Land Core Newsletter - November 2020
Dear friends and colleagues,
As you may know, Land Core has spent much of 2020 working on a predictive model of the risk-mitigating benefits of soil health with our world-class working group and an expanding team of project partners. You can find a full update below.
Now, with the election behind us, we are also back in the throes of our policy work!
We are excited to share our soil health and agriculture policy priorities for the Biden-Harris Administration.
We invite you to read these recommendations, share your feedback, and build from them as many of you strengthen your own commitments to transforming our food and agricultural system.
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Alongside other soil health focused organizations including the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Kiss the Ground, and independent consultant, Calla Rose Ostrander, we are offering our respective policy memos and invite organizations to contribute their own memos & priorities (in final or draft form) as an exercise in identifying alignment and common ground. We have created a shared folder where you can view the recommendations of others and contribute your own: View and add soil health-focused policy priorities here.
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From Land Core’s beginnings, we’ve known that there’s no changing agriculture without being involved in policy. Throughout this election cycle, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of politicians thoughtfully developing and advocating for policies that support agriculture and our rural communities, and for that we’re grateful.
Thank you for joining us to advance "big-tent" policy solutions that bring diverse groups together to make our public infrastructure work for us.
Today and every day, we choose engagement over cynicism.
With gratitude,
Aria McLauchlan
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Additional Updates
Risk Modeling
This summer, Land Core secured over $450K in commitments of both donations and "in-kind" contributions, as part of our application to the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research's Seeding Solutions grant to build our risk model. We are incredibly grateful for the momentum and support behind this project aimed at unlocking investment in soil health practices.
Land Core is also in the second round for FoodShot Global's Groundbreaker Prize - Innovating Soil 3.0.
You can view the overview presentation and meet or get reacquainted with our incredible working group here. If you are interested in collaborating to identify additional sources of field-level data, or wish to recommend experts in agricultural lending, insurance and investment to support model development, please reach out to staff@landcore.org.
We are poised to begin development this fall, working towards a regional-scale, US Midwest pilot in the fall of 2021. We also have some exciting partnerships to share with you in the coming months.
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We’re so pleased to introduce Katie Fettes, our newest member of the Land Core team.
Katie Fettes is delighted to join the Land Core team as Operations & Communications Lead, bringing her experience in non-profit operations and communications to support the mission of building healthy soil for all Americans. Katie is part-time Fundraising and Admin Officer at the Canada Africa Partnership (CAP) Network, where she leads partnerships, fundraising and communications between grassroots Canadian and African communities, and coordinates the Network’s Africa Climate Action Initiative (ACAI). She also co-founded and leads communications and operations with the Rainmaker Enterprise, a non-profit organization developing solar-powered water solutions for regenerative agriculture in South Sudan. Katie holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London, and a BA in Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies, African Studies, and Urban Studies from the University of Toronto. Katie believes in the power of people to regenerate ourselves and our ecosystems, and looks forward to contributing to Land Core’s work on this front.
Welcome, Katie! Thanks for hitting the ground running.
Thanks also to all of you who shared this role with your networks. We are humbled by the interest, passion, and talent that is coming to the regenerative space.
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Visit our website to learn more and see how you can get involved. If you wish, a tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated:
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