"Do we really get to meet our Senators?"
Last Wednesday we spent the morning up on Capital Hill in Salt Lake City with a group of local farmers, ranchers, and chefs bringing awareness to the role small producers play in our local food movement. Red Acre Center is an amazing organization here in Utah dedicated to promoting and protecting small farmers so that we can provide healthy food for our communities. Each year they organize a day on the hill so we can connect with our legislators, learn more about how the legislative process works, and ultimately get involved in the conversation about how to make a difference in our local communities.
This is the first year the timing has worked out for us to attend in person, and our kids were thrilled at the idea. All week they’ve been asking, “So do we really get to meet our Senators?!” And the answer was yes, yes you do.
Engaging in the legislative process
What a great learning opportunity for all of us. We got to meet not only with our own Senator and Representative, but with many others who were so welcoming and encouraging. Our former Representative (we just went through redistricting) even let the kids take turns sitting on the House floor with her.
It was a great reminder to get involved in the greater conversations happening around the state, as well as in our local area, to make sure people have access to high quality local food options. While our little farm is never going to produce the large quantities of food needed to feed our entire community, the work we do can and does make a difference. And it’s important for us to work toward legislation that recognizes the unique differences between Big Ag and small producers to create common sense laws that ultimately help all of us create greater resiliency in our own local food systems.
How can you get involved?
Wherever you live, I would encourage you to get involved with local food legislation and to let your legislators know which issues are important to you as a consumer. Do you want the right to own chickens in your backyard (that’s certainly not legal everywhere!)? or to purchase raw milk? or to attend a farm to table dinner? There are so many different ways to promote and protect farmers, both rural and urban, so that you can preserve your right to choose what you eat.
