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Support Letter for HB 1311 - SFDM

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February 15, 2007

House Appropriations Committee
John L O'Brien Building, Room 220-A
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

To The Honorable Helen Sommers and Committee Members:

On behalf of the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network, I am writing in support of HB 1311, which continues the Small Farm Direct Marketing assistance program (SFDM). This legislation removes the sunset clause and makes the program a permanent part of Washington State Department of Agriculture. This program has been extremely effective and helpful for Washington's farmers and our state's economy.

The Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network's is a nonprofit statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to "engage with our partners to keep farmers farming and to ensure that all Washingtonians have access to good food. We advocate bringing food from the farm to the table in ways that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially equitable."

We were active in the original creation of the SFDM because the message from Washington's small farmers was clear: WSDA needed a program that more adequately met their specialized needs. Almost 90 percent of Washington's farms are considered small farms, with gross annual revenues of less than $250,000. The Network has had a seat on the program's advisory board throughout the life of the program. Since its inception in 1999 and its legislative establishment in 2001 the benefits from the program have been real. The program has increased the economic viability of small farms, built community vitality, improved the environmental quality of our state, enhanced direct marketing opportunities, informed and educated small farmers and addressed market barriers for small and family farms in Washington State. This program has been a great step to addressing the challenges of small farmers but the support needs to be continued.

According to the program's 2006 annual report to the legislature, "…since 2001, the Small Farm and Direct Marketing program has assisted more than 3,000 small farmers, consumers, farmers market managers and agencies with information on direct marketing regulations and strategies, value-added processing, farmers market development, agricultural tourism, food policy councils and other topics relevant to Washington's small farm industry. The program has assisted in over $6.5 million in sales by small farms. This includes:

SFDM's work with the Washington State Farmers Market Association has resulted in the increase of Washington farmers markets from 60 in 1998 to 99 as of 2006. SFDM has provided grants totaling about $245,000 to assist 20 different farmer market projects.

The WSDA Marketing grants for domestic market and direct market promotion are partially administered by the SFDM and total over $100,000 in FY 2007. Recipients include Cascade Harvest Coalition, Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Washington State Asparagus Commission, Washington Fish Growers Association, Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association and the Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market.

Over the years SFDM has administered over $450,000 in grants to farmer groups, agricultural organizations and farmers markets in the form of federal Specialty Crop Assistance Funds. More Specialty Crop Assistance Funds are in the federal pipeline. SFDM, with its experience administering such funds and sensitivity to the needs of small farms, needs to continue to administer these funds should they become available.

Our farmers and community groups rely on SFDM for publishing practical and extremely helpful educational materials, such as the invaluable "Greenbook" which lists regulations that affect small direct-marketing farmers and the "Farm-to-Cafeteria Connections: Marketing Opportunities for Small Farms in Washington State," handbook which explains how to start farm-to-cafeteria programs and includes numerous resources and case studies of successful projects. Farmers have found new markets as a result of SFDM's successful Farmer-Chef Connection workshops. We also know that farmers depend on SFDM staff for information and assistance and the calls for help will be returned.

With only a 5% increase of Washington-grown fruits and vegetables purchased by Washingtonians, $25 million more would go to Washington farmers. [data taken from Evaluating The Impact Of Alternative Marketing Scenarios For Washington State Farms , Rebekah Gipe and David Holland, WSU Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2004]. "Each time a dollar is re-spent locally it adds to the community's income. Because independent, local farmers are more likely to buy locally compared to agri-businesses, the downstream impacts of dollars spent at local farmers markets are much greater. While agricultural exports generate about $1.70 of community income for every dollar of sales, we conservatively estimate a return of more than $2.80 to the state economy on farmers market sales. The likely return, however, is well over $3.00." [Economic Impact of Washington State's Farmers Markets, Dr. Viki Sonntag, Research Director, Sustainable Seattle January 8, 2006].

Assisting Washington State's small farms is an ongoing commitment. No investment of state resources has a greater ability to prime the recirculation of money within the state's economy through local purchasing of Washington farm products and enhance Washington's quality of life. This program helps us grow more food here at home which helps our farmers, our economy, our farmland preservation and it decreases our dependence on fuel which helps the environment. Please do all you can to ensure the passage of HB 1311 and let us know how we can help.

Sincerely,

Ellen Gray
Administrative Director