A fundraising effort is underway for a new community farm in Petersburg.
The Central Virginia Agrarian Commons aims to raise about $137,000 to purchase the roughly five-acre plot, which it will then lease out to a Black-owned farming enterprise for the next 99 years.
Tyrone Cherry III, project co-leader on the Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm, has spent years building and supporting community gardens around the city with the Petersburg League of Urban Growers. He said the new farm would help address the city's issues with food access, but is also an important symbol of growth for the area.
"Petersburg is growing, and this community farm is a testament to that," Cherry asserted. "That's why we're calling it the Petersburg Oasis. We want to remind the community that, yes, we are in a situation that's called a 'food desert,' but we can grow an oasis here in the food desert together."
The farm will be located next to an elementary school where Cherry used to teach. According to the fundraiser's website, the project aims to provide education programs for those students and serve as an incubator and educational resource for early-career farmers.
Duron Chavis, the project's other co-leader, contends the operation will also create numerous environmental benefits for Petersburg. He said farms in urban areas help control stormwater runoff by laying down soil and plant life to capture water, something concrete-based cityscapes cannot do.
"These spaces act like a sponge," Chavis explained. "And are able to keep the water and any pollutants that might come from the streetscape from getting into our rivers and lakes."
Chavis noted the operation will help new farmers access land, one of the biggest hurdles for those looking to enter agriculture. He added they are hoping to split up the property into multiple plots to support early-career farmers.
"How can you develop a customer base and hone your practice and your system of farming if you don't have land that you can reliably be able to farm on for at least a year, two years, three years?" Chavis pointed out.
The organization has raised nearly $63,000 so far. Including the cost of the land and a farm endowment, setting up the Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm will cost about $200,000.
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Foodborne illnesses from meat and poultry products kill thousands of people a year and a new report from the Government Accountability Office offers ways Virginians and others can cut down on illnesses.
The report found federal food inspectors face two main challenges to reduce pathogens in meat and poultry: developing standards as the industry changes for pathogens and limited oversight outside the slaughterhouses and processing plants. Some advocates said it is not much different from past reports.
Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the Center for Food Safety, said the recommendations are essentially the same as previous reports to the Department of Agriculture.
"The big challenge is that the GAO has been giving advice to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for a number of years now, that they need to -- pardon the pun -- literally clean up their act and make sure that they are doing their job to make our food safe," Hanson emphasized.
More than 18,000 Virginians are employed in the poultry industry, and contributes to more than $12 billion in economic activity in the Commonwealth.
The Government Accountability Office said federal oversight of food safety has been on its high-risk list since 2007. The list comprises programs and operations vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement.
Hanson explained part of the issue stems from concentrated feeding operations.
"When we crowd beef and pork and chickens into these concentrated feeding operations, it's just like taking the kids into kindergarten for the first time. They all get sick," Hanson stressed. "The difference is, when our kids get sick, we take them home until they're well. When animals get sick, they get butchered."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 3,000 people die from foodborne illnesses each year.
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Mississippi families struggling with food insecurity are bracing for another difficult summer after state officials declined millions in federal funding meant to help feed low-income children during school break.
The decision affects more than 324,000 children statewide and leaves families with fewer resources at a time when school meal programs are unavailable.
Sarah Stripp, director of socioeconomic well-being for the nonprofit Springboard Opportunities, works with families in federally subsidized housing and said the rejection of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer EBT program puts additional strain on struggling households.
"We know that many of our families struggle to be able to provide food for their families during the summer when they are not receiving those meals during the school year, which affects their ability to be able to do any of the things they want to do," Stripp explained. "If they're hungry, their children are hungry. That limits what they are able to do."
Gov. Tate Reeves cited a desire to reject "attempts to expand the welfare state" as the primary reason for opting out. Under the Summer EBT program, eligible families would receive $40 per month per school-aged child, amounting to $120 per child for the summer in grocery benefits.
Springboard Opportunities is stepping in to provide cash assistance to Jackson families living in federally subsidized housing but the organization can only reach a fraction of those in need. Stripp pointed out without federal aid, families are forced to redirect money from other essential expenses, such as gas and child care, to afford groceries.
"To not be willing to take federal funding that would go directly to families, that would be spent at local grocery stores, at farmers markets, to prevent summer food insecurities," Stripp observed. "To me, it's a baffling choice."
Stripp called on policymakers to listen to families' real struggles rather than rely on outdated narratives about poverty. While some school districts and community groups provide summer meal programs, many families in rural areas lack access to these resources due to transportation barriers and program limitations.
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The final deadline is approaching for members of the Texas Legislature to decide on participating in the Summer EBT program, which provides grocery benefits to low-income families with students.
The state did not participate in the program last summer.
Clarissa Clark, government relations officer for the North Texas Food Bank, said if lawmakers do not meet the March 1 deadline, they are essentially leaving federal dollars on the table.
"It's $450 million in federal taxpayer money that comes back to the state," Clark pointed out. "It helps with those who are food insecure, and it also puts money back into our economy, so there's a lot of wins to it."
To qualify for Summer EBT, families must meet the income requirements for the National School Lunch Program or be certified for school meals through SNAP or Medicaid.
The North Texas Food Bank is one of 80 organizations in the Texas Food Policy Roundtable calling for the program's implementation. The food bank could receive up to $60 million in benefits and help nearly 500,000 children in 12 north Texas counties.
Clark noted child hunger increases during the summer because students do not have access to school meals.
"The initiative provides low-income families with school-aged children, with $120 in food benefits on a debit card," Clark explained. "They can use that to buy food. If they don't get the summer meals, demand at our partner pantries goes up."
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission needs direction from the legislature to move forward with the program for Summer 2025.
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