Land Core Newsletter - March 2020

 
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March 3, 2020

Friends of Land Core,

We are two months into 2020 and are overdue for an update about Land Core’s recent work and successes. Here is a recap of our YTD 2020 highlights, including:

  •  Policy News

  •  Sneak Peek: Land Core's Newest & Biggest Initiative Yet

  •  Organization Updates

POLICY NEWS

  • We passed our language into both the House and Senate committee reports accompanying the FY20 Ag-Appropriations bill! We owe a huge "Thank You!" and "Congratulations!" to all of you who signed on to our letter of support and advocated for the development of our federal soil health infrastructure. This was a team effort and we are proud to drive this type of change with your support. Learn more here.

  • In February, we traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with USDA-NRCS to discuss implementation of the language that was passed. We are working to ensure lab calibration and standardized sampling protocols are implemented, initially within the Soil Health Demonstration Trials. We remain confident that a consistent federal baseline for soil health testing will help connect producers to a wide range of private and public economic incentives. 

  • In February, we kicked off a collaboration with the UCLA Food Law Policy Clinic to update and expand our Congressional Bill Tracker to be a robust source of information on Soil Health Policy. Check back for talking points, policy recommendations and analysis in the coming months.

SNEAK PEEK: A PREDICTIVE MODEL OF RISK MITIGATION FOR SOIL HEALTH

Land Core has convened a collaborative, cross-sector working group to build an actuarially-sound predictive model of the risk-reduction associated with soil health, designed to be adopted by banks and insurers. 

The group includes world-class soil scientists, economists, statisticians and modelers. This is our biggest initiative to date and will be central to Land Core's work in 2020. Stay tuned for details and the upcoming press release. Please direct funding support inquiries to aria@landcore.org.

ORGANIZATION UPDATES

  • We're proud to share the addition of two new members to our Advisory Board, Dr. Shefali Mehta and Dr. Jenette Ashketar.

  • We're also thrilled to welcome Laura Cranville to Land Core's new Operations role! Laura comes to us with a background in international supply chain and procurement management for RXBAR and brings a keen understanding of both food systems and organizational structure to our small but mighty team. 

  • We were able to acquire www.landcore.org  (previously www.landcoreUSA.org). We have updated all of our contact information accordingly, but don't worry, we'll still receive anything you send to @landcoreUSA.org.

  • Connect with us in-person at one of a few upcoming conferences and speaking engagements, including SXSW, NCAT's Soil Health Innovations Conference and D.C. Metro Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics's Annual Meeting. Details here.

There is much more on our radar and we will continue to update you throughout the year. We are energized by our progress thus far in 2020 and look forward to an amazing year collaborating with many of you! Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you'd like more information or to get involved more closely with our efforts.

Best,

Aria & Harley

 
NewslettersLand Core Staff