From: Bruce Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>
Date: April 1, 2015 at 1:59:52 PM CDT
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: New Agriculture and Food Policy now on our web site
Reply-To: Bruce Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>

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THIS MESSAGE IS AN INFORMATIONAL MESSAGE BEING SENT TO ALL SIERRA CLUB STAFF,
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, MEMBERS OF ALL ADVISORY COMMITTEES, COUNCIL EXCOM,
AND MANY OTHER NATIONAL COMMITTEE LEADERS,CHAPTER CHAIRS, CHAPTER
CONSERVATION CHAIRS, GROUP CHAIRS, AND CCL DELEGATES.
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To: Club leaders

From:  Vice President for Conservation Spencer Black 

In February 2015 the Board of Directors adopted an new and expanded Agriculture and Food policy.  It is now posted on our public website and available at http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/agriculture   

The new policy replaces the old 1976 Agriculture policy.  It incorporates and references some elements from other existing related policies such as water, public lands grazing, pest management and farm workers, but it does not replace them. 

The policy was adopted after an extensive volunteer review process and set of revisions.  It is designed to govern and guide all Club positions in this broad area. 

There are some parts of this policy that are new:

The Climate Change and Agriculture policy section is all new.  

Some of the points under Land Use are new, including language about cultural access rights and indigenous land use; tax policies; urban and suburban agriculture; no no-till agriculture.

There is some new language concerning reducing or eliminating the impacts of agriculture on water resources. 

There is new language about using and regulating grazing on private lands to improve environmental quality.  

In the section on genetically engineered crops the Club has moved from a position of calling for a moratorium on GMOs to advocating a ban. 

The last three sections on Food Policy, Avoiding Food Waste, and Research and Education are all new. 

A call was recently held with Council delegates to introduce them to the new policy and to answer questions. If there are additional questions please contact Task Force chair Victoria Brandon at [log in to unmask]

We hope this helps you in your vital work to protect the environment. 

--

Bruce H. Hamilton

Deputy Executive Director

Sierra Club

85 Second St

San Francisco, Calif. 94105

415-977-5678

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