable farming practices that minimize the use of chemicals, over-tilling and monoculture farming. It would also support fair wages and health benefits for workers and establish a grant program for regenerative farmers.
The Garden Agriculture Act would foster small-scale local food production by providing grantees with the tools, soil, seeds and instructional guidance necessary to grow personal organic gardens.
The Community Agriculture Act would provide $500,000 to $1 million in start-up funds for cooperative-led community gardens committed to growing high-nutrient, locally distributed foods.
As a whole, Felix said the legislation eliminates state dependence on large agriculture corporations. Those companies “exploit their laborers, degrade the environment, and produce food with low-quality nutritional value that must be shipped to Rhode Island through carbon-intensive supply chains,” according to the act.
Read the full article by Eco RI News, here.
