Sen. Schwartz attends agriculture roundtable

From The Mountain Mail:

"Sen. Gail Schwartz and assistant director of agriculture Bob Miller attended a roundtable discussion about farmland preservation, the land-link initiative and local food economy Thursday at the Salida SteamPlant.

Guidestone personnel hosted the public dialogue session.

Schwartz told The Mountain Mail the event was an opportunity for her to listen to small producers and take issues to the state level to better serve rural communities."

Read the entire article here.

Guidestone to Host Senator Schwartz for Roundtable Discussion

Guidestone has invited Senator Gail Schwartz to participate in a roundtable discussion on May 27th. Check out The Mountain Mail article below that gives all the details.

Schwartz solicits farmland feedback

By Arlene Shovald Special to The Mail
5/3/2010

Sen. Gail Schwartz will be in the Salida SteamPlant Annex from 1:30-4:30 p.m. May 27 for a public dialogue regarding farmland preservation, the Guidestone Land-Link Initiative and the local food economy.

Local organizations and businesses are invited to participate in a panel discussion outlining initiatives underway, barriers faced and solutions they envision toward fulfilling their ideas of a local food economy.

Planners said it is intended as a dynamic dialogue to inform state representatives and solicit their active support.

The meeting will be hosted by the Guidestone board. The organization is dedicated to preserving integrity of agricultural resources of the Upper Arkansas River region.

Intent is to foster a local food economy, stewardship of agricultural land in production, educating toward ecological literacy and supporting maintainable development.

The Guidestone Land Link Initiative partners farmers in need of space to grow food with land owners willing to lease or sell land for that purpose.

Schwartz is interested in advancing conservation efforts in central Colorado and developing land use policies contributing to maintaining rural communities.

She wants feedback about ways the Colorado Legislature can support goals of various organizations working toward those objectives. She said she plans to include Colorado Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp in discussions.

To prepare, the Guidestone board developed a survey to guide the program and provide Schwartz with an understanding of challenges in the Upper Arkansas River Valley.

The survey requests a description of food production such as dairying or farming done by the organization, how a group contributes to the local food economy, conservation efforts, barriers encountered and policy changes or financial strategies government might enact or support to help alleviate barriers.

Those interested in participating may get a copy of the survey at Natural Habitats, 202 N. F St., Unit B in The Palace Hotel or at www.guidstonecolorado.org and click on the "survey" icon.