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CROP Events

Join the SiX Agriculture and Food Systems team for
TWO exclusive hands-on training opportunities for state legislators

June 26th – 28th 2024 | Omaha, Nebraska
Farm Tour and Rural Power Building Workshop

July 12th – 14th 2024 | Seattle, Washington
Coastal Convening on Sustainable Aquaculture and Working Waterfronts 

Applications now open and space is extremely limited. Additional details below.

 


 

 

Hands-On Training Opportunity for State Legislators on Sustainable Aquaculture and Working Waterfronts 

July 12th – 14th 2024 in Seattle, WA

APPLY HERE

 

We are excited to announce an exclusive hands-on training opportunity for state legislators on sustainable aquaculture and local fishing economies, hosted by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and Don’t Cage Our Oceans from July 12th – 14th 2024 in Seattle, Washington. 

This convening for coastal legislators from across the country will focus on the ways policymakers can work with communities and advocates to support sustainable local fishing economies while holding industrial agribusiness aquaculture accountable. 

Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of the local and regional impacts of industrial aquaculture and the role federal and state policy play in supporting working waterfronts and local fishing economies all while providing space for advocates and legislators to build strong relationships and co-create solutions for their communities. 

 

Here’s what you can expect from this training opportunity:

  • Immersive Experience: Put on your raincoats and connect with community members, fisherpeople, and Tribal Nations on Seattle’s working waterfront. Experience sustainable aquaculture firsthand and learn how innovative techniques that center communities, the environment and Tribal sovereignty are changing how we care for our ocean ecosystems and resources. 
  • Empowering Policies: Discover policy solutions that pave the way for a thriving fishing economies, increase food security, uplift Indigenous food sovereignty and hold industrial aquaculture corporations accountable. Engage in dynamic discussions, analyze successful case studies, and collaborate with fellow legislators and partners to develop effective frameworks for your state.
  • Inspiring Perspectives: Learn directly from experts on sustainable aquaculture principles and practices rooted in Indigenous knowledge, climate science, and natural resources and water policy. Witness first hand how these experts are building up local communities and fighting back against corporate consolidation and concentration and take inspiration from the opportunities to build shared power through developing solutions alongside communities.

 

APPLY HERE

 

Applications will only be accepted from members of the CROP: Cohort for Rural Opportunity and Prosperity who are serving state legislators in coastal states including: Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington

If you are not currently a member of the CROP please sign-up here before continuing your application.

If you are a partner, legislative staff, funder or community member please complete our partner interest form at: bit.ly/6agpartner

Interested state legislators are encouraged to apply at bit.ly/sixcoastalconvening by Tuesday March 26th 11:59pm PST as space is limited.

Successful applicants will be selected based on their background, interest, and potential for impact.

Scholarships will be available.

For more information or if you have any questions please reach out to:

Emma Newton

[email protected]

503-318-5314

APPLY HERE BY TUESDAY, MARCH 26th 

 


 

We are excited to announce an exclusive farm tour and strategy workshop for Midwestern state legislators on progressive organizing and building power with rural communities, June 26-28, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska.

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO APRIL 1!

This tour for Midwestern and Great Plains legislators will examine the local and regional impacts of industrial agriculture and the role federal and state policy play in supporting vibrant rural economies. 

APPLY HERE

Here’s what you can expect as a participant on the tour: 

  • See: You’ll join SiX, local experts, and legislators from around the region on a full-day chartered bus tour in beautiful rural Nebraska to see industrial-scale chicken operations, a multi-generational grain processing facility that grows its own organic grains, and a pasture-based cattle ranch.
  • Learn: Two half-day sessions in Omaha will put the tour in context, as we examine how rural regions have been treated as sacrifice zones, the role of corporate power in rural America, shared values that unite us, and lessons from rural organizing in the Midwest.
  • Connect: There will be ample time for sharing conversation and farm-fresh meals with legislator and advocate colleagues and new friends. Relationships are at the root of all change.
Why Rural?

Those of us in the progressive movement have overlooked rural America for decades, too often underestimating small towns and “flyover country” as all-white, backwards, and bigoted. In truth, there is great diversity, beauty, wealth of resources, and kindness in rural communities.

But just as cities and suburbs have struggled in recent years, rural regions have seen their rich farmland, clean air, and clear rivers sacrificed to drilling, mining, industrial agriculture, and pipelines. Rural communities have been hollowed out as corporate consolidation and free trade have moved jobs off farms and out of factories and into low-wage customer service. As we progressives have overlooked the very real struggles of rural Americans, racism and extremism has taken hold in many rural white communities, further dividing our nation.

It is time for a change: for urban and rural people to understand each others’ realities, reconnect on our many shared values, learn from each others’ organizing, and build together towards a better future for all of us. State legislators are perfectly positioned to do this critical work, and this has become a core focus for the SiX Agriculture and Food Systems team. (Watch this short video for more.)

This workshop for Midwest and Great Plains legislators aims to do just that. We will bring urban and rural policymakers together with rural advocates and organizers; offer an up-close look at both rural “sacrifice zones” and thriving rural areas; and explore policy solutions and the roles we can each play in a lasting movement.

The workshop is open to all current state legislators from the greater Midwest who are members of the Cohort for Rural Opportunity and Prosperity (CROP). If you are not currently a CROP member you can sign-up here.

We are using a broad definition of Midwest: Please apply if you represent Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, or Wisconsin. Please note: Room and board scholarships are available, but travel funds are extremely limited.

Successful applicants will be selected based on their background, interest, and potential for impact.

Interested state legislators are encouraged to apply by Monday, April 1, 11:59pm CST, as space is limited.

Please contact Siena Chrisman, [email protected], for more information or with questions.