Our Work

FOG’s goal is to assure the voices of small, mid-sized, family and organic farmers are heard by policymakers. FOG works to ensure that farmers are granted the rights, respect and protection they deserve as citizens, business-owners and providers of the most important commodity—food.

FOG weighs in on important local, regional, national and international issues as needed, and will continue to update this portion of the site to insure the issues most important to Florida growers are represented.

National Sustainable Agriculture Committee:

FOG works with NSAC to promote the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act and the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act in the 2012 Farm Bill. Executive Director Marty Mesh serves on the Food Systems Integrity Committee, which promotes food safety initiatives and legislation that prevents food contamination, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act. Marty also sits on the Marketing, Food Systems and Rural Development Committee, which supports rural entrepreneurship and value-added agriculture. Marty serves on the Research, Education, and Extension Committee, which protects and promotes research for organic and new farmers.

Other Involvement:

FOG partners with many organizations on the national, state, and local level to influence policy that supports organic agriculture and local food systems, such as the Organic Trade Association. Executive Director Marty Mesh is a former board member of Organic Trade Association and a founding member of Florida Food Policy Council. FOG works with the Florida Food Policy Council to set organic food and farm policy for the state of Florida. FOG partnered with Alachua County to develop the local food production and processing section of Alachua County’s Comprehensive Plan 2011-2030, the link is provided below (p. 422). FOG also worked with the City of Gainesville, Florida to develop a city ordinance that sets standards for backyard chicken raising.

Links:

http://sustainableagriculture.net/

http://www.ota.com/index.html

http://floridafoodpolicy.org/

http://growth-management.alachuacounty.us/comprehensive_planning/documents/2011_2030_Comprehensive_Plan.pdf

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/gainesville-florida-chicken-ordinance